wooden paddles design

does any one have a plan or design i can use ?

ill give it a go mate used to do a lot of work in wood see how i go

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Currently making one out of balsa wood and epoxy resin will try to post some photos when in finished.

Leave it to my buddy DJ to draw attention to my stupidity...

Before I had started to SUP myself I made my brother PonoBill a paddle, made myself one at the same time since I figured I might give it a go. While they came out beautiful they weighed about the same as an oar from a viking longboat and I was stupid enough to think the blade acted like a scoop (backwards) so I shaped the handle accordingly. Brother Bill's is a very nice wall decoration in the Ponohouse on maui and the other was auctioned off for charity as art after I did a woodburning of a humpback whale and calf. Later paddles have come out much better.....

1st two


Mako Shark inlays


Book Matched blade


Wood burning for the charity paddle....Best thing about this is that I've become great friends with the guy that bought it and we planned the cape Cod Bay Challenge together


This paddle was fast and light but I snapped the shaft while surfing. I've changed my methods since.


Best paddles you can emulate are the Malamas IMO. Light, strong, and beautiful.
Heres how he makes them.
http://www.kenalu.com/2008/04/04/waterproof-artwork-malama-paddles/

Have fun...definitely gratifying to paddle something you've made with your own hands. I have to admit though...I paddle carbon most of the time. You just can't match the weight with wood.

i second that opinion

Ok well i think i can do one will get some wood on monday and start laminating the handle will keep you up dated guys once finished will need to find out who to get glass from as the kits are to small
once finished will ge one of you to try it out for me cool ?

could mean that i wont be on here every night LOL

lol yes well no drinks tonight mate lol
thanks mac

whos had a few rums mate lol see above
probably get you to try it out

I'm sure Bob will answer himself but I'm pretty sure he did hot do the wood burning art himself.

It was done in an effort to action off the paddle and donate the money raised from it.

DJ

Actually I did do the woodburning. It was the 1st woodburning I had done since I was a kid. I'm a decent sketch artist and its a lot like drawing with pencil on paper. I googled images of humpbacks and found some I liked, combined the two and used them as models to sketch onto the paddle with pencil 1st then went over them with the tool. The tool is A Burnmaster Eagle Wood Burner by Mastercarver. It has adjustable temperature controls and a variety of tip sizes. I borrowed it from a friend of my daughters but after doing this I put this on my Christmas list and the wife got me one.
http://www.woodcarverssupply.com/store/prodinfo.asp?number=499002&variation=&aitem=4&mitem=6

I blogged the actual building of the paddles on a woodworking forum I belong too if you're interested. It's a 6 part series. I don't do the shafts this way any more. I do them the same way Malama does.
lumberjocks.com/Treefarmer/blog/1651
The Save the Children Auction Blog
lumberjocks.com/Treefarmer/blog/2529

Once the weather gets warm (I do my woodworking outside mostly) I have a bunch of wood ready for some more paddles. I'm going to make some as gifts for family and friends. I'm going to try my hand at building an Alaia as well...also a gift. That should be interesting. I'm waiting for Tom Wegener's how-to DVD to come out. Supposed to be out this month.

Hehe...an even weirder 1st
I tattooed my daughter.....after she begged me to do it. I was supposedly going over to help her paint her living room in her house. Then she surprised me with this. I refused at 1st but she begged and said it would mean so much to her. So I said OK thinking it was going to be some other day. Then she calls her friend the budding tattoo artist and tells him to bring his gear over. She already had it setup....knew she had Dad wrapped.



Still healing and a little out of focus but you get the picture. She said she wanted something to symbolize home. I planted a cherry tree when she was born and its now a large beautiful tree, the centerpiece of an asian inspired water garden her sister and I built together. So I skecthed a cherry branch with blossom and buds and she had me sign it Dad too. Very bizarre.

I am currently making wooden paddles - up to paddle six so far. Check out



photos of last five. These paddles are made using Tasmanian wood. No snapped paddles yet. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Wow! They look absolutely amazing. The whales remind me of the artwork in Lahaina Scrimshaw shop at Whalers Village on Maui. Why does everything remind me of Maui? Anyway, coming from someone who really is not very artistic I find I can really appreciate your paddles. I bet you get some cool comments when you take them into the lineup. Nice one

Well it certainly felt a little weird to me to be tattooing my kid. It is kind of cool now that its done....all her friends want me to do one for them now. I've always been a popular Dad....

Beautiful paddles Clifton. What woods are you using? Nice combination of colors.

Here's a good resource for wood species selection...works for you guys especially...has a lot of Aussie species in it. A good way to check the strength/weight ratio. Very important factor is the MOE...modulus of elasticity...how far it will bend before breaking. The higher the number the better. I've started using a relatively low density but still high MOE wood for the spine of my shafts. Trying to maximize strength while still keeping it light. The rest of the woods are selected for density's below 400. Mostly I use cedar because its inexpensive, easy to get and comes in a wide range of colors right off the same rack. I mix in some exotics for grain and color.

This list shows some great woods down under for building paddles. Not sure how many are readily commercially available though. I'd love to get some of them. Bonewood sounds like it would make a great spine to a paddle.

Kind of a unusual wood reference...about building Noah's ark.
answersingenesis.org/the-flood/

i am using boat building timber mainly houn pine , kingbilly pine a bit of western red ceder, but the softer the wood the more epoxy it soaks up and the heavier the paddle both houn and kingbilly don't absorb much resin the paddles weigh the same as my oxbow 2 piece cabon paddle

might be a wall piece mate only working with one saw , one sanding grinder and clamps lol
sold all my gear years ago lol

but just won this at auction will help with next one





does anyone have a draw knife they want to sell or loan ?
like this if you dont know what they are see bellow