: I build this paddle by gluing up a paddle blank made from northern white
: cedar and mahogany... The placement of the
: hardwood on the paddle shaft is very important. The hardwood must be
: positioned on the shaft so that it is parallel to the blade surface
: orientation. This creates an I-beam like structure that is much stronger
: than a shaft made of one piece of softwood. Making a paddle of laminated
: pieces allows any defects in the wood to be eliminated. By gluing up the
: blank I can reduce the amount of stock removal and visualize the paddle
: proportions sooner. Also the edges of the blank are flat and regular, so
: it is easy to draw lay-out lines to guide stock removal. The finished
: weight of my paddle comes in at about 32 oz.

I've just been final sanding my first Aleut paddle, from Wolfgang Brinck's
book. Rather conservatively, I think I've left the blades thicker than I
should (I can always take material off later, but not put it back !) and before
epoxying, have 1105 gm for a 222 cm paddle. I like the feel of the paddle,
especially the control building my own paddle gives me over the shape of the
shaft. I was tempted to try to hollow out the power face of the blade to save
weight, but wonder if this would lead to paddle flutter in use ? It would be
nice to see some more detailed drawings of Aleut style paddles that people
have made - along with details of the weight and how they perform in use. I'd
be very interested in plans or a photo of a paddle laminated as Rob describes,
as it should be possible to get the weight down quite a bit with that sort of
technique.

: I like to seal my Aleut style paddles with epoxy and finish with varnish.
: This makes them tough and no maintenance.

Do you put anything over the end grain (glass roving or similar, maybe) to
add abrasion resistance ? It seems the end of a sea paddle doesn't take the
abuse of a white water paddle, but using it as a prop to thrutch down a beach
at launch must put quite a bit of abrasion into the tip...

I've read that varnishing the handle of a canoe (single blade) paddle causes
blisters (on your hand, not on the paddle :-), but some form of protection is needed - is a varnish finish better in this respect than bare epoxy ?

Andy