Greg,
,
: Stiffness will vary from paddle blank to paddle blank. My favorite
: quartersawn cedar paddles are extremely stiff, with just enough flex and
: spring to make them feel lively. I have rejected more than a few though,
: that had good grain but were too flexible for my tastes.

After checking it out again, I'm beginning to think I may have overreacted to the flex in the blank. This particular blank has fairly coarse grain, so it may be more flexible than a finer grained piece. Since this is my first attempt at paddle making, I'm not overly concerned about getting a "perfect" final product, as the design will probably evolve with use. One of the reasons I'm using an oil finish is that it will be easier to reshape, if necessary.

: I haven't had any trouble with cedar splitting. I am not very knowledgeable
: on lumber preparation but I believe that the lumber that I use is
: kiln-dried. Perhaps your supplier did not properly dry the lumber (kiln or
: air-dried). Or perhaps poor storage, allowing the dried lumber to get wet,
: has greatly increased the moisture-content of the wood. It is not
: "green" (undried) lumber is it? If so then you will most likely
: have shrinkage and "checking" problems.

The lumber was damp, but I suspect it was from external moisture trapped in the stack. The blank was drier on the inside than it was on the outside when I bought it. It seems to be stable now and it's very light (33 oz. for a 90", 90% finished paddle), so I'm sure that it's quite dry now.

: The only problem that I have experienced with solid (kiln-dried) lumber, on
: very rare occasions, is that sometimes planing the surfaces will release
: internal stresses that warps the board. Chris Cunningham recommends using
: the "center" of the wood, planing away the heat-treated outer
: edges, to combat this.

So far, that has not been a problem. I'll finish planing (actually spoke-shaving) the blades to their final contour tonight. If it's going to warp, I would think it would have by now.

: If you are going to epoxy the ends, you might consider making them white, to
: resemble the traditional bone end-fittings.

Good idea. I'm considering laminating narrow (~1/4") strips of fiberglass or Dynel around the ends of the blades, then rounding them over. Epoxy mixed with talc should give a good aproximation of bone color, wouldn't you think?

Thanks for your input.

Brian