CUSTUM PADDLES ??????

[NLCHAWAII]

Custom paddles ..... where are they ? A few years ago and you'd see regular post of individuals trying their hand at making paddles and then reworking their ideas based off of the results of their efforts and then trying new ones . Now , as it would seem , the ' build a race board fever ' has bit pretty hard . I'm by no means knocking the custom race board scene , ( I keep my eye on it constantly ) but please appreciate that my venue , my game is custom paddles . I've been doing what I do for coming up on three years now , full time and I've built hundreds in that time . I live and work a few minutes from the start of the Hawaii Kai run . In My three years in the business of custom paddles , I'm amazed at just how much paddle product is made over seas and not right here at home .
   I've been buried in work for most of the last year and finally have a little bit of free time for other things than building customs 24/7 . I wanted to open the opportunity for anyone to share their ideas about what they feel about the need for custom paddles , build questions directed at myself or just features they might wish were in current product line ups .
   This is a small sampling of what I do ....

[PonoBill]

Wow, very cool. Have you tried any wings or fences? I've been playing with a design you might like to try.

[surfniels]

Wow thoese are cool looking paddles.
Would you mind sharing a few more pictures, I really like your blade design?
Thanks for posting!

[PDLSFR]

Definetly eye catching but do they have the same quality and proven track record as a Ke Nalu or a QB padle ?

[Dwight (DW)]

Oval shaft.

[corlot]

Beautiful paddles!! More pics please!

[supuk]

they look fantastic would love to see them in the flesh, love how you have used the carbon to decorate the blade. maybe one day ill give it a go if i come across some carbon for a shaft.

[NLCHAWAII]

I'd like to say up front that there are so many solid , well designed products to choose from now  such as QB , Werner , Ke Nalu , Kialoa , and more . BUT , for these manufactures to take a paddle to market , they often cannot include all the various attributes into what ends up on the shelf . What ends up on the shelf , or in the store , is what I would term a ' homogenized product ' . Its a blend of various attributes , features or design qualities . The paddle designer/manufacturer has NO idea who may end up using the paddle . It could be a little girl or a big gorilla of a guy . The paddle has to be light enough for the girl but strong enough for the big guy . Paddle design is always a trade off of features and attributes and we the customer rarely ever get to see or even use a specifically designed paddle for our own specific and personal needs . Again this isn't to say ANYTHING bad about what we have to choose from in the stores at this time . This homogenization , if you will , is a simple fact of mass-produced products in the market place today , wether it be cars , shoes , paddles , etc...
   To answer your question Bill ... no I haven't consider wings or fences . PM me and share if you'd like .
   I've been making tapered oval shafts from the beginning , and for the last year I changed my handle to a glue on design where the shaft goes up into the handle for a very strong connection . Its such a shame with the Werner handles that they've had problems with that design . I love the direction that QB has gone with their new oval tapered shafts and their approach to the handle strength issue . That was a cool direction for them to go . Oval shafts give you a textural sense of blade orientation for your lower hand and allows you to choke down on the shaft and still maintain easy control .
   Here are a few more pics of recent various orders from this last summer .







Anyone curious how shafts can be made ?

[Bean]

Anyone curious how shafts can be made ?

That would be great... I'd like to see the whole process.

[PonoBill]

The wings I'm talking about are just a sharp reverse curve to the edge of the blade, down close to the tip of the blade. A two or three inch wing increases the catch substantially, but causes a little wobble. I've been experimenting with making them about 1/4 inch high.

The fence is an alternative to dihedral--a rib that runs down the middle of the blade to the tip. It prevents flow reverse across the face. Again, 1/4 to 1/2" high is plenty.

No one is doing it currently that I know of, but both design mods have interesting possibilities, especially either for people who like a huge catch or for making a very narrow blade

[bbqSUPer]

I've seen your paddles online and they look very cool.  I think the oval shaft makes a lot of sense.

Pono, by wings do you mean like Hawaiian Paddle's fish tail?

[NLCHAWAII]

Is this what your describing for wings Bill ? and if so , I've found that increasing the wing size and the tip curve do make serious advances in the catch of the blade . The extra shape seems to create a water flow direction change as the water flows off the blade face . I haven't given much thought to whats happening on the other side of the blade where the vortices are . I'd enjoy some opinions on that issue .

[NLCHAWAII]

As for shaft making ..... well ..... thats a bit of a long winded talk . Over the months , I've come up with various methods all based off of a basic system and material application approach . My current favorite method uses tow material , which is either carbon or glass thread . I use shaped wooden mandrels or dowels to laminate on . Once I get my first structural laminant complete , I remove the wooden mandrel and continue the process . If I had metal mandrels and a more elaborate setup , I could complete a shaft before removing the mandrel , but in my case I have to remove it early in the process . I don't use prepreg because it severely limits the custom work that I can do . If I try to do all the structural laminating at once , I'll usually end up with a very heavy and lumpy shaft in the end . I will usually accomplish the structural laminating of a shaft in as little as three steps or as many as six . Then I can move on to graphics and then the finish . I've found that a poorly built shaft is just a shaft where a well designed and built shaft has life to it , it has a personality . Its that personality that can make a great paddle for an individual .
   I like using the tow threads as a shaft building material because it allows me to make vast or minute changes to every paddle shaft that I spin . I'm finishing up an order for a young gentleman in Florida who's rather tall . He's ordered a 91" paddle with my detachable blade system and three different size blades . This is being built as a race paddle and the guy is young , tall , big and has the potential to put some real torque on his shaft . Without the ability to make changes in the design of my shafts on the fly , I'd be rather nervous offering a warranty on such a long paddle . But as it is , it's a non issue , the guy is getting something custom built just for his style and size .
   I'll post a few more descriptive pics on the shaft building setup shortly .

24K carbon fiber tow from a manufacture in Tennessee .


A view down the shaft mandrel , loaded on the rotisserie system and loaded with not yet wetted out carbon fiber .

[PonoBill]

No, what I'm referring to as "wings" are reverse curves along the edges of the blade to slow water coming off the sides of the blade.

[bbqSUPer]

Ok, I see now.  Any input on the pic I posted?  Is a it a gimmick or would it do something.

I find this stuff very interesting and appreciate people who make things and share.