Re: [Paddlewise] Care and maintenance of carbon paddles

From: Nick Schade <nick_at_guillemot-kayaks.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 22:21:24 -0500
On Jan 12, 2005, at 3:39 PM, PeterO wrote:

> John wrote:
>> the carbon fiber should provide adequate protection
>> to the laminate below the first layer but some
>> deterioration on the surface may occur. If the
>> scratches bother you the paint will solve the problem
>> (you can even use it for fancy decoration if that
>> turns you on). Two part polyurethanes seem to work best.
>
> G'day John,
>
> Thanks for the advice. The scratches do bother me a bit, which is 
> curious
> because normal wear and tear scratches on a boat don't worry me much 
> at all!
> Anyway I'll certainly try the two part polyurethane and hope that its
> available in a transparent version.

Remember that adding a finish will add weight. On a normal paddle I 
wouldn't let this slow me down, but since part of the reason for carbon 
is lightweight it does matter a little more. I would let the scratches 
accumulate before doing anything drastic. Small scratches could be 
buffed out at the expense of some material if they really bother you. 
The best solution is to just ignore them.

Nick Schade

Guillemot Kayaks
824 Thompson St
Glastonbury, CT 06033
USA
Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Wed Jan 12 2005 - 19:21:43 PST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:19 PDT