Thanks UncleD, this thread rocks. I’ve been meaning to build some paddles and is great to see the step by step. I know what you mean about getting involved and forgetting to document steps. I keep doing the same thing.
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However, what is missing is all my bloopers and mistakes, and my swearing when I screw up.
You know Chip, better than a “Swaylocks how-to video” would be a “Swaylocks bloopers real” and then showing what was done to put it right again. It figuring out how to fix the OH, OOPS that is the hard/time consuming part of building stuff. The how-to right up to the went-wrong step is the easy part… just a thought
You know Chip, better than a “Swaylocks how-to video” would be a “Swaylocks bloopers real” and then showing what was done to put it right again. It figuring out how to fix the OH, OOPS that is the hard/time consuming part of building stuff. The how-to right up to the went-wrong step is the easy part… just a thought
Aloha 4est:
Great idea! Even a “Swaylocks how-to-fix our screw ups” thread would be a pretty long one. The video would be funny too because we can all relate with our own mistakes… We will be saying things like, “I did that and I did that too”, as we watch all of our mistakes. I think the major difference between the backyard/garage builders and the pros is that the pros know how to correct or hide their mistakes.
This one of my favorite sayings: “Success comes from good judgment. Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.”
I try to reflect on this when I screw up and try to focus on the journey and not the destination. All in all, board and paddle building are still good medicine for my total being.
Applied an epoxy fill coat and wacked down the high glass areas with a vixen file and started sanding with 100 grit. Then I sand the curved areas with 100 grit using a soft pad. I continued by wet sanding with 120 and 220 grit. The basswood will produce the “fuzzies” when saturated with epoxy. This sands off easily.
I finished of the paddle by spraying two clear coats. I used U-POL Clear #1 that heard about on Swaylocks. This is pretty good stuff. To spray the shaft, I suspended the paddle by hanging it with wire.
That’s just about does it. I am pretty excite about this paddle building stuff. I wish I could have watched Owen build one of paddles in it’s entirety. I am excite about those combination wood craftmen, carpenter, board builders like Balsa and what their paddles will look like. Wood work is still very new to me but I am developing an interest especially when it is surf related. Perhaps I’ll start doing more nose and tail blocks, wood fins and a few more paddles. However, I got to get back to my over a year project of completing the 13’6" fishing board. I want to do some fishing before the summer is over.
Hope you don’t mind. This seems like the best place to put this. I make kayak paddles and have a couple of tool that I made to help with some of the long cuts and shape the blade faces. They are both attachments for my table saw. The first is a sliding table to make the long cut on the shaft safer and more accurate.
The left side of the table in these pictures needs to be removed. It will make the tool more versatile. That’s my next step on this tool.
The duplicator. This unit helps me keep the face of the paddle flat and oriented on the shaft properly. I originally got the idea for this from “Fine Woodworking” Mag. Dec 1992 No.97 Page 67. A duplicator for make Windsor chair seats.
The cutter head is a roto zip tool with a 1/4" spiral 4 flute bottom end mill and ball end mill.
There two patterns on each side of the unit (the particle board on the left and right). I drew pictures of how I wanted the face of the blade to contour. Kind of like making a topo map. Then I drilled 1/8” holes to depth I wanted along each contour line. Then ground down to the bottom of the holes to get the shape I wanted.
The paddle is in the center ready to shape.
The base is an old door.
The cutter head/carrier is counter balanced with the ABS pipe as a roller and the water bottle as a weight.
I do the paddle shaping in two steps. There are three flat shims under each pattern. One set is 1/4" thick for the first cut to get the blade to ~1/2" thick so I can add the Dynel halo. The second set is 1/8" thick to make the final cut. It brings the paddle down to ~1/4". I clean up and shape the finished blade with the 4 1/2" right angle grinder and sanders.
This tool can also be adapted to cut the out line of the paddle shape as well. Just make a pattern of the outline you like and have the followers follow that.
This is probably a tool to use if you plan to build lots of paddles.
There are two followers. One for each pattern, and the cutter sits in the middle. The followers are pieces of round metal bar stock polished up at the tip so that they can trace the pattern easily.
The pile of Paddles. The one on top is my latest, and is about 3 years old and in need of a varnish job.
The next is a canoe paddle that has been in the works for about 3 years. With all of the SUP talk I am going to get this thing done. I will try to get more action shots of the remaining process as I can.
Note the tapered shaft at the tip to save weight. The core was also tapered, 90 deg to the one you can see, so It would not show through as the blade is foiled.
This paddle has an ash plated shaft with a sassafras core and black willow for the blade. I make whem a bit heavy due to the shallow waters I usually paddle. 2 x 2oz. on both faces of the blade. No glass on the shaft and epoxy and varnish to finish. This will be in the 2lb range when done.
