I took 6" off of my oars. I used a chop saw and it worked perfect but I can't remember if I used a carbide blade for wood or a fiber type blade like what I use for metal.

Then I drilled a new hole for the thing-a-ma-dohicky that holds the paddle on.

Just wasn't that big of a deal.

Sounds like you are gonna take enough off of your oars to practice a cut before the final cut.

I didn't use any tape and had zero issues.

fp