Hi Mike,

I suppose I could go with your suggestion and pare-down the blades to be thinner, but from what I've read on the Greenland paddle, the diamond-shaped cross-section plays an important part. I can't vouch for that, having only made one Greenland paddle before. The first one did have thinner blade edges, so much so that it wasn't comfortable to grip it, which is why Chuck Holst's plans appealed to me (3/8" thick blade edge).

BTW, when I got home and took another look at the paddle, I pretty much shelved the idea of lightening it by cross-drilling some holes. I think Greg was right about the negligible weight savings. It is possible that I've just built a nice wall hanging. Next time I'll be more selective of the lumber I choose.

Ross

> Ross,

> My 100% red cedar one seems quite light. That is after I thinned the
> blades down quite a bit. The shaft on mine quickly tapers down to the
> thickness of the blades, just a few inches after the blade starts. I
> originally had a taper from the shaft to the blade tip. It was very heavy
> then, but once I thinned it down it became a pleasure to paddle with. My
> paddle is solid with no holes in it anywhere. It is made of three
> laminations (one 2x2 and two 1x2s) of red cedar, glued together with
> epoxy. The red cedar has adequate strength with this setup, but has a nice
> flex to it also.

> Mike