So, I am a hobbyist woodworker and am often trying to find neat little things to make for around the house. Towel racks, knife racks, step stools, work benches - that sort of thing.
Well, we just purchased two beautiful Werner full carbon paddles off the Craigslist and though they came with Wenonah paddle bags, the paddles would look much better if mounted on the wall above our TV.
Yes, we are geeks that way.
So my question is this - will hanging a full carbon paddle horizontally cause any problems over the long term? Obviously we will be taking them down often to go capsize a boat somewhere, but I can't help but wonder about the Gravity Always Wins argument. Will hanging our new toys like trophy fish lead to warping blades, drooping shafts or some other horrible malady?
Any thoughts are appreciated...
no, it won’t
unlike organic paddles (wood) that can warp if stored incorrectly, carbon paddles on the other hand do not have any problems if stored horizontally or only supported on small areas.
The only way a carbon paddle would become distorted and warp if the temperatures were so high to soften the epoxy of the composite (and that’s very high, much higher than the living interior of a house)
I’m speechless
I share your affection for my Werner carbon paddle but never thought of it as a decorative element. On the other hand I do hang my backpacks prominently because I like to look at them (and to remind me to hike). If I were a thief I would take your paddles right off the wall.
I think that hanging the paddles horizontally is blatantly elitist. Hanging them vertically would convey that they are practical items that get used.
Adjust the paddle hanging angle for
the best TV reception.
mantel display
When I got my first GP, it was a custom made 5 lamination red cedar that was such a beautiful object that I kept it on the wide stone fireplace mantel in my living room all that first summer, often giving it an admiring caress as I would pass by. With use, it eventually got too beat up to display – and having to dip the ends in heavy varnish to protect them spoiled the “baby’s bottom” velvety sheen of the original tung oil and varnish finish.
So I understand your impulse completely. Yours ought to be fine up there (as long as there is no excessive heat and direct sunlight or quartz artificial light). Gaze and enjoy. As Frank Lloyd Wright said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” A well-made GP is both.
Elitist perhaps…
WaterBird - the paddles would take a place along side our ice climbing axes, out dated climbing protection and images of the Eastern Sierra.
Elitist? Perhaps.
Gear junkies? Absolutely!
Your comment made me laugh quite heartily to be sure!
High temps…
I am glad to hear your thoughts - I thought this might be the case, just needed a second opinion.
I have been sketching out plans for hangers and will post pics when done.
Fank was right…
See my response above regarding ice climbing gear!
I hope not
Two days ago, I decided it was time to install hooks in the garage to hang up at least 2 paddles. Have not installed the hooks yet, but it never occurred to me that hanging paddles in that fashion might distort them. I doubt they’re heavy enough, plus they get used a few days each week.
Post pics, because it sounds like your hooks will be attractive, whereas mine will come straight out of El Hardware Store-O, or Home Depot, or some other purveyor of utilitarian stuff.
Hanging
I thing they are right about carbon paddles. I did ruin my wood canoe pole by storing it laying across my rafters in my great room causing it to warp.
turtle
mountaineering gear
That would be a cool display (at least to a fellow old gearhead). Must confess that I still have my ancient Stubai Nanga Parbat ice axe stashed in the closet. I donated most of the rest of my mountaineering and ice climbing gear years ago to a Peruvian outing club whose members some of my climber friends got to know on trips to the Cordillera Blanca, but I couldn’t part with that particular axe. I’d thought of making a front door handle with it, like on the entrances to some of the REI stores.
Thinking of that, I wonder if anyone makes drawer pulls (like for remodeling your kitchen) that look like canoe and/or kayak paddles? Just did a Google search and came up with lots of canoe paddle pulls, but no kayak paddles. Perhaps a marketable item there for the basement craftsperson?
I’ve had long closet pole canoe
double blades hanging in my damp basement for over 20 years, and they haven’t warped. Properly selected wood (straight grain throughout) should not warp under such light stress.
Glass and aluminum paddles won’t warp just from hanging in place. Glass/carbon will break before it takes a permanent bend. Aluminum poles may bend if one catches an end in a river bottom crack and hangs on the other end in strong current. But T6061 aluminum can be bent back straight.
and hanging them diagonally
Means you’re at least marginally imaginative.
trying to decide…
… if making the hooks to hang them out of wood instead of making them of carbon fiber is incongruous or not. :^/
Either way, good luck.
Custom display mounts.
Generally accepted practice in museums is to provide adequate support with as little visual detraction as possible. In more polished exhibitions, you might not even notice them at all if you weren’t looking for them.