I made my mother a kayak paddle for Christmas this year. It’s made of walnut and basswood (shaft), as well as alder (wide parts of blade). Finished with two coats of Seal-A-Cell clear oil, but I intend to put some polyurethane on top of that, wet-sanded.
Here’s a shot of one of the blades. I eyeballed the pattern after a scouting trip at Portland’s REI Store.
… and another shot from the side. As well as being “spoon-shaped” in profile, the blade tapers off vertically from the walnut.
Finally, a full-length shot of the paddle in my shop (leaning up some long maple or birch boards). Big download, sorry. It’s 85.75 inches in total length, based largely on some paddles I measured at REI. It’s pretty lightweight, though, maybe 2-3 pounds or so.
Gabe Says:
December 30th, 2005 at 10:44 pmVisit Gabe
Good job on the paddle, it looks great! Did you have a problem with having the Basswood right next to Walnut when you were sanding it out?
Dave Says:
December 31st, 2005 at 12:57 amVisit Dave
Actually, if you look at how you hold a hammer, the handle is of oval-shaped, rather than perfectly round, to help in positioning the head in the same plane as your hand/arm movement. I left the walnut area thicker, creating an oval to aid in orienting the paddle without twist. I’d love to say I planned it that way, but to be honest, it was a happy accident.
josh Says:
January 11th, 2006 at 6:20 pmVisit josh
dave, you have all of the tools i want, how come? your shop kicks ass, like those spokeshaves hmmm hmmm good.