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The ultra-light, freestyle paddle that I've been working on, for the past several weeks, is complete and ready to be shipped. It's made of paulonia and walnut with a 4 oz. fiberglass facing. It has a 38" shaft & 20" blade for an overall length of 58" and a finished weight of 21 oz.

The 1st step was isolating the best grain patterns and sectioning the board into lengths, suitable for paddle blades. Each piece was cut to half of the finished width, as they will each be resawn and milled into book-matched halves which will then be glued together, with mirror image grain. For...

Yesterday I found a local hardwoods supplier, in a nearby town. Nice fellow with a small sawmill. He has contacts and imports logs from all over the country and some from abroad. He saw, planes, dries and stores his inventory, inside. Long story short, I purchased one, expensive, though I think...

Any of the woods you stated would be fine for your purpose. Thwarts are only occasionally and intermittently exposed to water so rot is really not an issue (unless the boat is inappropriately stored). If you wish to provide the ultimate in protection, when all cutting, drilling, etc. is...

Nice. What boat is that?

I agree with you Tom. Simply, for purposes of this discussion, I was trying to simplify/clarify.

All good points Glenn.

Acquiring paulownia is difficult. My understanding is that it originally came from the orient and was planted in the states both as an ornamental tree and also in experimental plantations for possible lumber harvest. In recent years it has been deemed to be invasive. In many areas efforts are...

I'm shooting for 19 oz. It's a 38" shaft with a length overall of 58". I'll post the actual weight when finished.

Currently working on an ultra-light FreeStyle Paddle. Paulownia and walnut. In the 1st photo I am applying a sealer coat of epoxy to the sanded blade. In the second photo, a layer of 4 oz. fiberglass cloth has been applied. The weight of the clothespins help keep the cloth wrapped around the...

Well said.

Interesting questions. As to the method: The entire blade is sheathed with epoxy saturated fiberglass. As such, the various wood laminations are fully protected from the water. The very tip of the blade is an epoxy compound with various fillers, so even a chip in the tip, would not result in...

I have others that perform perfectly and look darn good. No need to chance scratching this one. Thanks. FYI, I have been building and selling paddles for many years.

Yes. Walnut and maple. Correction. The middle laminate in the edge is ash. Maple is more prone to cracking when bent like that.

After 40 or so years of building paddles, I finally built one that will likely never be used. It will hang on a wall, in my home. It's not that it couldn't be used, it is a fine freestyle blade - perhaps the nicest one I've ever built. It has razor thin blade edges and balances perfectly. I...

A slew of gators on Gum Slough.

Tonight on Hampton Lake. A pair of Limpkins.

I got a little artsy tonight with this Great blue heron, that was having a bad hair day.

Sitting on my dock when I returned from an evening paddle. This beautiful limpkin posed from 10' away.

Perhaps a bit self serving, but I thought it was time to chime in. I designed the Savage River Harmony for use as either a solo or tandem. They outfit them both ways. Mine has both tandem seats and a "center" solo seat. It makes a fine day tripper or weekender as a tandem. It's a high volume...