: . Hello Scott,

: First off, I don't think it's stupid, I think it's creative. Second
: I really was expecting this to be a thread about Greenland
: Paddles! People are always calling my GP a popsicle stick!!!

: I don't think you want to layer glass between each layer. Resin is
: your enemy when it comes to weight. You might consider taking a
: piece of styrofoam and shaping it to the spoon shape you want,
: and then glue up your sticks into that as a mould. Then take the
: sticks out and glass the front and back. You could even use a
: paddle as a building form. Trying to build up a thick block of
: popsicle sticks will take a whole lot of gluing!

: I would use Raka 3.25 ounce or 4 ounce. I love Raka's 3.25 and use
: it almost exclusively now because it's very strong for the
: weight. I'd go with two layers on the face, and one on the back,
: and if it wasn't stiff enough after that go another on the back.
: It's hard to say with the popsicle sticks. It really depends on
: how good you get them glued up and how stiff they are before
: glassing.

I agree with Malcolm. What you are really doing is making a custom shaped piece of plywood using small strips. Using fiberglass between layers will make it REALLY heavy, which it might be anyway, even without the extra resign of doing fiberglass between each layer. If it were me, I'd make one test panel two layers of sticks, and one 3 layers of sticks, fiberglass, and test each, and see if one is noticeable stronger.

Sounds like an interesting project, though.

StephenHJ