I finished up my "bent" one last night and will try it this weekend. It is the same overall length as the prior solid cedar one, with a shorter loom and slightly narrower blades (3-1/4" vs 3-3/4). It's made of two pcs of 1x4 redwood, laminated up the middle, with a fir spline at the tips.

The redwood is lighter than the cedar, tho I have no accurate scale to check. They are close but the redwood is a little lighter. This may be due to the narrower blades, but I dont think so. It has no finish yet, oil may even them up.
The redwood is a little stiffer. And it is very soft wood, even sanding it with the surface on the table mars it up pretty good.

: A Greenland paddle shaft is quite short as is. If you are looking for a
: technical challenge then you might find making a hollow core interesting.
: On the other hand, keep in mind that each lamination adds weight from the
: glue, and epoxy or varnish finishes also add weight (and reduce the
: buoyancy of the paddle). If you truly want a lightweight Greenland paddle,
: the simplest approach is to use a solid piece of western red cedar with
: vertical grain and don't apply a finish.

: I was working with a paddler this weekend who was using a Malone
: "Firestorm" Greenland-inspired paddle. He was very surprised at
: how much lighter my cedar paddle was. Also the buoyancy was much
: different. The solid paddle, held vertically, floated with only about nine
: inches of the paddle blade under the water, the laminated paddle sunk down
: to the paddle shaft. I find the extra buoyancy to very helpful. Of course
: his paddle would fare better for encounters with oyster bars. As always
: YMMV.

: Greg Stamer
: Orlando, Florida