Has anyone had any experience with this brand? They look great, many custom options and the price isn’t bad either.
The paddles look very nice
What a great price also.
I may get one
and I’ve made over a dozen for myself and friends.
Good looking design and VERY REASONABLE price.
can we have a link
Friday Harbor paddles
If you search for “friday harbor” paddles on Google you find this:
http://www.fridayharborpaddles.com/
Nice looking and very reasonable, you have to pay about $75 for a paddle blank here on the East Coast. And that is not laminated.
Ragnar
i have one.
it’s a beautiful paddle. it took a little longer to get then he stated but no big deal. loom is a little long also but thats my fault. firt GP so an experiment for me. i do have an issue with warping. when i recieved the paddle(9/07) both blades had a small bows to them; roughly 3/16" in the same direction. the bends started at about 1/2 of the length down the blade from the shaft. i only used it maybe 4 times and put it the corner of my living room. i picked it up last week and noticed one side had almost corrected itself, but the other side had become much worse. looks like 5/8"-3/4".
i was literally going to email him tonight about it, but i happened to look here first. a litle ironic. to be honest, i don’t know if it’s even a bad thing. although to me 3/4" is quite a bit. i’m a carpenter and know full well woods imperfections. i thought the fact it’s laminated would have minimalized warping. maybe someone here could wieght in.
i still recommend the paddle. solid craftmanship. beautiful, light but seems very strong, and a good price. willing to give him the benifit of the doubt. wood will happen.
If the paddle laminations run
side by side IIII along the length of paddle it will have less tendency to warp. When a solid board is used along the entire length and width of the paddle it can have a tendency to warp. Every board is different. Every board that I have carved a paddle from seems to take a couple days to see if it wants to warp or not after I get the board cut into the bow tie shape. If I cut the board into the bow tie shape and see that it wants to warp, then I let it sit for a few more days and compensate my center lines on the paddle to accommodate the warp so it will come out straight. If you make a paddle in four days you might not be able to notice that it is starting to warp. I would call the manufacturer back and request a straighter paddle.
laminate options
If I’m understanding you right, you’re saying the lamination that is on the same plane as the paddle blade has a greater chance of warping. I thought I saw on the Friday Harbor website that there were options as to the direction of lamination. I want to clarify this but assuming it’s as I interpret, I’m going to order one next month. If I do, I’ll chime in with initial impressions.
Thanks again everyone!
You understood it correctly
– Last Updated: Feb-07-08 4:26 PM EST –
A full length, flat board can do interesting things once it has been cut into the bow-tie shape. It seems that the narrow loom, once cut, can let the wood twist or warp unpredictably. You might want to clarify to the builder that it's important to you that the paddle is straight and true and you don't mind waiting a little bit longer. My paddles take me between 2-4 weeks to make. Most of the time is for making corrections to the paddle if it wants to warp or twist, letting the wood dry out, to get it as light as possible and applying the finish. I could make a paddle in one day but then I would feel that I wasn't making the paddle to the best of my abilities.