Buck Algonquin Bronze Ribbed Horn Oarlocks

The castings are rough. I spent time with a spindle sander to smooth the interior of the horns. They are good now but I expect others that purchased these oarlocks without skill necessary to smooth finish would be unhappy.

Shipping was great - arrived in a few days after ordered. Oarlocks are nice and sturdy. Only issue we had was that the inside of the oarlocks were very rough, and started to chew up the oar leathers. I had to spend about an hour to go out, buy a small cylindrical grinding stone, chuck it into an electric drill in a vise and grind the insides smooth. Given the price, I would have expected a better finish. Recommend? Only if you are willing to do the finish work on the horns. If I had the choice I would put recommend with reservations. Since bottom line does not offer that choice I am forced to say no.

Update from my May/17 review, added additional photo of my safety lanyard.

Solidly built, has the lanyard for safety chain, they have a rough cast finish that can be ground & polished to look pretty good.

The reason I bought these oarlocks was the cast lanyard ring. This is a rare feature that is missing on most oarlocks, even quality ones. I knew they would be rough, but expected them to be functional. The shaft was ground off center so that there are high friction areas that cannot be milled without creating a loose fit.

Have not used product yet. Bought for a cedar strip boat I am making.

When I received these items, I was aghast to see that the shafts as well as the arms of the lock were rough cast. I put a micrometer on one of the shafts and it was several thousandths of an inch undersize. This meant that I could not machine them from rough status to nominal size. As these horns were meant to fit existing bases, I could not buy unbored bases, as has been done and machine fit them. Had the shafts been a good fit, I would have been willing to smooth the horns in order to avoid excess wear to the shafts of my rather expensive spoon oars.[...]

These were the only rowlocks I found with side attachment for a lanyard - which I wanted. Locks had a high spot which bound in sockets until I spent a few minutes with valve grinding compound - sandpaper would also have worked. Rest of fit is adequate but loose.

The casting is very rough (course sand?) with a pronounced 'parting seam' ridge inside the oarlocks. The shafts were too tight for the sockets(which were not listed in the online catalog) and needed to be sanded down to fit. In all, count on a days work to make them serviceable and somewhat esthetically pleasing.

These oarlocks are well constructed and look nice on my ""Yankee Tender"" skiff. They do not have a smooth finish, but are robust and attractive in a rustic sort of way.