Thanks for all the great knowldege shared here. My question is around SUP paddles. My friends and I picked up a lot of awesome paddles at the surf expo this past weekend in Orlando. They are all carbon fiber. I’ve read that people use mainly either 2 part expoxy or hot glue to affix the blade to shaft. We have 10 new badass paddles so I want to do it right. I like the idea of being able to remove the blade at a later time if something breaks or just for different paddle options if I get a new blade or shaft down the road. Can you more easily use a heat gun on the hot glue to get it off later, or will an epoxy respond just as well to the heat gun?
I think the standard is 5 min epoxy. As far as I know that will not be released with a heat gun. Two piece hockey sticks have used hot glue for years of shooting, slashing and hacking. When the blade is beat up you can remove it and replace it. If it works for hockey sticks SUP paddles should be fine as well. If it was me I would go with hot glue and add a strip of tape for back-up on the seam.
Keep an eye on it and re-set it if needed. Just my 2 cents.
Many companies have switched from 5 minute epoxy to hot glue. KeNalu was the first to switch to hot glue. Their web site has how to videos. Once you try hot glue, there is no going back to epoxy.