C-Forum

I have 2 older, but very nice paddles. One is a Werner Bandit, and the other was found as river booty that is a very nice fiberglass slalom c-1 style paddle... Both have wooden handles that are in poor condition and both are heavily used, but still have plenty of life left in them. Both wooden handles need to be refinished and the werner in particular is starting to splinter. I am hoping that some folks will have some advice for me on how to refinish these handles without spending much. I know I will need to sand them down, but what type of finish should I use?

A second question, that might be dangerously opinion oriented, what would you consider the best whitewater canoe paddle? I will be in the market after a few more paychecks land. My favorite is currently, by far, the yellow bladed Werner Bandit, but I have not tried many other high end paddles. I am curious about wood, but I like having the spooned blade and a powerful yet very lightweight paddle. This might be better posted as a second topic, but lets see where the forum takes it.

Thanks for any help!

Some folks prefer an oil finish on paddle grips, claiming a bright finish such as varnish promotes blistering. They seem mostly to be flat water paddlers. You could use an oil finish, but you would need to be committed to reapplying oil frequently. I think a bright finish using either marine varnish or polyurethane makes more sense.

If you are looking to get buy on the cheap, I would buy a bunch of 1" wide disposable foam brushes, some Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane (which is an exterior polyurethane rather than a varnish) and some sandpaper. Helmsman urethane doesn't give the absolute best finish cosmetically, but it is readily available, relatively cheap, durable, and it doesn't look bad. I would sand your grips down to bare wood using 60 grit sandpaper and any greyed or blackened wood should be sanded off to clean wood. Finish sand with 120-150 grit paper. If you have open grain splits you may need to fill them with some type of wood putty. Small splits can probably be filled with multiple applications of finish.

If you have a grip that is not too badly weathered you might not need to take it down to bare wood, but rough up the existing finish with around 120-150 grit sandpaper. Apply multiple coats of finish (at least three) and wet sand between coats with fine waterproof paper of maybe around 320-600 grit or so.

What I have begun doing with my wood grip paddles is to sand down to bare wood and apply 2-3 coats of penetrating epoxy (I prefer System Three Clear Coat) followed by around 3 coats of marine varnish which I think gives a more durable finish, but that is a more expensive prospect.

Good curved blade whitewater paddles apart from the Werner Bandit include the Mitchell Premier and the ZRE Power Curve. The ZRE is pretty expensive. A cheaper option is the Aqua Bound Edge. I have used them all and like them all pretty well. I seem to go for the Mitchell Premier most often these days but I am also quite fond of the Bandit.

Peter is on target with re-work. Only will add my $.01:
Take your time and do it by hand - power tools are a bad idea for Tgrips.
I don't like to use poly - used it recently on a BK tgrip and it feels (at least too me) too smooth (doesnt feel right / feels "slippery") so I'll be refinishing and varnishing like I have in the past.
Spare is not cheap but a very small can can last a very long time.
good luck

You're been pointed in the right direction.

Oil, spar varnish, etc.

You could try the black blade Bandit or a Mitchell. If you like the yellow Bandit I don't you'll like the Aqua Bound Edge but it's a great price point paddle.

The best paddle is a difficult question. People may tell you about their favourite paddle but it's may no longer be readily available.

A better question is, given my paddling style and intend use, what are my paddle options.

So what boats are you paddling. What kind of ww. etc....

I use slippery elm (which isn't), when I can get it. Multiple coats of Minwax 209 clear. But like Peter, I sometimes use Helmsman for the "body" of the handle.

Maybe I'll repost some pictures of grips. I have a new one of dogwood.

Thanks for the info guys... I will get to work on these t-grips as soon as I am done outfitting my new boat!!! I just got an Octane 91 from Blackfly... sure is a lot of work shaving down the bulkhead outfitting so that I can fit comfortably in it... In the end it will pay off though... Jeremy was nice enough to send me a pile of scrap foam by request with my boat... I should be able to make this thing quite cozy.

Surface forming tools like this one make shaping minicell foam a lot easier:

http://hardwareonlinestore.com/index.ph ... aQod80MAEg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Once you have it shaped about right, if you want a very smooth surface, finish up with sandpaper.

Yes, I have a Stanley surform tool much like the one you showed the link for... but I find that a rust grinding wheel for drill works better if you need to really get in and shave a large amount of foam... you have to be careful though not to go too big!