C-Forum

I have some MFtech conical carbon tubing and the new g'power blade.

I am trying to make a T peice to go on top of the shaft from some carbon shaft/ tubing.

I am guessing i need to find some non conical carbon tubing and then make a hole to insert the shaft with blade into.

Does anyone know how to do this ? I cannot find any resources on how it is done. Do i simply resin the peices together or do i need to shape the shaft with the blade on to fit flush inside the handle? Any advice greatly appreciated. It seems to be a dark art on how it is done.

Colin

Col- This is what I do. If the shaft is conical (tapered), and the T-grip is straight, I mount the T-grip right onto the shaft. First I cut the T-grip to size- say 5" for convenience. I drill a hole at 2.5", using a small drill bit first, then going larger, up to maybe 3/4 inch. Then I use a file to carefully scrape around the edges to enlarge the hole until the shaft fits in tightly, all the way to the top. This is the time consuming part. From experience, the T-grip will sit 1/4" above the top of the shaft. If I want a 55" paddle, I stick the blade on the shaft and measure to 54 3/4"- I cut the shaft there. When mounted the whole paddle will be 55". To put it together I mount the blade first. Then I use outfitting glue (contact cement) to glue maybe a 1" piece of gray foam tightly fit into the top of the shaft. This adds bouyancy and keeps water out. The foam sticks up 1/4", so it hits the top of the T-grip. I carefully line the T-grip up so it is perfectly square with the blade. Then I I shred a small square of carbon kevlar, and wet out the shredded strands with epoxy- even the 5 minute kind is fine. Using something like a popsicle stick, I split the wetted strands into two piles. Using the same stick, I carefully scoop up one pile and put it into one side of the T-grip, pressing it in and working it all around the shaft and foam. I then do the same thing for the other side. Double check that its straight, let dry, and done. To finish, I twist a section of tube the diameter of the T-grip into foam and cut out two foam disks which I glue in to close off the ends of the T-grip. For straight shaft, I do the same thing, but mounting a short dowel or section of tapered tube into the T-grip. The same concept would work to use a thinner dowel to mount into a conical shaft. The only difference would be in where you cut down the shaft- The T-grip would sit about 1" above the blade and shaft this way. Hope this helps...Ed

For everyday use, I prefer hardwood grips on my carbon paddles. It improves the balance, and I can't detect any difference in my ability to maintain a high stroke rate for short periods. In fact, I routinely remove the smallish cylindrical t-grips on paddles I buy, and replace them with larger, heavier grips that fit my hand better.

So I guess I'm saying, for the kind of paddling you do, is a carbon grip any advantage?

...not 2 hijack 2 far into something else, but something else along that approach

edg wrote:... I twist a section of tube the diameter of the T-grip into foam and cut out two foam disks which I glue in to close off the ends of the T-grip...Ed

have used that twist into foam trick to cut a out blank/dowel once before, it worked to align a broken carbon shaft... simply placed into shaft, wrapped whetted out carbon cloth, and a backup extra paddle was resurrected

back to t-grips... (very informative Ed)

Ze Franch, he like to wrap hees hahnd around a beeg karbon grip.

http://homepage.mac.com/robertpa28/Site ... es/48.html

I switched to carbon after I broke the softwood grips on both Mitchell and Gala paddles. Wood does feel nice, though, especially in the cold...edg

SO, maybe the advantage of a carbon grip is it can be really huge and weigh about what it should !