One more thing
If you aren’t familiar with using a GP you probably won’t be able to critique the design of the paddle you make. I made a GP from instructions on the Internet. When I took it out for a test paddle I had no idea how the paddle performed not being familiar with how to use a GP.
I was able to paddle with my homemade GP and it was satisfying to have made my own paddle. I’ll have to wait until the next group paddle so my Greenland paddler friends can try and critique my GP.
western red cedar and carbon fiber
apples to cumquats.
WRC is the preferred wood because it is light, reasonably strong (about 80 lb breaking point if you hang from the middle of the loom) and rot resistant. It is a soft wood and easy to carve. I love wood paddles and have a whole bunch of em. I think about 12 or so maybe more.
I have studied many many pictures and articles on paddles and one of the things I saw that was very prevalent was that strength was far more important than weight to someone who was out hunting for their family. The whole weight craze is marketing for the most part and especially the fuzzy math saying something like a 2 4 ounce paddle means 900 lbs less that you picked up in a days paddling. I love that one.
carbon fiber provides that strength without the significant weight penalty that a fir paddle would have and is far stronger than WRC. My partner recently hung from one of our cf paddles and he weighs 210 lbs and while it creaked it did not crack or break. Far more strength than you would expect in the worst of conditions. Unless you were prying 100 pound rocks out of your yard I suppose.
Carbon fiber is simply one of the materials out there that works on a strength to weight ratio. Oh and by the way, wood is carbon. 
A great compromise for strength and stiffness is laminating paddles and Chris Raab from Tuktu paddles is in my opinion a real expert at this as it does involve some wood knowledge as different woods expand and contract differently in water and temperature ranges.
Greenland paddles are very efficient tools. Pine, Spruce, fir, white and red cedar, poplar. pawlata, redwood, and many others are used to make paddles and skin on frame boats. concentrate on making a paddle that is efficient for its uses. Going long distance paddling and want a nice bouyant stroke that snaps back a bit? make it a bit thinner or use a lighter wood. Want one for heavy duty conditions and rocks make yourself a spruce or pine paddle that will be stifferand stronger. want an exercise paddle before racing? make a club
Paul
Laminating is a good option
You can also buy flat grain boards, rip them down the center, turn the pieces 90 degrees and glue them back together to create a vertical grain blank. Just make sure to joint or plane the mating surfaces in order to get a tight joint. You’ll probably need to laminate a thin layer in the middle or to both outside edges to get back to the original width, if you’re making a 3.5" wide paddle.
BTW, Watco is not tung oil, it’s wiping varnish with some oil in it.
Pine’s perfect
Pine is often overlooked and it’s a perfect wood for a GP.
You can buy a knot free 1 x 4 x 7ft at home depot for about $7.
Then laminate another piece of 3/8 pine down the center of both sides to get thickness. It makes a light and strong paddle and you won’t have to make the huge loom for lack of wood strength.
WRC and CF
I do like the CF paddles and CF reinforced with Kevlar is very strong, though not totally “break-proof”. Not sure anything is “break-proof” anyway.
My WRC paddle is extremely light, yet strong. When experienced paddlers pick it up, the first reaction is shock at its low weight. The second reaction is real interest. No, the CF owners would not trade, but they do show real interest and you can see the wheels turning in their heads…;=)
Wood variation
All woods show variation in density between sap wood and heart wood, between old growth and “second” growth, and of course between species.
At the Skinboat School I viewed a section of old growth WRC root. It was as dense as a tropical hardwood-being readied to install as a Masik in a Baidarka. Sort through the WRC in a good lumber yard and you will find considerable differences in the weight of the boards. If they are all reasonably dry, the weight difference will correspond with the density/strength (assuming the grain is straight and vertical).
My preference is to buy a 4 x 4 of WRC or Yellow Cedar with straight grain and a foot or so longer than I want. Align the 4 X 4 so the grain will be in the orientation you want when Split (vertical) and then cut it into two blanks with a bandsaw. This gives two blanks with the ideal grain orientation and the bit of extra length allows one to cut off end splits.
