Hey Don,

Very nice work!!!

I found the fatal flaw when I used your paddle (it was in my stroke!)

I like the varnish finishes, but I'm sure an oil-rubbed (or soaked) finish is more traditional, and not as slick, although I didn't find your paddle distractingly slick.

Shawn
: I havent done that yet, that is also an interesting thought. It's kind of
: like boat testing - how strong is strong enough? Or does it matter? Or is
: it relative strength between one or another technique that I'm after? I do
: have a paddle with what I thought was a fatal flaw in it - but I let Steve
: try it Monday and he couldnt feel it. I was tempted to break it, but now
: I'm not so sure. I could give it away at R2K2, and not tell the recipient
: what the flaw is - they'd probably never figure it out. But I know it's
: there, so I can feel it. Tough dilemma - after I told Steve what it was,
: he tried to talk me into giving the paddle to the store for thier
: classes...

: Actually, glassing the inside is quite easy - I cut the material for the core
: strips, and glass it. Let it go off, and then machine the core strips and
: lay up the core. At the same time, I take the cap strips and glue the
: blade laminations to them. Finally, lay the cap strips out side by side,
: glass them, and assemble the whole affair while the cap stip glass is
: still wet.

: In any beam structure, the further out toward the outside the fibers are, the
: more strength those fibers impart. In the paddle, adding glass to the
: inside should significantly increase the strength. Not as much as adding
: to the outside would, but still significant.
: One of my main concerns using this technique is the slight possibility of
: water somehow wicking its way into the core - either through a pinhole in
: the cap strip glue joint, which is polyurethane, or through the wood
: fibers themselves. Ive been coating with thin epoxy to address the pinhole
: issue, which then requires a varnish finish. Varnishing, sanding,
: recoating, repeat, repeat, and buffing with 0000 steel wool gives an
: acceptable finish, but it is a PITA. By having glass on the inner surfaces
: of the core, I will be able to save that time spent varnishing by instead
: soaking the paddle in a standard oil/turp/varnish brew. I have a couple
: paddles which are soaked, and I like the finish better. It's the classic
: oiled feel, and it is infinitely easier to apply. The only downside to
: soaking is that it takes at least a week in the oven for the paddle to
: dry. But the oil penetrates better than the epoxy. So, I'm hoping to keep
: the total production time to what it currently is, and get a stronger
: paddle with a better finish by using glass on the inner surface. Of
: course, the jury is still out on this, I'll lay up the first two tonight.

: Thanks for your input Risto - I really value this.