: I'm even more confused now. :-)

: I think maybe we're talking about two different steps. The book says to
: taper the shafts before gluing the paddle blade halves on, and points out
: that this step is cosmetic and optional. Later on he talks about "rough
: cutting the ends," where you cut the ends of the shaft to correspond
: with
: the scoop of the blade. Then, finally when you're "grinding the
: blade"
: I think is where you carve the shaft back so that on the back face it merges
: with the blade surface about half way down.

: I think the idea of this cosmetic tapering is that when you look at the
: face of the finished paddle blade the shaft (which forms the center stripe
: in the lamination) gets narrower at the tip.

: But now I'm still confused because the book says "the faces that show
: the glue line ... is the face you will glue the blades on." but Steve
: says, "The glue line that you mention should show, if you laminated
: the shaft, on the face of the paddle along with the lines of the paddle
: lamination." Maybe the answer is that it doesn't really matter.

: Chris

Chris,

It is easier to cut the taper on the end of the shaft and rough cutting the scoop the front side of the shaft before gluing the blade halves on. Be sure to trace the outline of the gluing area on the side of the shaft before cutting so you don't cut too much off.

After the blade halves are glued on and the blade outline is cut then planning, spokeshaving, scraping and sanding on the back the blade tapers the blade thickness to thin it toward all of the edges. The only planning, spokeshaving, scraping and sanding on the front (power side) of the blade is to smooth it. You can spoon the front side, however, spooning a blade tends to make it flutter and harder to control while skulling or making sweeping strokes.

Be sure the paddle halves glue onto the wider face of the shaft. The long axis of the oval cross section of the shaft should be parallel to the direction of pull during the stroke. Also double check the direction of the power face before cutting the shaft ends. Paddle in the air with the shaft blank and mark the orientation of the power face on the end of the shaft before making the end taper or scoop cuts. All of this left or right 60 degree feather stuff is very confusing when looking at paddle pieces on the work bench.

Dave