Dave
I Was
going to post…but, Paul’s post covered most of what I would have said.
other than with epoxy dyes…carbon can also have color:)
and that sharper edges that are durable are obtainable with carbon…not so with wood.
all the carbon paddle makers I know, started by making wood paddles. Most still make some wood paddles.
There is nothing wrong with a wood paddle if made correctly…but carbon lends itself to some characteristics better. (and on a manufacturing note…more repeatable).
Best Wishes
Roy
I had done some research on that
And it came up that it was probably 1/3 Tung Oil, 1/3 varnish, 1/3 other oil (or something like that). But it does have the significant Tung Oil base; not a total scam!
Do you know otherwise, Bryan?
According to the MSDS, Watco Teak Oil
is mostly solvents with some linseed oil, fungicide and proprietary resin mixed in.
I didn’t find any Watco product offered or marketed as containing tung nut oil.
about that color thing
lots of ways to add soul in a paddle…scrimshaw
http://www.qajaqusa.org/cgi-bin/GreenlandCommercialForum_config.pl?page=1;md=read;id=4714
Best Wishes
Roy
or this
http://www.qajaqusa.org/cgi-bin/GreenlandCommercialForum_config.pl?page=1;md=read;id=4715
:)…no affiliation (disclaimer)
Best Wishes
Roy
Balsa Wood
I thought the OP basically wanted three things: light, easy to carve, wood. So naturally I thought of Balsa which I have used for a paddle blade and found to be very good.
Naturally you need to cover it with S glass if you want to see the wood. Or Carbon for a slightly stiffer and lither paddle than S glass.
If you didn’t want wood then their are a lot of foams that are even better than balsa. And today the lightest and stiffest Greenland Paddles I have handles are foam core with Carbon cloth and epoxy finish.
I think the Carbon is over rated compared to nicely done S glass. And S glass vacuum bagged over balsa makes a much prettier paddle!
One other question
Do Greenland paddles require a different type of paddle stroke than a regular paddle? If so are there any good videos showing how to correctly paddle with a Greenland paddle?
OOOPS!!! My mistake…
It’s actually Minwax Tung Oil Finish I used and not Watco! I realized that I had researched the Watco, but forgot which brand I actually used in the end.
What do you have for Minwax on an MSDS?
Sorry to all for my error.
Yes.
Do your research on the Web. They require a canted stroke.
It should be easy to find on mfr’s site.
– Last Updated: Dec-15-11 8:26 AM EST –
But I'd be surprised if it's significantly different. Most of these oil finishes seem to be essentially similar and Nystrom is correct that, because they often contain unnamed resins, they are technically slow-drying varnishes modified for application by wiping on very thin coats.
Merde! I’m mortified.
Also pissed at being misled. Turns out it’s not Tung Oil based at all. Truthfully, it did work as described and it did make a nice finish, which has stood up reasonably well. But Tung Oil it is NOT, despite the name. There really ought to be more truth in labeling…
Anyway, I’m going to get some of the real stuff, 100% Tung Oil.
My question for you experienced woodworkers is: Do I now need to totally sand off the finish in order to rub in the Tung Oil? I still plan to use some kind of more sealing finish over the pure TO, or is that wrong here?
Thanks.
Why pure tung oil?
It’s likely that what you’ve used would out-perform it for your application. Are you worried about toxins being absorbed through your hands?
Not at all.
My understanding is that pure Tung Oil, or alternately half TO and half varnish/penetrating oil, is supposed to be the best all around preservative for the paddle. If that’s wrong, let me know.
Use what you’ve got would be my
advice. Reapply whenever it seems appropriate and pay close attention to exposed end grain. Save the pure tung oil for cutting boards and salad bowls.
I thought penetrating oil was for loosening rusted nuts. None of the oil finishes for wood penetrate beyond a microscopic depth on long grain.