Two old paddles

[Dana]

I have two old paddles, I don't remember where I got them... might have been in our current or old cabin when we moved in. The first (no picture) is a conventional beavertail, with a very pleasing shape and comfortable grip... though it's a bit too long for me if I'm in the back. That one I refinished with polyurethane (mistake?) some years back. It has a crack in the blade, which back then I glued, but it's cracked again and I'm wondering how best to repair it?

Here's a few photos of the other one. 60" long. No finish on it, so I have to decide what to use on it. The shaft to blade joint is something I haven't seen before, as is the dowel across the grip. The blade is laminated from two layers of thinner material. Maybe homemade?

 

[Dana]

Bumping this; like my canoe project life got in the way.

Looking at it more closely I now see the blades are made of 3 layers; the center layer is a thin veneer, around 1/16". Each blade face is two pieces, with the center layer tying them together. Then it looks like both the blade blank and shaft were pocketed to interlock together and glued before finishing.



It's mostly in good shape, but it has delaminated farther down along the blade:



It takes a lot of force to squeeze it back together, so I'm think filling it with epoxy, forcing it into the crack with a syringe, might be the best approach?

Still interested if anybody has any ideas about its origin or possible age.

 

[Gamma1214]

A syringe should work for the epoxy. You probably won't need a needle though, just fill the crack, squeeze the 2 sides together & scrape off the excess while the epoxy is still green (24 hours or so).

Interesting construction method for sure. Looks like someone got a really nice fit when they were built (sorry, I can admire the workmanship but I have no idea who might have made them or when)

 

[Dana]

As with all of my projects, things happen slowly. Last summer I filled the cracks with epoxy while I was working on my old fiberglass canoe, then put it away until now. Since there was no trace of any old finish left, I decided to use Watco Teak Oil, and I really like the way it turned out. Looks like an old gun stock, and feels nice in my hands.

The other paddle in the photo is the old beavertail mentioned above. It was pretty rough and the end of the blade was chewed up, so I trimmed about a half inch off, rounded the new edge, and painted all around the end with epoxy before shooting a half dozen coats of rattle can spar urethane. It's ugly but should be serviceable, if a bit long for me. This paddle is the shape I'm copying (in a shorter length) for a new ash paddle.