Afternoon all,
Just picked up an inflatable touring/race 12'6 board to take on holiday. Currently considering what to do about a paddle. This board will be used in flat water and some local overseas races.
Has anyone successfully converted a one piece to a two piece? I have a fairly old and battered round shaft carbon paddle which I can mess around with.
The Fanatic Pro or Starboard Bolt will not be cut in half! :)
Any advice or thoughts?
Cheers,
Toby
If you have a paddle the correct length, cut the tube where you would grip with your bottom hand.
Get you hands on a small length (300-400) of carbon tube that fits snugly inside the paddle shaft at least the same thickness as the paddle shaft and preferably 1.25-1.5 time the thickness of the paddle shaft. (Most makes are 25mm Inside diameter)
Epoxy Glue half of the carbon tube inside the bottom half of the paddle shaft.
Hot glue the top half of the paddle shaft to the carbon tube.
You'll need a hair dryer or heat gun to take on your travels with you or simply check into a decent hotel and they'll have one for you. Just heat the glue up and pull apart/assemble.
Problem solved for about $60-90 depending on the cost of your carbon tube.
Just do a bad packing job and put it in the luggage handlers capable care – you'll soon have a two piece paddle!
On a more serious note… What about cutting the shaft at an acute angle, inserting the smaller carbon tube, then push the other section back down. Due to the nature of the angled cut you'd be pretty much guaranteed of correct alignment and if it's a shallow enough angle then the paddle could well be held together with just tape. I'm pretty sure this is how the Quickblade V-Drives and Trifectas are done...
Select to expand quotetobyha said..
Any advice or thoughts?
Resell your paddle and buy a 2 or 3 piece one :-)
cutting the shaft and inserting an inner tube like magillamelb described should not be too hard. But designing a system to lock the 2 pieces in place, avoiding twist and water entry will not be easy, although just duck-taping the 2 parts in place before each session may be the simplest solution.
Thanks guys I will start having a look into this over the weekend in a bit more detail !
Cheers,
Toby
OK guys I have pulled the handle off and done some research!
The paddle has a reduced diameter shaft at 26mm outer diameter and looks like a 23mm inner, so a 1.5mm thickness
I am only finding 1mm thickness 23mm carbon tubing , so I am thinking about getting a 21mm within the 23mm and creating a 2mm 3k internal.
Are any other materials worth looking at?
Does that sound sensible?!?
Cheers,
Toby