I like to see this in action. It looks like it should save a bunch of time. Please post pictures of your next paddle project. It looks like cool stuff for a non-wood worker like me.
For my next paddle building experiment, I will be using a high density foam sandwich for the blade and that will be glued and vacuum bagged to shaft using carbon fiber. I got this idea from Benny1. I am working on the vacuum press now.
Hey UncleD nice work man, looks awesome. I was wondering where you got some of that clear spray, I think I could use it for something I am doing. Thanks again and great work.
Looks like you are set up for production. I make my paddles one at a time in my spare time and it takes a little under a week. I am going to hook up with my wood worker friend and he is going to show me a few short cuts and we are going to build a paddle for his daughter. I love those jigs of yours. I think you are well set up when this SUP craze hits your part of the woods. Keep the paddle light and strong.
More questions. What other woods would be suitable for the shaft if you can’t find bass? Cedar? Fir? I assume we are looking for strong and light? No oak?
Sorry I was busy paddling yesterday and didn’t log in.
Paipo: I think one can of U-POL #1 Clear can cover 2 - 3 paddles. I was thinking of ordering six cans and I can sell you a few cans at cost. PM me if you are interested or you can order it and I’ll buy two cans from you.
Aloha_Bill: I used Elmer’s Ultimate PU type glue.
Greg Tate: I was really looking for spruce wood. The book I mentioned above talks about the pros & cons for each type of wood. Not being too familiar with wood working, I stuck to wood that was light, strong and easy to shape. I am going to refer you to the book. Owen use to laminate different types of woods on the shaft using the harder woods in the center and the softer woods on the outside.
BTW, I tested the new paddle yesterday and loved it. 14 degrees is the way to go. The paddle being lighter, I was able to paddle effortlessly. I went about a mile then again the arches of my feet started to hurt. As soon as my feet get use to the SUP activity, I think I can do this for hours.
I’m like you. I do one or two at a time. I just made the tools to get better accuracy and safety. It’s also tough to buy wood for just one paddle. I always seem to get enough for two or tree. I thought about production once, but kept my day job. I like to eat and play. The kayakers/canoeist here have no idea what makes a good paddle, and if it cost more than $10 they just don’t want to look at it… unless its made from pooped out foam and glass/CF/Kevlar, and has a brand name. I have yet to find one that feels as nice performs as well (for me) off the shelf as my blades. Most are disposable crap. I had a paddle in the local shop for over two years as a demo and never even got a nibble. I have made a couple of bro deals with some very close friends, but that’s about it.
The sliding table on the saw is good for any kind of long cut on stuff up to… well I’m not sure how wide. I can’t remember how wide I set it up for, but it is useful for any cut I need to do that way. I made my first sliding table just for cross cuts up to ~26” wide and as long as I can hold onto. I put an adjustable/removable angle fence on it too, but it will only do up to ~50 deg. It’s a bit limited. I like sliding tables because they keep my hands out of the saw blade, and actually make it difficult to get in the way. Unlike saw blade guards I can still see the saw blade, my pencil line etc. and it does not get in the way of the piece I’m cutting.
The duplicator is a one off. It takes a new pattern for each face. I set my pattern up in such a way that it is useful for kayak paddles or canoe paddles that I make for both faces of the blade. I make my paddles bi-facial and straight on the shaft. I made this tool for accuracy. I was having trouble keeping the blade thickness consistent and oriented on the paddle shaft properly. It’s slow to use, but made the paddles come out much cleaner.
Post any new ideas you get from your friend. I’m always open to new stuff. SUP craze?!?? Here!!! LOL! Unless I can get 1000’s of rednecks to give up there motors and bass boats and start fishing from SUPs… not likely.
Paipo, I like to do the glue up with epoxy. Its slower but I know that it is totally water proof. I saw a wood paddle a few years back that was coming unglued due to age and the finish had worn off letting water in, and the glue that was used gave up under the constant wet dry wet dry sessions it was going through. Now water can still get in (with my glue up) but will have a much more difficult time getting to a place where it can swell the wood enough to cause the glue line to fail.
Have fun with your new toys. Paddle hard paddle often.
I think there is a market for your talented perhaps on the West Coast. Imagine making special SUP paddles for customers that are willing to pay for something very special, wooden and handcrafted. Some of these paddles may never touch the water but adorn their display cases or living room walls. (OGDEN SUP Paddles). Many outrigger canoe paddlers here purchase custom paddles from Oregon.
I would very much like to see you go through the steps as you build your paddle. There is so much more for me to learn.
