Which wood for which part?

[bluegrasslover]

I made a prototype kayak paddle using a closet rod and luan plywood that worked great so now I want to build a nice one. I have some very, very nice sitka spruce that I was going to use to try and build a mandolin but I've had it for about 8 years so I doubt that plan will ever take shape. I also have some cyprus (not the sinker kind) that is very light weight. Would it be better to use the spruce as the rod or as the blades? I don't have enough of it to make the entire paddle out of the spruce and don't want to spend more money on it.

Thanks

 

[oldsparkey]

This will be of no help to you but the ones of us that make our own paddles do it like the boats ... The way we want them. My last one was all Redwood.

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Blue Grass,

I'd wait for someone like Piper San or Joey to weigh in here. Listen to them.

 

[gbinga]

Seems like some of the really attractive paddles I've seen had the blades built up from two or more kinds of wood in alternating layers. Don't see why the shaft couldn't be laid up the same way. Matter of fact I've seen that done, somewhere.

I got no idea which type of wood would be best in which place.

GBinGA

 

[savannahkelly]

What lengths of each type of wood do you have? When I build my custom paddle I have a bunch of cherry and maple in long lengths for my handle and then I have a collection of exotic woods I plan to use on the paddles.

 

[bearridge]

Yeah....piper makes some fine, high dollar mandolins, violins 'n a viola 'er two. He kin help git ya back on track. Soon it will be Uncle Pen echoin' round the home. [grin]

regards
bearridge

ps Iike Bill Monroe too.

The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also. Mark Twain

 

[jdupre']

According to what I've read sitka spruce has one of the best stiffness to weight ratios. I'm thinking maybe use it in the shaft and most of the blades with maybe some really light weight wood for accents. Keep the blade edges thin and coat them with a little extra epoxy for durabiilty. My guess is you could probably make one that comes within a few ounces of a decent paddle of manmade materials. If you don't want to get ruined, stay away from those high dollar carbon fiber jobs like Kayak Jack uses. Those things are so light that they almost defy physics. Really first class piece of equipment.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Really first class piece of equipment.

Yes, I am. And my paddle's OK too. :roll:

 

[jdupre']

:roll: :roll: :roll: Oh, brother!

 

[bluegrasslover]

According to what I've read sitka spruce has one of the best stiffness to weight ratios. I'm thinking maybe use it in the shaft and most of the blades with maybe some really light weight wood for accents. Keep the blade edges thin and coat them with a little extra epoxy for durabiilty. My guess is you could probably make one that comes within a few ounces of a decent paddle of manmade materials. If you don't want to get ruined, stay away from those high dollar carbon fiber jobs like Kayak Jack uses. Those things are so light that they almost defy physics. Really first class piece of equipment.

That's what I was trying to figure out...not how it would look cosmetically but where would the use of the spruce have the most benefit.

 

[ezwater]

I also have a close-grained sitka spruce board, given to me by a guy who built a biplane and was required by the FAA to use such spruce.

I also had a canoe with sitka spruce gunwales. Lighter and stiffer than ash, but somewhat more easily broken. Also, sitka spruce will rot unless thoroughly protected by varnish. So forget about bare wood for the grip area of the shaft, and oiling won't do it either.

Light is always good, but stiff isn't. Maybe a sitka shaft would be too stiff for you.

Also, prime soundboard sitka has gotten expensive. Maybe you should sell that soundboard wood to someone who will use it.

Carefully selected cherry will make a fairly light shaft. You could add basswood to the lamination if you want to cut weight a bit.

 

[tx river rat]

EZWATER


Light is always good, but stiff isn't. Maybe a sitka shaft would be too stiff for you.
Why isnt stiff good.( no s a comments on this) carbon double paddles say that is one of the biggest advantages ,you dont loose the power in your stroke from shaft or blades flexing
Ron

 

[Kayak Jack]

Why isn't stiff good. Carbon double paddles say that is one of the biggest advantages; you don't lose the power in your stroke from shaft or blades flexing

Ron, is there maybe a typo in your last sentence here? It seems contradictory?

 

[tx river rat]

why is there a typho Jack , let me make it simpler for you, when something flexes you loose a certain amount of power transfer.
Ron

 

[Kayak Jack]

I understand flex and losing thrust. Your sentence asks why stiff ISN'T good, then indicates that stiff IS good. Seems odd, and I thought you may have had a typo that you'd want to correct. If your sentence makes you happy, OK.

 

[tx river rat]

You critiquing my post now?
Ron
why stiff isnt good was a quote go back and read the thread again .
Ron

 

[john the pom]

Flex is stored energy. It gives the power back to you at or toward the end of the stroke in the form of a flick, Just as the paddler's stroke is tapering down in strength. Flutter is different again.
Wouldn't want the matter of flex to be left in flux...
I need a bigger spoon. Preferably a flexible one.
:mrgreen:

 

[tx river rat]

There is another one of the things that have a lot of different ideals . In the racing circle here they want the stiffest paddle shafts, stiffest blades, and lightest paddle.
That is the difference between a 30.00 paddle and a 4oo.oo paddle
Ron

 

[bcwetcoast]

Re: Red Cedar (solid board, no lam) Strong Enough?

If a cedar board has a nice deep reddish color, does that mean it is heartwood and not strong enough to make a canoe paddle?


Those western red cedar boards at home depot are very pretty, very light weighted, and very easy to cut and shape (and very inexpensive).
But maybe paddles made from them would not last very long?

from my research it seems the ancestors used cedar a lot for paddles, but also that maybe breaking and replacing their paddles was frequent.

The heartwood of Western Red Cedar is usually a deep red colour. The heartwood is stiffer than the sapwood. Whether it is strong enough will depend on the diameter you make the shaft, whether the shaft is round or oval, how strong you are, size of blade etc etc.

First Nations used WRC to make canoe paddles because it was easy for them to get the wood. They would usually fall the tree using a controlled fire at the base and then use wedges to split out planks. From there is was easy to form paddles. Using cedar was way easier than trying to work Western hemlock, Douglas fir or balsam, the other main species of the area.

I think if you look at a lot of the ancient paddles, they are a lot like the Greenland paddle, that is have a fairly narrow blade.