diy paddle blade

[col. mustard]

Got myself a decent 2 peice breakdown paddle but the blade is brittle plastic that has already snapped in half. Was wanting to redo tje blade in some type of composite bit not sure where to start. Info on materials, how to, and any other info would be great. Don't have a ton of cash involved so far and I'd like to keep it that way as much as possible.

[Bob P]

It's a project not for the faint of heart... When I was building paddles, I went through 20+ prototypes before I found an "ideal" cruising layup. Not counting the molds and lots of tools, I'd use $40-$50 in materials for each blade. You could do it cheaper, but at the expense of a really heavy blade.

Are you planning on covering what you have, or are you going to start from scratch?

[JimW]

For a properly shaped blade smooth on both sides you will need about twice as much 'composite' for the mould as for a blade, it really isn't very economical for manufacturing a single blade.

If you want something really rough and completely flat, you could take a smooth flat glossy surface (we used to have copper clad plywood but for one off a plank with gloss paint on will do) wax it up with several coats of mould release wax and lay up directly onto the board. The side against the board will end up flat, the other side will have the texture of the reinforcement. If you are careful and roll the laminate well to consolidate it you might get something you could use once in a while without vac bagging it. Make the blade over size and trim it to the shape/size you want on a bandsaw.

What material to use?
You probably want a spine - start with a dowel that will fit into the shaft at one end and plane towards the tip so it ends up like a spigot with a long wedge at one end. If you don;t use a wooden spin how are you going to make the spigot to go in the shaft? (It is possible to make in composite a bit trickier though)
It's probably going to break anyway so don't spent too much on fancy renforcement, try woven S-glass cloth - plain woven roving would work well for the completely flat side, a twill weave will drape over a spine better though. To increase stiffness you would use carbon, I would stick just some bits of carbon tape if you are on a budget and not expecting much from the blade - I would probably stick it in line with the spine (where most of the stiffness will be) front and back. If you discover that the blades flex side to side on mkI you might add some horizontal strips of carbon to mkII and see if it works better.
Avoid kevlar, it is tough to cut - decent pair of kevlar shears mayl cost as much as the material for an entire blade, and it will quickly clog the bandsaw blade when trimming the cured blade.

You would be much better to source a separate blade.

Come to think of it, how do you define a decent paddle if the blade is rubbish? Surely what you have is a nice shaft and T grip?

[col. mustard]

I say decent meaning that it breaks down and I got for 20 bucks. It's just and aluminum shaft, plastic trip and blade. I just wanted to have it for a back up. Tried it out and when I pushed off with it it just snapped. All I'm trying to accomplish is to have a decent back up in case I need it. If someone else does this type of work I'd be interested in pricing.

[Paddle Power]

Can you find or get your hands on a broken paddle (shaft), either canoe or kayak, and use that blade?

Can you sweat talk a paddle company and get a second or demo blade?

Can you get a warranty return paddle from a store or company and salvage the blade (canoe or kayak blade would work for a DIY break down/back up paddle)?

[Larry Horne]

If you have all the broken parts you could just glass over it. It'll be really ugly, super heavy and it'll cost more for materials than it ever could be worth.
Really, it's not a good project.

[Roy]

If the OP really wants a hobby, then I suggest: carve a wood blade, glass it, and glue to the shaft. Somewhat like what Mitchell does with their carbon shaft/wood blade sticks. It will, I bet, turn out such that he will never want to use it (beacuse the shaft is probably sketchy).

If the OP wants the cheapest possible breakdown paddle, I suggest buying a economy Carslie for about 15 bucks, and working out a way to make that a breakdown. It would be, IMHO, easier to make a Carslie into a breakdown than it will be to do anything with the current broken paddle.

Having a Carslie as a spare provides considerable motivation to hold on to your stick.

http://www.amazon.com/Carlisle-Economy- ... merReviews" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Roy

[col. mustard]

The op already has a break down paddle that just needs a little work. That is why the op posted asking for information on how to, not what I should have done first. The op is very gifted as a craftsmen and only needed a little direction. The op does not need or want to throw money at simple solution and already has plenty of hobbies, what the op does have is a necessity and desire to make a blade for the break down paddle already in his possession. What the op asked for was information that would be USEFUL not a bunch of snarky opinions that have zero use in the project at hand. The op would like to thank the very few who offered knowledgeable information. I'm still trying to figure out why the others bothered posting a reply at all. I've got all the info I need thanks, and I will be posting my results along with any how to information, materials, weight, performance, etc.

[Silent Bob]

Easiest method would be a wood/glass blade. That eliminates the need for molds, etc. Foam core might work too- carve sheet foam into blade shape, glass the outside. Seems like a worthy experiment.

[JimW]

The suggestions to carve a wood blade (sheathed with fibreglass or otherwise) are good. You can start by glueing timber offcuts together (with epoxy, cacamite or similar) rather than buying a board, if you have different coloured offcuts you can arrange them to make it pretty too. Such a project is more feasible than an all FRP blade, should cost less and if you choose your wood carefully weigh about the same. There are loads of guides for carving paddle blades, it is quite a popular pastime - here is one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eex7Q6z-qg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Roy]

Well, I don't represent any of the other snarky posters, but, I was side tracked by the original description: "a decent 2 peice breakdown paddle but the blade is brittle plastic that has already snapped in half."

I thought no "decent" paddle could possibly have a "brittle plastic" blade. So, my suggestions were based on the assumption that the shaft was junk, too.

But, assuming it is a great shaft, I'll stick with my suggestion of a wood blade covered in glass. Maybe an aluminum tip; maybe Dynel.

I think a foam core works great if you have a mold, but would be very hard to do if one was just laying cloth over the foam.

Roy

[NickParker]

You could jump start the process considerably by picking up an inexpensive wooden paddle (for example at Academy Sports for ~$20). Cut off the blade, fit it to your shaft and epoxy it in. If you don't like the shape of the blade, either cut wood away or glue wood on and shape it.

Epoxy a dynel cord to the blade tip (wrap it up the sides however far you like). Hold it in place with stretch wrap, packing tape, or whatever while the epoxy cures. It can be ugly and messy at this point, because you're going to sand it flush with the wood after it cures. If the blade is too thick, thin it down a bit while you are sanding the dynel.

Cover one side of the blade with glass cloth and epoxy, going high enough to cover the blade/shaft joint. Let the fabric stick out beyond the sides and tip of the blade, again you are not worried too much about appearance at this step. After it cures, do the other side.

After the second side cures, trim away the excess, and grind/sand everything to final shape. If you think you need to, you can put on a final very thin coat of epoxy, but only if you need it. As the last step, put on a coat of spar varnish for UV protection.

I did a very similar project (upgrading a cheap wooden paddle), and years later it is still going strong. I used West System 105 resin with the 205 hardener. I got everything (epoxy, cloth, dynel cord) from Sweet Composites.

That resin is really easy to work with, and it shapes/sands very nicely.

The dynel cord will really soak up the resin, so don't try to paint it on. Soak the cord with resin in a plastic cup, poking it with a stick to work out the air and work in the resin.