wildpaddler
Anyone can learn to canoe
Hi everyone,
This is my first post on this forum. There is a lot of great information here.
I thought you might enjoy some photos of a whitewater paddle that I finished last week for my girlfriend Zoe. The blade shape was copied from Warren and Gidmark's book "Canoe Paddles A complete guide........" I used a bunch of Ash pieces that were left over from previous paddle builds. This is a heavy and study paddle, the blade measures 8 1/4 X 20 inches and the shaft is 35 inches for a total of 43 1/4 inches. It weighs 989 grams. To make it durable the shaft is 1 1/8 inches in diameter and the blade was left much thicker than any other paddle that I've made. One evening I found myself standing in the 3-5 year old isle in Walmart trying to decide which color of play dough describes me.... actually I had decided to add an epoxy tip to the blade and needed the play dough to make a dam around the tip that would contain the epoxy until it hardened. I decided on neon orange for the color. To the epoxy I added as much walnut sawdust as I could produce from the small scrap pieces left over from the Peruvian Walnut Otter Tail (I'll post photos another time) that I made earlier this summer. The sawdust adds color as well as makes the epoxy stronger. Epoxy on it's own tends to be a bit brittle. To make the blade stronger I added 6 oz fiber glass to both sides. 6 oz is heavier than I wanted but it was the only weight the local canoe shop had on hand. We are leaving in and hour and a half for our favorite whitewater play spot so I'll be able to try out the paddle for the first time.
The Cree Syllabics translates to "big old bear"
I am currently working on two Ash/Cedar/Carbon fiber bent shafts. I'll post photos of them when they are finished.
This is my first post on this forum. There is a lot of great information here.
I thought you might enjoy some photos of a whitewater paddle that I finished last week for my girlfriend Zoe. The blade shape was copied from Warren and Gidmark's book "Canoe Paddles A complete guide........" I used a bunch of Ash pieces that were left over from previous paddle builds. This is a heavy and study paddle, the blade measures 8 1/4 X 20 inches and the shaft is 35 inches for a total of 43 1/4 inches. It weighs 989 grams. To make it durable the shaft is 1 1/8 inches in diameter and the blade was left much thicker than any other paddle that I've made. One evening I found myself standing in the 3-5 year old isle in Walmart trying to decide which color of play dough describes me.... actually I had decided to add an epoxy tip to the blade and needed the play dough to make a dam around the tip that would contain the epoxy until it hardened. I decided on neon orange for the color. To the epoxy I added as much walnut sawdust as I could produce from the small scrap pieces left over from the Peruvian Walnut Otter Tail (I'll post photos another time) that I made earlier this summer. The sawdust adds color as well as makes the epoxy stronger. Epoxy on it's own tends to be a bit brittle. To make the blade stronger I added 6 oz fiber glass to both sides. 6 oz is heavier than I wanted but it was the only weight the local canoe shop had on hand. We are leaving in and hour and a half for our favorite whitewater play spot so I'll be able to try out the paddle for the first time.
The Cree Syllabics translates to "big old bear"
I am currently working on two Ash/Cedar/Carbon fiber bent shafts. I'll post photos of them when they are finished.
