Paddle is done. Very light but the blades are a tad on the thick side.
The user tried it when it was a little thicker. He likes it.
Is there anything to be gained by removing.more wood?
@string said:
Paddle is done. Very light but the blades are a tad on the thick side.
The user tried it when it was a little thicker. He likes it.
Is there anything to be gained by removing.more wood?
Blades are about 3/8 at thickest.
Too thin and the blades become too weak and flexible. I like sharp edges, and enough “meat” to the blades to allow for good sculling and lift. A lot of “first time” paddles have thick, blocky tips that don’t allow for a clean catch, so make sure the tips have the same radius (sharpness) as the blade edges.
You can’t go too wrong by using Chuck Holst’s plans on the Qajaq USA website. See the first two links at http://www.qajaqusa.org/Equipment/paddles.html#tabs-2
Greg
Thanks
3/8th inch at the edges is where most of my early builds ended up and I was and am still quite happy with them. I have done some with thinner edges lately and the only real difference I can see is that they may be a bit quieter and tend to bury themselves more cleanly and quickly. It seems to me that the thicker blades give me more buoyancy and are better for bracing and rolling. Also a more comfortable feel for the hands when doing extended paddle manuevers.
The important thing is to maintain some meat in the center of the blade, in order to provide adequate stiffness and enough material to create the proper profile. One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen is creating a sharp step-down in thickness right after the loom and making the blades thin in the middle. They often end up breaking.
If your blades have an straight taper from the loom to the tip, there will be enough material in the blades to do whatever you want. In my experience, blades with thinner edges are smoother, quieter and have more bite/lift than thick-edged blades. If the person you made the paddle for is relatively new to using a GP, you’ve probably provided him with a good, durable stick to learn with. The shape can always be refined down the line, if need be.
You may not remember my first attempt that I made with my body’s measurements. It had long , thin xsection blades.
It was a bit squirrelly and your comment was "Well, Inuits weren’t 6’5 " tall.
I reduced it to a more reasonable size and a friend loves it. My grandson loves this one.
For me, the place where it has to be just right is at the shoulders. I have no qualms about removing wood there to get the perfect grip.
Agreed. Did that on this one. I usually make them without shoulders , but he wanted them.
Where are those 3/8" measured? It sounds like a very thick blade to me.
I have a GP which is made from carbon, but its dimensions look similar to wood GPs from the same vendor. By eyeball measurement I would say that it is 4 mm (5/32") at the edges all around the tip, and I have to move 15-20 cm (6-8") away from the tip before I find 3/8" thickness in the centre portion of the blade.