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Frame weight


GPStick

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I have yet to see a boat that doesn't look good with a white hull.  Nice paddle too.  I notice it is tipped in a different wood.  A hardwood for abrasion and split resistance?  I have been doing that with my paddles these days.  The Inuits used bone, but I don't have any easily available  ;)

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Yeah, glassing the tip works well, but I am trying to avoid that.  Attaching a small piece of hardwood to the end with a tongue and groove joint works really well.  I am now getting to where I can do it quite easily and safely.  It was not easy at first.  I do it after planing the end of the blade flat, but before tapering the sides of the blade.  I use a 1/2" thick piece of hardwood to reduce the amount of hand shaping of it.

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Dave,

I have done hardwood tips a couple times.  Just used dowels and they worked well.  Also, tried maple edges on a paddle.  It is retired now due to size but quite effective.  I have thought a biscuit joiner would work well on hardwood tips but don't have one.  For the little I would use not worth the purchase.  On my "commercial" paddles I have gone with epoxy and wood flour similar to BB's Rock Guard Tip.  No one has had trouble so far.  I made a form and then do a pour and tap around it to settle.  Next day rough shape while soft and then finish with the paddle.

 

All my paddles now are laminated as quarter sawn is a phrase most in the lumber yards here are not familiar with. ;)  I get good strength and less flex that way.  The one in the picture was my first attempt at hollow shaft in order to shave weight.  Since I have a large frame and hands I leave a lot of wood and I can only get them so light.  It worked well but I have to come up with a better method.

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I think you would find the biscuit joiner a complete waste of time.  They help a little to keep joints from opening up, but nothing to reinforce against breaking off.  Their biggest value is to keep joints flush during assembly and clamping.  Use a hardwood spline or tongue n' groove if strength is the goal.

 

 post-442-0-16713800-1365473533_thumb.jpg  post-442-0-03339700-1365473654_thumb.jpg

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The white wood is Alaskan Yellow Cedar.  It is slightly heavier than WRC, but it shapes so much more nicely and it is stronger.  My supplier is trying to find a good source for Sitka Spruce and hopefully will soon be stocking it.  I think that will be another good choice for paddles.  I can't imagine hollow looms save much weight and add a lot to the process in terms of time.  I am trying to get the process down to a building time that will allow me to sell the paddles at a reasonable price.   So I think blade thickness and wood weight are the keys to minimizing finished weight.

 

I am playing with blade shape a little. on one paddle I got really thin to see how light I could get and still be strong enough.  My theory is that the original Inuit paddles were thicker than necessary for strength simply due to the tools they had, or more importantly, didn't have.  They also spent a bit of time fending off ice bergs and that isn't a big issue for most of us.  I have tapered down to close to 1/4", but I think 3/8" is what I will be going to from now on.  The blade tips are about 3/8" thick and just rounded over where as the sides taper to a round over.

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