Pam asked about repairing a GP Duane really said it all - use a marine epoxy (eg: West Epoxy). If there's a lump missing from tip or edge, smooth out the face of the wound and fit (hand carve) a small lump of wood to glue in. I like shaping the repair to look something like that first bite in a sandwich - an arc. Maybe avoiding hard corners isn't necessary, but to me it looks a little nicer (as there aren't many hard corners on a GP). Match the grain if you wish - or make it a contrast to emphasise the 'patch'. Glue and let cure and then shave down to match the surrounding wood of the paddle. These repairs are easy and have worked well for me up to about 50 x 20mm (so far). In the case of a big break - further up the shaft - I broke one paddle and never managed to repair it satisfactorily. I was trying to fix it 'quick & nasty' which is probably why... I didn't much like the paddle, so I soon gave up and made a better one. At least the process gave me a better appreciation of how I wouldn't field-repair a GP ;-) I should also point out that the breakage occurred because I'd been too clever and taken too much wood out from the shoulder areas of the blades. It was strong enough for paddling - although it offended the eye a bit - but it wasn't strong enough for abuse. One learns... If I really wanted to fix a break in the loom (or in the blade near to the loom), I guess I'd try splicing in a new bit of wood, using a good long scarf joint and some form of jig (to keep the bits all properly aligned, like a leg splint) - which you could make using the unbroken end of the GP as a pattern. Hasn't yet arisen, luckily. Since I oil my GPs, I use a hardwood edge and tip (in preference to Duane's glass or carbon reinforcement) - just because under oil the fibre will not look as pretty as it does under epoxy. The only GPs I've epoxied all-over are the ones I took to Alaska with the Feathercraft. I found that our oiled paddles chafe too much with the FC - the deck ropes are right on the edge of the hull/deck and the paddles rub there when we get tired & sloppy. The epoxied GPs slide on the rope & fabric just like a slick 'euro' paddle shaft. How do you all deal with the little wounds to the epoxy covering layer that lets in the sea water and causes little 'ulcers' to bloom ? Best Regards Paul Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Feb 08 2011 - 04:53:47 PST
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