: Me too! They end up being more interesting anyway, and if you're laminating,
: you can minimize the effects of grain runout.

: Hey, a fellow scrounger!

Shawn,

I have no problem with being cheap, just ask my wife (hey, I rescued my current BBQ out of the trash when a neighbor discarding it just because the burner was shot).

But cheap meaning inexpensive and cheap meaning poor-quality are two very different things, and different folks might read your use of the word either way. I would feel safer wearing a poor quality PFD or even none at all, than rely on a paddle and a spare made with defective wood. So scrounge away, but I wouldn't advise anyone to ignore quality.

Everyone is different. I started building my first paddles with whatever I had on hand, then become more and more picky as time went on. When new carbon paddles can cost over $400.00 dollars, I still feel pretty darn "cheap" when I can get a quality piece of cedar for $15.00 - $30.00.

Greg Stamer