For several years I have been using plastic oar collars like these: https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-OAR-C ... B00144CWF2. The advantages of these collars is that they are inexpensive (Defender sells them for $15 per pair), durable, and easy to install. The disadvantages are that they are short (about 4 inches), need to be kept lubricated or they tend to bind, and they use small nails to keep them in place which puts holes in the oars. If you want to remove them, for example to varnish underneath the collar, you have to remove the nails, and then when you re-install them, you put more nail holes in the oar. Can you say “break on the dotted line” boys and girls?
Note: because plastic collars are so short, you have to position them so that the oarlocks bear right next to the button. (The "button" is the raised part that keeps the oarlocks from sliding off the oar collars.) With leather and rope collars, you want the oarlocks to bear on the middle of the collar while rowing, and the button just keeps the oarlocks from falling off when you are carrying or stowing the oars, but take no load when rowing.
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Shaw & Tenney have a nice video on their web site (https://youtu.be/B2zzvjcEilQ) that shows you how to do it, but they left a few items out that would have been helpful to know beforehand. Learn from my experience:
* For rowing oars, the stitching should be in line with the edge of the blade, as Shaw & Tenney explain in their video. For sculling** oars (that is, for single oars used on the transom of a boat), the stitching should be in line with the broad part of the blade, i.e. 90 degrees from the position of a rowing oar.
* The hole punch they show on the video is specially made for the job. I used a simple awl. Actually it was an ice pick, but it was "awl" I had on hand. (Feel free to groan at the bad pun.) Ice picks and awls are was tapered, and if you only punch the holes from one side of the leather, you won’t be able to get the needles through. Ask me how I know. Punch the holes from both sides of the leather, or use a non-tapered punch.
* On the second set of stitching (working your way back down the leather), the needle has to be poked into the holes exactly perpendicular to the oar shaft and pushed in fully before angling the point toward the center. Otherwise you just end up pushing the needle into the leather instead of through the hole. The guy on the video has done it a thousand times and makes it look easy. It isn’t--at least not when you get away from the end and everything is drawn up pretty tight.
* The twine Shaw & Tenney supplies in the kit is on the short side. I really could have used an extra foot or two of twine. Consider purchasing your own for the job and making it about 7-8 feet long.
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An easy way to add a button (the raised part that keeps the oarlock from falling off) to a whipped collar is to use a turk’s head knot. I used this video to show me how to tie it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlqKtPWHAXk. The video kind of leaves you hanging, and doesn’t show you how to tighten down the knot, so here’s what you need to know in addition to the video:
* You will need about 9-10 feet of 1/4 inch rope for each knot.
* Start by tying the knot very loosely so you have room to weave the end of the knot in and out. I didn’t use a fid (the only fids I have are much too long to use for this purpose), but if you tie it loosely you don’t need one.
* When the knot is complete, tighten it onto the oar shaft by starting at the beginning of the knot and following the line along, tugging on it with a pair of needle nose pliers and pulling the slack out. Work your way all the way from the beginning of the rope to the end of the rope, making sure you don’t get “lost” and miss any loops. Tighten it very tightly the first time and you only need to do it once. If you have to do the process a second time it is very difficult. Ask me how I know.
* If the knot is tight enough, you can just tug a little bit on each end and cut the tails off flush. Simple.
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Smooth sailing,
Jim
** Don't ask me why, but the term "sculling" has two quite contrary definitions. In common parlance, "rowing" is using two oars together, one on each side of the boat, while "sculling" is using a single oar at the transom of the boat using a back-and-forth ("falling leaf" or "figure 8") stroke. In crew rowing like you see on the Olympics, "rowing" means that each person pulls on only one oar, while "sculling" means that each person pulls on two oars. Arrgh.