videos of making a wood paddle?

[boozeesurfs]

anybody have a vid,of making a wooden paddle from start to finish?? i`ve found alot of pics,but they seem to miss some of the steps. i think it WOOD be kool to watch somebody and would probaly help alot of people out. as you can tell i have NO idea about woodworking

[PonoBill]

someone would have to be pretty dedicated to do that. the process of making a paddle is done with relatively long gaps between them, waiting for the glue to set mostly. And then pro builders like Malama work mostly by touch and experience. He shapes his shafts from square to delicate tapered oval with a hand grinder. If I did that it would look like a snake that had been in a knife fight.

[boozeesurfs]

yeah i know,but we can dream!! dream man its all i got!! 

[Hoffenator]

Boozee, I'm with you - it wouldbe great to see a vid of a wooden paddle taking shape.  Steps may happen over a number of days, but it should be fairly easy to stich together a series of short videos or even have a series of videos showing the process.  Hopefully, one of the skilled paddle makers here will be wiling to share the basics without giving away any of their artistic secrets  .

[Rogue Wave]

The only tricky part to making a paddle is the shaping.

Gluing up the blank is quite straightforward (if you can't figure it out from seeing pics, then maybe paddle building is not for you?).

I'll try to get a short video taped next time I shape a paddle -- it might help.

Just think everything through and you should be fine!

[stoneaxe]

I did a blog of the 1st couple I did but as it turns out I was way off on much of my technique so it probably wouldn't help much. They came out looking nice but are too heavy and I also have changed the orientation of the shaft laminations for strength. The pics that are available now (both here and on ke nalu) tell all the story you need. They aren't missing any steps other than showing the actual cutting/grinding but you should be able to figure that out by just looking.

I guess it can't hurt to show the blog but please don't follow these steps. This isn't the way to do it. When I did these I knew nothing and there was no info available at all. Some folks do still orient their shafts and bend them like this but I think laminations parallel to the stroke is better for strength. I don't think anyone else does their blades like this...unnecessary.
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Treefarmer/blog/1651
It's a 6 part blog. The best paddle I made this way was #4 on page #6. Lightweight, performed nice, but broke under load...needed glassing on the handle for added strength.

I've since bought an angle grinder and I'm making them similar to Malamas.

[boozeesurfs]

found some killer vids on youtube, but for some reason i can`t  put a link from it here, i`m at work"the firestation" and it wont let me go on youtube, but just put in the search wood paddle and there is a bunch of vids,well got to go into a burning building for training so somebody have a beer for me!;)

[JeffBach]

Whiskeyjack Paddles in Duluth MN makes some gorgeous wooden paddles, including SUP models.  Here's a YT clip from a TV show interview.  Danny Brown, Whiskeyjack's founder, has been invited to display his paddles at an art museum.  Very fitting, once you see his work.

Making a canoe paddle - Whiskeyjack Paddles

[boardrider247]

Jeff,

  Thanks for that. I saw wiskey jack paddles shortly after I ordered my SUP. It was at that point that I decided I was going to build paddles. If you haven't been able to see one in person they are exquisite. I have only seen the canoe paddles but I'm sure his SUP paddles are just as good.

  It is interesting to see his "bending jig" as most of the other paddles I have seen built all seem to cut and glue the bend. Lot's of different ways to do it I guess.

  I'm still collecting tools and wood for mine but I'll post pics when I start.

[JeffBach]

I have one of his canoe paddles. It's beautiful.  As pretty as it is, I am surprised how LIGHT it is.  Like a feather.  The blade is wide.  When I build my SUP paddle I think I'm going to make a narrower blade. I like a faster paddling cadence, at least in a canoe. A blade as wide as the one on the canoe paddle I have seems like a bit much on a SUP paddle.  Guess I'll know more when I have it built and in the water.

[stoneaxe]

Danny shared his techniques with me when I made my 1st paddles. The bending jig is very simple. Just some particle board cut at a 10 deg. angle for clamping the laminations down. It's shown in the blog I mentioned above. I do find though that there is a bit of a strength issue for SUP paddles that I've made that way that are light enough to use...I snapped the shaft. I DON'T have the same problem with the Whiskey Jack I have though...it is strong enough. I don't use it all that often though...the length is a little short for me. But I've had it out in some hairy conditions and no problems.

[Rogue Wave]

That's a GREAT video -- it's nice to see how other people make paddles, and WhiskeyJack are the coolest looking ones I've seen yet. Dan Brown is the man when it comes to paddles that are works of art and someday I hope to come close to his level -- he seems like a really cool guy too.

Finding good cedar is really tough for some of us -- especially the white, but now I'm inspired to search for some.

I think the trick with using cedar in a SUP paddle is that the shaft and the blade must be glassed to make them strong enough.

OK...it's back to the workshop for me.

[JeffBach]

For once, living in Wisconsin might have an advantage.  Brunsell Lumber has the most AMAZING inventory of cedar I have ever seen. Racks of the stuff.  Clear, knot free, tight grain, straight grain.  Beautiful wood.

Also numerous other varieties.  I bought a piece of poplar. It's almost white, especially compared to the dark piece of cedar I bought there too.  I'm hoping when the varnishing is done the contrast between the white poplar and the dark cedar will look good.  I also have a piece of purpleheart that I want to try and inlay into the blade in some as yet unknown shape.

[Rogue Wave]

Poplar works very well -- strong and light.

It can be tough to find it without an ugly green ting in it. I'm still searching for a good wood supply near me -- you're lucky to find a good supply JeffBach!

Here are some pics of one of my latest paddles with 3/4" poplar in the core, and cedar, pine, and mahogany for color.




There are two layers of 4 oz cloth on the blade laminated with West 105-205 resin and finished with 2 coats of PPG clear-coat. No need to glass the shaft when you use poplar, but I want to try some full cedar paddles with glassed shafts to see if I can get the weight down a bit.

Spraying automotive clear is quick, easy, and it's very durable over the epoxy.

Lee

[boardrider247]

Lee,

  The paddles are looking great. I need to squeeze in some time between house projects to get out and build one.

On another note I've been using the board a ton. But have yet to put the windsurf mast on.