Paddle #2 is a big improvement over my first attempt.
I chose the darker pieces of poplar for this paddle. Shaft is a 1 X 3 ripped down the middle then laminated back-to-back with epoxy. Blade pieces are 1 X 3 and 1 X 2 pieces epoxied to the shaft. Blade angle was formed by cuting the shaft at 14 degrees then reversing the short blade portion of the shaft and laminating back-to-back against the main shaft.
Power tols used for the initial shaping of this paddle: Jigsaw for the blade outline, disc grinder fitted with 4 inch floppy sanding disc, random orbital sander, router, etc. Main thing to remember with power tools, especially the disc grinder and the power planer, is to be very careful. There are a couple of sections where I took off too much wood and had to later patch with epoxy. Final sanding all completed by hand. Paddle sealed with clear gloss polyurethane.
Fineshed stats: length 76 3/8 inches; 14 degree bend; blade 9 1/4 inches X 17 inches; weight 28 ounces. I was really happy abput the weight reduction in this paddle, even with the added epoxy to fill in the gouges. The blade is much thinner than paddle #1, and the overall density of the wood seemed less than the lighter colored poplar.
Poplar does seem to get dinged quite easily, especially when dropping the paddle on the concrete or hitting a coral reef, but it’s easy to work with, readily available, and not too expensive.
sup paddle #2
14 degree side profile