Started making a paddle today

Nice
I thoroughly enjoyed following your progress. Thanks!

Thanks guys…It’s easy all you need
table saw or radial arm saw, sharp blade, saber or band saw, lots of clamps, an Idea, and a good sander or just some sandpaper if you use a soft wood like Cedar or pine. The fun part is shaping and watching the paddle come to life. Nothing hard about it, so if anyone has any “Hay how did you do that?” questions just ask. I don’t have a book I just wing it. I will say this, I’m very impressed with the stringth of Polyurethane glue. If your cuts are clean it aint ever coming apart.



I will get some better pic’s of this last paddle…It came out Gorgious.



I’m sure Mike would answer some questions too, He sent me some photo’s of a couple of the extreemly fancy laminated paddles he makes…they are unreal!

Job well done!
Let me know how it feels in the water.



“WARNING”, paddle making can become addicting. It is off great reward to paddle a homemade paddle, especially one that feels good. Then add a homemade boat, ahhhh, it doesn’t get any better.



Enjoy, Mike

Thread Moved…final pics
I ask Brent to move this over to this board so it could be archived.



The last coat of varnish is on and this paddle is finished. I’m about to start the next blank and I’ve had some interest from a few people wanting to try this out as a winter project so if anyone is interested I can do a more detailed explanation of every step of cuting, sanding, and shaping the next blank. Also we can discuss the different types of wood and styles of paddles for those interested and maybe people who have built their own paddle will jump in and help. Let me know…here are the pics



http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/picview.jsp?album=19500

One of the best…
This is one of the best threads I’ve ever seen on Pnet. Keep up the good work. Beautiful work!



BOB

Thanks Bob…Don’t know about that but

– Last Updated: Nov-09-04 8:03 PM EST –

I realize that I skipped over many details when I went to shaping the paddle so I'm going to go over all the steps now that I've started the second paddle blank. I haven't decided yet exactly what I want the for a blade style but I think I'll stick with a cruiser blade and thin it down to a little over 8" wide and 22" or 23" long with more flat area at the bottom of the blade and change the palm grip to a classic freestyle in place of that custom "T" grip on the last one. Also the blade will be thinner at only about 1/4" or less at the edges this will give the blade just a little flex, something I like when paddling flatwater for a long distance. On the first paddle I let the shaft extend all the way through to the tip of the blade and tapered it out to the edges, this makes for a very stout blade with little or no flex.

Weight & grip
What did the finished weight turn out to be?



Where did you come up with the grip design? Are the accents below the t-grip for looks or do the serve a purpose? I don’t believe I’ve seen any like that before.



Second paddle… soon a third… a forth… so on and so on. #39 and #40 are in the works as we speak.



Mike

The accents below the grip…

– Last Updated: Nov-09-04 9:01 PM EST –

are thumb tabs for extra leverage or just playing around when messing around freestyle. Cricket paddles make a very nice grip (not a T grip) that has a similar feature. I did not want to copy that grip so I had to come up with somthing origional. It took me several hours of shaping to get them to where you don't notice that they are there unless you want to use them. It's experimental but I like the feel so far and can't wait to try this paddle out. If they don't work out it will be an easy fix but I really think they will work for me.

Oh and the weight? Don't know yet but it is less than two of my Bending Branches paddles.

OK tonights sawdust tales…


I’m not ready to cut the blade shape yet for this second paddle, I’ll think that over and make a pattern from posterboard tomorrow or the next day. But I know I want to thin the blades and get started so it’s sawdust time. Now all that foam that’s left at the joints should be skimed off with a wide wood chisel before sanding then it’s to the belt sander with a 60 grit belt, it makes short work of tapering the blade http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/onepic.jsp?id=545788 next the palm sander to plend everything together nice and smooth…http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/onepic.jsp?id=545816 nice and flat and ready for a pattern so I can cut the shape. http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/onepic.jsp?id=545851

Started to cut out the next paddle
Got home from work and sat down and made a paper pattern of the blade I’m using on this paddle, this paddle will be used for deep water crusing so the blade will be shorter and slimmer than the freestyle. I taped the pattern to the blank and marked the outline with a sharpie. Next the saber saw is used to cut just outside the lines. Next the orbital sander to sand the cuts right up to the sharpie line, this will clean up and smooth out any rough spots or bumps.Next I used the heavy orbital sander to knock of the edges of the shaft to get it ready for rounding. Tonight when I get home I turn the square shaft into a nice ovalized shaft. Photos of last nights work at http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/picview.jsp?album=19500

OK Time for a new project…
this one is done and the shop is clean and ready to move on. Paddles came out very nice. http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/picview.jsp?album=19500

I’m thinking about building a paddle
what wood would work. Thinking of using just plain Douglas-fir. It’s strong and cheap.

Wood for paddles

– Last Updated: Nov-17-04 5:22 PM EST –

Anyone can jump in on this but....

Cedar..lightweight, soft, attractive, moderately straight grained, but high maintence and will rot and soak up water fast if the finish is broken. lose grain and breaks easy.

Basswood..lightweight, economic, very workable, straight and close grained, consistant, and stable and a favorite for paddles. Can be hard to
find. It's been known to warp.

Cherry and Walnut..both very attractive hardwoods generally used in good laminated paddles for accents and strength. Makes a beautiful strong but expensive paddle. Can be heavy

Ash..very straigh tight grain and very strong, also very heavy and can be expensive. Most common wood for canoe seats, gunnels, and thwarts. Good as a stiffener in laminated paddles

Clear Pine..Very workable, cheap, and easy to find and makes a good utility paddle and a good wood to make your first paddle out of because it won't cost much to learn on. keep after the finish if you want it to last. Combined with hardwoods like cherry, Ash, Walnut, it makes a beautiful strong paddle.

Douglas Fir..another evergreen wood like clear pine. strong, straight but hard to find in consistant quality because today it gets cut down as soon as the tree is of usable size, much of it is imported today (look for heartwood for use around water) and is used for framing. Workable cheap and easy to find in any lumberyard. Very rot resistant with no ground contact and is sometimes sold straight off the mill saw. It would make a good paddle if you find a nice straight piece. Avoid it if it has a lot of variation it the annual growth rings.

Anyone else have any woods to bring in on this?

Spruce
Spruce is a great paddle wood. Very cheap and easy to find. Just go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and look for a clear 2X4. This will take you quite some time to sort through the piles for a clear one, but sometimes they are in there just waiting to be found.



Having contained grain is very important with any species.



My take on a few of the woods mentioned by NT.



Basswood, is also a great paddle wood. It is easy to work and is very lightweight, it is very stable but not overly strong.



Walnut is also great paddle wood. If you combine it with bass or spruce it makes a nice looking medium weight paddle that is strong and very stable.



Cedar makes some nice strong lightweight paddles, but it is soft and requires more maintenance. If you glass the blade this make a very durable, lightweight paddle. My personal paddle is all cedar with a glassed blade, 20oz at 54".



Sassafras is one of my favorites. It is fairly strong for it’s weight (light) and is stable. Has a pretty greenish color and smells awesome while working it. Laminate this with spruce and/or bass and you have one very stable lightweight paddle, that can handle most everything but WW.



Ash is very strong, but is very heavy.



Butternut is a nice (lighter in weight) alternative to walnut.



I just finished an awesome paddle out of walnut and tiger maple. It is beautiful, but heavy.



You can pretty much make a paddle from any wood. I take into consideration the intended purpose of the paddle and use the woods that best suits the need. If you want it light, use more softwoods. If you want it indestructable, use more hardwoods. If you want it pretty… well beauty is in the eye of the paddle maker.



Mike