Cutting down Carbon fiber paddle

Advice
#1

I just cut down my zaveral powwersurge ultra light paddle.I wanted it to be 49 inches. It had started out as a 49 and had to be repaired. When it was repaired I also had it lengthed. Now I feel that the 49 inches was right the first choice It was terribley hard to get up the cojoles to cut it but then went fairly smooth following The ZRE instructions. I was surprised to find a few drops of water in the shaft when I cut it. I can not figure if it transfered through Osmosis into the interior or if it some how worked past the epoxy at the joins? Any body else ahve this experience?

Charlie

#2

hasn’t happened to me, but . . .
maybe it was condensation? Water vapour is even more persistant than actual water, so your paddle may not be vapour proof? Just a guess.

#3

That was the sweat dripping…
off your forhead in fear that you were going to screw up.

I did two of them a couple of years ago and didn’t encounter any water.

Now when you glue the handle back on make sure you get it aimed right.



Cheers,

JackL

#4

Could you tell…
Me about how you go about shortening a paddle? Maybe I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but how do you get the ferrule off? And back on?

Or do you take off the blades?

Howzit dun, O wize ones?

T

#5

Condensation
Doesn’t have to leak to have this. Just needs to be colder than it was when it was put together. (Slight simplification to avoid the need to explain dew-point temperatures)

#6

Simple to shorten
a Zre paddle it is listed in www.zre.com

but the short way is messure down from the grip-join the amount yu want to shorten the paddle. Wrap tape around the area that you want to cut. Use a fine tooth saw and cut straight. Take grip with residual shaft and chisel away the shaft. You can soften th eepoxy by putting the grip-join area in thetoaster(or heat gun it. Then work carefully on the grip to get off the old shaft. Sand smooth and fair and epoxy on th egrip to the shaft.

ZRE paddles have no Ferrels to worry about.

Charlie

#7

After I cut it,
I use a file or rasp on one area of the handle section to get to the inner area of its shaft. Usually after you file into the inner section you can almost peel the rest of the outer section off.

The handle section only extends down about an inch, so if you are taking a long piece off, don’t start working way down the piece of handle that you cut off. Start about an inch and a half down.



Cheers,

JackL