Making a wooden kayak paddle is a unique and personal way to enhance your kayaking adventures. This process involves cutting the wood, designing the paddle to your dimensions, and constructing it based on an Inuit design. The first step involves researching and sketching, followed by CAD design and CNC manufacturing. Wood tools are used to prepare the wood for the paddle.
The blades are cut from 16-18 long, 4 thick, and at least 4 wide blanks. Wider blanks can be used for a more intricate design. The paddle is then clamped securely and planed down with an electric planer. The blades are then planed flat and tapered down to 12 thick at the tips.
For the shaft to slide through, forms of 34″ plywood are cut out, measuring 12″x6″. These forms should have an opening for the shaft to slide through for gluing. A line is drawn to guide the paddle through the process.
In conclusion, making a wooden kayak paddle is a fun and rewarding project that allows you to personalize your kayaking adventures.
📹 Lightweight Kayak Paddle from a Reclaimed Wooden Board
I needed a paddle for the kayak I’m building and I also needed a new video so that’s this video and next I’ll try and finish the kayak …
📹 Making a Wood Kayak Paddle
In this video I demonstrate the whole process of making a kayak paddle from wood. Starting from cutting the wood through getting …
Hey Pask, just want to say, you’re probably one of the best woodworkers on youtube in terms of skills and you have a great sense of esthetics. I’ve always enjoyed your articles but man, you should wear a mask during your sanding sessions, those fine sanding dust will take a toll on your lung at some points.
I just came across my shrink wrap roll with its handle covered in Titebond III from when I made a few Penobscot bows back in the late aughts. It was the kind with a cardboard tube and a slip on rubber handle you squeeze to manage tension, but the handle kept falling off, so it got tossed. The Paddle look brilliant!
I keep looking at it and think it’s too thin, but then i stop and realize this is a paddle, not a batting bat. Goes to show how perfectly balanced these things are between looking just petite enough and being strong enough to work as paddles. Neat. Edit: Just noticed you passed one million! Congratulations, highly deserved milestone for one of the hardest working woodworkers on YT. Always a delight and a pleasure to see your articles pop in the subs.
A masterpiece accessory. It is much more suited to your Kumiko Kayak!I wondered about the veneer on the blade – until you started fiberglassing. Very useful observation about the shrink wrap affecting glue curing. I use the shrink wrap (called flat twine for whatever reason at the hardware store) for all kinds of irregular and delicate glue ups. I guess I have been lucky because I have also used cauls which elevate the wrap and let in air.
Excelente proyecto muy bien desarrollado y mejor ejecutado, tiene que llenar de orgullo y satisfacción ver un trabajo cómo esté terminado y cuando lo pruebe en kayak ya ni le cuento, gracias por compartir sus conocimientos y experiencias, un saludo cordial y por supuesto un gran like desde Narón (Galicia) 🤓 🔝
If the glue + fiberglass isn’t enough to strengthen the blade of the paddle, there’s always the possibility of reinforcing it with composites. Make the surface out of thin wood veneer, and sandwich a carbon fiber blade in between. Reinforce the attachment points with metal pins that go through the stick and into the blades.
Hello Neil, that was such a pleasure to watch! Thank you. The fiberglass application looks like magic – the wetting and making it to follow the contours. How come that decorative strip is flush with the rest of the paddle? Is there a groove for it to settle it below the level of the rest? Also, I realize the articles are edited but I admire how sure you are in all your steps. Do you ever get that hesitation before cutting into a piece you spent hours on? The fear of spoiling it with a cut? I get that all the time and although I overcome it eventually, it is a noticeable hindrance. The unwillingness and fear to do the make or break step… Thank you again, master maker.
From the glue manufacturer’s site: “Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue is not for continuous submersion or for use below the waterline.” The paddle won’t stay continuously submerged, but I think its use will be close to a regimen Titebond would not consider adequate for joints glued with Titebond III. I believe the best glue for the paddle would be a polyurethanic glue – it slightly seeps into porous surfaces before curing, and once cured is like plastic, with zero sensitivity to water. See if there’s any EU-style marking on the glue packaging – D1 is weak and with zero water resistance, for indoors use in dry places only, D2 is somewhat better, but still only for indoor use only, D3 is what Titebond III is, and D4 is for any glue joint, even joints continuously submerged in water.
I hadn’t read any of the comments but what are your thoughts on drilling two holes and installing dowel rod where the joint is, I know the epoxy won’t let the joint separate but it wouldn’t for sure being pinned with dowel rods and It would be a nice look, just a thought, you do amazing work buy the way
I worked for a boat building company, and we had a lot of lead weights around the shop that we used for compression clamps. I did a lot of research on the dangers of lead and had my assistant paint all of the lead weights yellow. This served as a barrier to prevent the workers from unintentionally ingesting lead. No, they weren’t licking the lead, but they were eating and drinking with lead on their fingers. This, even in small amounts, is cumulative and our bodies incorporate the lead in our bones. Please be careful when working with lead. The effects are nor easily reversible. lead is sweet, the Romans used it to sweeten their wine with terrible results. You are probably aware of the horrors of the recent incident in the USA where lead pipes poisoned an entire generation of children. And there was a good reason that lead was removed from petrol worldwide. lead is very bad for you, don’t touch it.
As you were glueing the scarf joint I thought ‘I wouldn’t trust just glue to bear my body weight whilst paddling; surely it needs pegs or dowels’ so felt quite vindicated when it broke during the sanding process. I would maintain that the shaft does need the fibreglass, I wouldn’t trust the epoxy to maintain the joint when the force is applied.