Hey you could start the Utah SUP craze. There are tons of boaters and power boat users here too. When I am paddling in Kaneohe Bay I get all sort of looks and questions about the sport. I let people try and watch them fall off and make comments like, " It’s trickier than I thought". When I come in I often get asked by tourist if they take pictures of me paddling the board. I know they are taking the pictures to capture the uniqueness of the sport and not my robust middle-aged charming good looks.
Uncle D, Nice work and “Good on Ya” for stepping out and accepting a challenge. Your paddles look great. I think paddles are going to be a great little niche in the surfboard industry. An opportunity to see some real art.
I am a woodworker by trade, so I’m interested in any wood construction. Right now, I have a stand-up paddle in my shop to repair, and I have one comment on what seems to be the glaring weak point in the construction of stand-up paddles. I’ve seen several paddles at my home break in Calif, and very often the paddles break…always the shaft and usually about 12" from the top of the blade. There is a simple explanation for this.
Like a baseball bat, the grain selection and the “lay” of the grain has to be done correctly for the most strength. Many of the paddles I’ve seen are glued up mostly for showing the beauty of the wood, which is understandable. However, a paddle has to be strong as well as beautiful. Therefore, I think it’s important to find a way to engineer strength into the paddle and still keep the beauty of it.
So, here is a basic principle of glueing for strength.
The more laminations of wood, the stronger it will be.
The glue-lines in the lamination of the shaft need to be made perpendicular to the flat of the blade.
The flat grain of the wood should be going in the same direction as the glue-line: perpendicular to the flat of the blade.
It’s a little hard to explain in words, but if you look at the end of a baseball bat, you’ll see that it is designed so that when the label is up, and the bat is swung, the ball hits the bat at the edge of the grain lines. When the bat is turned wrong, the usual result is a broken bat. It’s the same basic principal with a paddle.
That makes a lot of sense. What combination of wood types would you recommend for a laminated wood shaft? Again my goal is to make the paddle strong, light and look half way decent. I am thinking about purchasing a table saw so I can cut up some wood and start gluing up different types of wood. (Am I turning into my father?)
Remember, when it comes to paddle construction, I backwards engineer this stuff. I look at a paddle for a long time and figure out a way to build the features that I like. I take things for face value and don’t know the ramifications of things like grain direction, stress points etc. Your input is valuable. Keep those recommendations coming!
One of the best woods for lightness and strength is the wood that has been used for decades to make shovel handles as well as handles for rakes, hoes, and other garden tools: Ash. It’s light colored for good contrast with darker woods like Koa or Mahogany, though the grain is kind of prominent. But if you are going to glue up several laminations, the grain becomes less of an issue.
A table saw is a good idea. You’ll increase the efficiency of your operation, especially if you want to do a run of several paddles all at once. I would highly recommend a portable thickness planer too: the kind you can pick up and move around. Porter-Cable, Makita, and Bosch make good ones. They’re relatively inexpensive as far as shop tools go, and absolutely necessary for getting lots of strips of wood planed to uniform thickness.
The planer will also perform a very important function in the glue-up process: it will slice the cells of the wood as it cuts, allowing the glue to be forced into the cells under clamping pressure. That will give you a glue joint that’s stronger than the wood itself. Rough surfaces are not so good for glueing. Very weak. Unless you use something like epoxy. But then the glue line becomes thicker and more noticable. Polyurethane glue is more forgiving, because it fills gaps, but I don’t like to use it much. Too messy.
If I was going to make a paddle, I’d make the center of the shaft with 4 to 6 strips of 1/8" Ash, and then glue a piece of 1/2" to 5/8" Koa on each side. When it got rounded off, the Koa would be mostly what you see, but the laminations in the center would give lots of strength.
Now you’ve got me pumped up to make a paddle!..“Yes dear, I’m out in the shop. I know it’s late, but I can’t help myself!” Doug
I’ve completed one 80 inch tall, straight shaft stand up paddle, and I’m now working on a 10 deg single bend, 52 inch racing paddle. In the stand up paddle I laminated 1/2 inch thick strips of poplar to a half inch thick center strip of mahogany for the shaft. I think the half inch mahogany added too much weight to the paddle, but being my first one I was worried about the strength of the shaft. On the racing paddle I laminated two 3/4 inch thick strips of poplar. I also used the Elmers polyurethane glue. I ripped all of the shaft pieces on a table saw which didn’t seem too accurate over the long length of the wood. Would the table saw be the best way to cut 1/8th inch strips for laminating? My next project will be another stand up paddle, maybe about 76 inches tall, (the 80 inch is a bit too long) with a 10 degree bend. I’m also thinking of trying a double bend stand up paddle. I’ll probably use poplar again since it’s readily available at Home Depot or Ace Hardware in Mapunapuna. I’m also going to use West Systems epoxy to glue everything together (Kilgo’s and West Marine carries these products).
