This one might be for Piros
Used the broken shaft video for my first paddle repair.
Just wondering the best angle to repair a paddle blade ?
Got no push when it comes to shove in this swell we are experiencing on the Goldy atm
Buying a new Kenalu paddle tomorrow. Just want to repair this one as a spare
Have all the resins and carbon sheet. A mate has a vacuum bagging system
Wouldnt mind a few pointers thats all
Cheers
Steve
Hi Steve unfortunately a delam like that is fatal. Whats happened is the foam inside has broken it's bond, very hard to fix. What causes it is an exafirm where the resin heats up and literally over cooks the foam making it brittle. The only thing you can try is to dig it out some foam and fill with resin and push in some glass and lightly vacuum it shut. It will seal it up but with the resin and glass it will cause stiff points and create other dramas but you have nothing to loose trying it and it will put on alot of weight.
Don't try putting in expanding foam it will blow the paddle completely apart.
Thanks Piros
I was thinking of sheeting right over the whole paddle and bagging the lot ?
Either that its a basic Finatic. Looks like its a three parter. With the handle shaft and blade.
Whats thoughts on just replacing the blade ?
Will give it to the kids and friends who want to have a paddle in the creek
You need to fix it from the inside out , you have the gear just give it a shot. If it doesn't work just replace the head.
piros is correct , i would put some resin/thin glue inside the blade and vacuum bag it together till the resin cures ,that will also glue the carbon laminate together at the edge , i would also wet sand the blade for "tooth" and paint it white or light grey to stop it from getting hot and the foam outgassing ps it's called ***** exotherm*****
There's a process called infusion that can fix delaminated paddles just like you have shown. If you have vac bagging gear you can do infusion really easily. Infusion is simply dragging resin under vacuum through a cavity, be it fibre or a gap between laminate & sheared foam core. you just have to create a path for the resin to flow through the paddle which may be drilling a small hole(s) at one end of the delaminated area, drawing resin through the delaminated area under vacuum and out through hole(s) at the other end of the void.
The paddle below was jammed in a door with significant delamination and broken skins and fixed up in one very easy process. Paddle was as strong if not stronger than original and gained less than 50g in weight.
You'll find heaps of 'how to' guides on Google, but it is most certainly fixable
Just a little update re the delaminated paddle
Followed Piros's advise and all appears well. Time will tell !
Feels solid after applying a substantial amount of pressure
Will be a spare now anyways however good to know for future complications.
Oh and a little messy
