Paddles

Post questions & answers about; paddle selection, building and maintenance; paddling techniques; boat transportation, storage & maintenance.
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Bernie in Illinois

Paddles

Post by Bernie in Illinois »

Some time ago I had found several high quality sources for detailed instructions on paddle making, but somehow lost them. Anyone have a source for paddle templates?
Is it worth making my own?
Thanks
Erich Eppert

Post by Erich Eppert »

Hi Bernie.

We build paddles for kayaks and canoes. Aluetian and Greenland paddles, Euro paddles, lake cruiser and white water. They are fun to build and it adds that little extra to a custom canoe or kayak.

One of the best books on building comes from David Gidmark. Here is a link to Amazon for the book. I highly recomend this for anyone interested in building paddles.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books

Another way to make paddles is coping designs from friends who have paddle that work well. Paddles are like fishing rods, they come in different sizes and one can never have enough.

Regards, Erich.
Pete in the Deep South

Building your own Paddle

Post by Pete in the Deep South »

I built a paddle(double-bladed) years ago using design taken from WoodenBoat magazine Sept./Oct. 1992 issue. It provided an opportunity to develope new skills. I still have the modified plane iron used to hand plane a spoon shaped paddle blade.
Rob from Hamilton
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri May 21, 2004 9:09 pm

paddles

Post by Rob from Hamilton »

My 15 year old son has made two already. He just does them by eye. They're light, and perfectly balanced for comfortable paddling. I guess they cost $10 - $15 in materials to build, with wood, epoxy and glass. He got fancy on the first one with an inlay of the Ferrari horse on the blade, in contrasting wood. I think it's a great project. He can build one in less than a week, working maybe an hour or so per day. (Not including drying time for epoxy)
John B in ID

Paddles

Post by John B in ID »

In his book "Building a Strip Canoe", Gil Gilpatrick has a chapter on canoe paddles using cedar ,hardwood, fiberglass and epoxy. I've used leftover strips of cedar and ash leftover from seat frame, thwart and gunnel construction to make some pretty nice paddles that replicate the strip pattern of the canoe that is being built at the same time. I've gotten to the point of adding some personal refinements to Gil's basic plan and have been very happy with the results. One change that I'm happy with is to make the paddle blades seven inches wide instead of the suggested eight inches. Two or four oz. fiberglass cloth works better than six oz. as a covering for the blades. Six is just too heavy.
Steve Lansdowne

Post by Steve Lansdowne »

The Bear Mountain Boat Shop Study Plans Catalogue has a listing for Paddle Plans by Steve Killing. This is a package with full size paddle plans. Likely these are available via this website.
Keno

Making a Laminated Bent Shat Paddle

Post by Keno »

This site provides detailed infomation on making a bent shat paddle.

http://biology.nebrwesleyan.edu/benham/ ... index.html
Bernie in Illinois

Post by Bernie in Illinois »

Thank you all for your input.
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Armin, Germany
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 2:19 am
Location: Black-Forest, Germany
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Post by Armin, Germany »

Hi Bernie,
here´s a link to a german HP. There you can find som detailed plans (shapes) of a couple of paddles.
http://www.holzcanadier.de/html/paddelbau.htm
In the middle of the site you see the different types, and on the left side the details for download.
Bernie in Illinois

Post by Bernie in Illinois »

Armin, Hi!
Just what I was looking for! And, the dxf file format imports directly into AutoCad.
I don't read German, but the webpage is attractive and seems to be very well designed. I especially like the way the paddle drawings come down for display.
Again, thanks.
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Armin, Germany
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 2:19 am
Location: Black-Forest, Germany
Contact:

Post by Armin, Germany »

Thank you for the idea to import the files to AutoCad! Much easier and faster than measuring .... by hand. :-)
Have to ask somebody of our constructions departement to print it out.
Bernie in Illinois

Post by Bernie in Illinois »

Guys, check this site for additional info on paddle making. Scroll down to Accessories & Techniques
http://www.absolutelyfreeplans.com/Boat ... _plans.htm
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