>Richard wrote > >>John, I agree with this analysis. The problem is where do you find such >>paddles. Everything I have seen is short with wide blades, or long with >>narrow >>blades. I can't find any paddles with a short shaft and narrow blades. >>Any suggestions? >John Winters answered: > >Changing the size of an existing blade is not difficult. One could buy a >standard glass blade and then start cutting it down in increments until it >felt just right and I would think. Maybe Hank Hays can comment on this. Thanks, John. It sort of depends on whether the paddle bldes are a foam core or not. Changing a blade shape could expose the foam, which is not a good idea. Those paddles that we produce (Lightning Paddles) and many others do not have a core, foam or otherwise. Such blades can be trimmed with a jigsaw, the handheld elecric jobbie-do (used to be called a sabre saw when I was a kid). A carbide grit-edged blade works best, but any 14 tooth per inch or less will do for just a one or two paddles worth session, no problem. File the edges smooth and finish off with a small piece of 100 grit sandpaper. Do it in small increments not taking off a lot at a time. People who have done some of this sort of thing (some some of them with paddles other than ours) say that the narrower the blade gets, the weirder it starts to feel. Too much aspect ratio starts to require the Greenland stroke style because the standard pull through the water increases the amount of flutter over what the wider blade has. Got questions, holler off list.... Hank *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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