The yoke as designed for this canoe was a simple 2" dowell. I wanted more flair, so I came up with a wavy yoke. I suppose it is not technically a yoke, since I won't carry this canoe on my shoulders, and it is not designed for that purpose. It ended a little oval, 1 1/2" x 1 3/4".
The yoke began life as 2 pieces of 1x4 poplar, glued up into a 2x4. I couldn't see carving a harder wood, such as oak, at least not the first time.
I laid the curve out on the board every half inch. The curve is just 1 1/2 cycles of a sine wave, calculated on Excel, with a 1/2" foot for mounting.
The shape was cut out, square, with a jig saw (I wish I had a band saw). If you look carefully, you can see that the octagon has been marked, and the part to be removed shaded with a pencil.
I removed the shaded part with a shaper, a cheese-grater for wood, leaving a rough octogon. Most of the material to be removed has been removed. Only a little material has to be removed from the remaining corners to end up with a round form. Being poplar, it was very easy to remove material.
I did the final rounding of the corners with a 1 1/2 wide, 100 grit sanding belt from the bargain bin at the Klingspor woodworking store. Drawing the belt back and forth, like polishing a shoe, quickly rounds the wood.
It may not look like it, but this yoke is 35 1/2" long.
I used clamps when I glued it in. If I did it again, I would use screws through the rubrail.
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