I chipped my Zav

-- Last Updated: Apr-13-09 11:01 AM EST --

Finally got a bent Z and wouldn't you know it, first time out I came down on an unseen rock pretty hard (doing attainments). I chipped it (no big deal) but I also bent a piece back a little bit. After it dried it seemed to completely straightened back out.

Would you try to get a little epoxy into the fractured area, or just leave it alone?

If you have a really thin epoxy like
West 105/205, you may be able to force it into or under a crack using a dental syringe. To do this, you may have to drill a shallow crater along the crack so that you can push the syringe tip tightly against the crack. Or, if you have a legal way to get regular syringes with little metal needles, West epoxy will flow through, though slowly.



Super Glue will flow into tiny cracks, but it may be slowly softened by water. It might be used for the crack if the paddle is bone dry. Once the SG has set, you can repair the chip with epoxy and protect the SG in the crack using epoxy or varnish.



Poles aren’t much for changing light bulbs, but they’re the best thing for attaining.

I was a bit slow wth the poles crack :slight_smile:
I’ve been saving the syringes that come with the printer ink refill kits. I haven’t tried any with epoxy yet, but that’s why I’ve collected a couple. They are just like medical syringes except they aren’t sharpened. Maybe this is the place to try it out.



Do you think I have to worry about trying to somehow clean out the the fractured area? Water from the Susquehanna river is the only thing that was in there and it was running clean on Friday.

Zav repair
Same thing happened to mine. I filed it smooth like Zaverel reccomends.



http://www.zre.com/gearcare/paddlesport/genpaddlecare.html

For sure fix it w/ epoxy

– Last Updated: Apr-13-09 4:13 PM EST –

Even though its solid around the perimeter, there is not much distance between the carbon andht e core. One of he reasons the ZRE are so light. If it delams, its only gonna get worse if you don't fix it.

I would not 'sand it down' 'till its filled. It a new paddle yeah ?

I would open it back up a bit with a couple toothpics or similar and have a fan blowing across it ( not AT it ) for a while to make sure it really is dry up in there. If you think any sand / crud got up the now is the time to pick it out.

Tape EVERYTHING off now.

You can mix up some neat resin and inject it in the but not TOO hard ... if you get that skinny needle to far in you can blow the skin off the foam. Inject and remove a couple times letting excess run out, push down/pinch it a bit with your fingers. Final with one more. If need be @ this point mix up to whatever thickend viscosity to fill any chip / voids. Clamp only with bare minumum pressure to put it back down in place. If its big and thin, also consider using a cut section of a plastic squeegee to spreard / flatten the clamping pressure so the contour comes out right instead of lumped up. Call me if you want.

Below some other related info from old website.

How to touch up a thin edge laminate


and have it come out nice: (A thicker wood blade would be slightly different)

Do one side at a time....

Mask area to be built up 1/4" inch back from edge.

Sand to tape for prep. Do both sides of paddle at this time.

Pull masking tape and retape w/ fresh again at 1/4" line. Also place another layer of tape over this one at 1/8" or half the distance of first one to edge..... do above 1/4" & 1/8" on one side only....

Mask 'backside' of repair to over hang 1/4"+ out away from edge.... creating a dam so to speak.

Important!> Make sure the dam comes STRAIGHT OUT from edge and does not curve towards or away from area being built up. This is one reason to not have tape come out more than 1/4" or so from edge.. no worries on straight runs but doing the curved tips will cause tape to want to curl....Use more (pieces) tape if you want to do more than 1/4" or so.. Really press the tape down around any chips or chunks you are trying to fill in too. If chunk is ragged , sand edges smooth and even bevel it a bit on both sides for more mechanical grip.

A smart thing to do with tape in hand here is to mask w/ paper the rest of paddle now. Shaft too.

Use Uni carbon or glass, forget kevlar, not worth the trouble........ note; to 'make' your own uni, buy some cloth which is more useful for other projects and just pull a few long bundles out of it, viola ! Uni.

Wet out with Epoxy and lay onto sanded-taped-masked-horizontally sitting blade. If you have to, place shaft LIGHTLY in a vice to achieve best compromise of levelness. Do not use too much resin. Experiment on table first to see how much is needed....place wet out long strands ( wet out on table first) into position & poke it into position just along the 1/8" tape line and hanging off the edge.

Gently work out as much resin as poss and still keep strands in place with the 1/8" tape line just showing. (This is the best reason to play with some on the table first.... told you so already.)

Once it is not so juicy , pull 1/8" tape.

Smooth out biasing strands and excess resin towards edge by laying some wrinkle free 4 mil plastic down over strands starting at 1/4" tape line and moving outward. Should have a tiny bit of resin 'backfill' to tape 1/4" tape line but strands stay in place at 1/8".
Let cure before pulling plastic.

Pull all tape including backside and repeat above on other side..... lightly sanding for prep again if excess resin migrated under tape on what was the 'backside' initially.

If done right the only sanding ness on blade is a tiny bit from the thickness of the 1/4" tape line..... a good reason to use the best 3M Pinstripe tape + it will do the curves of the blades in a single piece.
Even this little line will probably be better than the jagged edge like before. Would be cool to add some pigment to resin for a colored edge look.
Sand 'new land' on outside edge of paddle to taste.... should be plenty there to file first followed up with 320/600 wet or dry.

Use in best of health and happiness.


Wow! Thanks for the detailed reply
I really appreciate it Pat. I’ll study it in depth after work and then execute it when I have the time to really take my time and enjoy “bonding” with my new paddle.



BTW, I’m really impressed with the Zav. I’m not sure I would have been able to do some of the attainments on the class II section of the Susqy (above BMO) without it. It also really does underwater work well, at least compared to other bents I own or have used.

No, as long as the fractured area is
given time to dry out, the epoxy will bond well enough.

Zav repair
If you warm the paddle with a hairdryer the epoxy may flow into the fracture area better.



I also like to stretch a piece of electrical tape (maybe 10 inches long total) across the edge of my carbon paddles to give the edge of the paddle a little more cushion and abrasion resistance than a naked carbon edge…it does not seem to affect the entry of the paddle into the water…not sure if it helps the paddle but it makes me feel better.



In the past I’ve also run a thin bead of epoxy along the blade edge of my Black Bart Troublemaker just to give it sort of a sacrificial edge for kissing rocks.