RE: [Paddlewise] Waterproof glue?

Jennifer asked about 2-piece GPs

I have made 4 so far and they all work well and look just like a one-piece
GP. I would use the same design to make more in the same way. It is a bit
time-consuming and tricky. The central round ferrule is certainly an easier
way ;-)

I always glue my GPs up and make them hollow-shafted. If I want to make a
split paddle, I put about a 800mm (32") long tube into the centre of the
loom. I then carve the paddle and rough-sand it before running a saw through
the middle of the loom. Finally I glue a stub of smaller diameter tube into
one part (as a joiner) and put a fastener in to hold the two bits together.

I believe that my all-cedar paddles are pretty light - Natasha's day-to-day
beater is 760 gms (27 oz) for a 2250mm (89") paddle with loom of 28 x 39mm
(1.1 x 1.5"). My splits wind up about 180 gms (6 oz) heavier than my
full-length paddles. I find that acceptable for the strength and the way
they 'feel' exactly like the 'real thing'.

The bits I've left out of the above description are: 

(a) You don't make the cut in the centre of the loom - you offset it a bit
so the two halves are exactly the same length after you've glued in the
inner joiner tube. Don't do this arithmetic when you're tired ;-)

(b) I worry about a stress concentration where the inner (800mm) tube
suddenly stops and all the strength has to come from a thin collar of cedar.
It helps to have a paddle in front of you to visualise this. To make the
transition gradual, I stuff a weird-shaped fragment of carbon fibre fabric
into the end of the tube and tail it out into the internal cavity of the
loom with a few small bits of foam to hold it in place as it all epoxies
together. That way the transition from fibre tube to cedar is gradual. It
seems to work - I haven't had any breakage with some pretty tough use. I put
a fairly lousy collage of pictures together a few years back - you could
view them here http://www.mmcl.co.nz/Mystery/images/GP-split.jpg

(c) Note that I prefer non-shouldered GPs, if you build shouldered ones, you
may be able to do the tube transition outboard of the shoulders and have
enough wood to ease the pain.

(d) Finding nesting tubes that fit inside the wood for my own grip/loom size
(35 x 41mm or 1.38 x 1.61") is easy - I can just use standard 'euro' paddle
shafts and their associated 'split kits'. I have no problem getting a busted
euro paddle from my local kayak shop - although the split kits are getting
harder to find. However, Natasha's hands are smaller and I had to go look
for some small nesting tube off-cuts from a local carbon / glass tube maker.
By nesting, I mean that the inner tube is a nice tight, sliding fit inside
the outer tube. Any looseness and the assembled paddle will not be rigid.

(e) I held together my first two split GPs using A-spring clips - as the
early euro split paddles did. These paddles are our everyday spare paddles
and live on the afterdeck - they may need to go together quickly and they
do. Since most GP looms are asymmetric, you can have the 'tit' on the
A-spring standing proud of the loom if you drill its hole down from the
'top' of the loom (with the paddle in the power position) or you can have it
recessed or flush if you drill its hole from the front of the loom. I've
never liked the idea of having the tit release when my hand slides over it -
so I made mine flush. It's a little harder to take apart; but hey, I can
always take a paddle apart slowly...

(f) I held together my second two split GPs using 4mm SS socket-head cap
screws. These were going to do a lot of miles as primary paddles, after
flying halfway round the world in two pieces; so although there was no
requirement for emergency assembly, they needed to be rigid. I drilled a 4mm
hole straight through the whole (finished & assembled) paddle loom - from
front to back - through the middle of the tube-inside-tube section. Then I
drilled a shallow hole (concentrically) for the nut on one side and another
for the head of the capscrew on the opposite side. Finally I glued a SS
nylon lock nut into the back. I carry a couple (one's a spare) of SS Allen
keys to assemble and disassemble these splits. I don't tighten the screws
very tight at all - rather like screwing in a light bulb ;-) These worked
far better than my expectations - the small compression (and perhaps slight
deformation of the tubes) seems to freeze the joint completely. After some
hard use there is no vestige of movement between the two ends of the paddle
and they don't need re-tightening in use.

(g) I glue up my GPs from 7 bits of wood (or 9 if they have tips). The main
piece is full-length and has four long skinny triangles glued to widen the
blade areas. Those four pieces can be hardwood for a more durable 'ice'
paddle. Then there are two somewhat shorter and narrower 'cheek' pieces that
go on either side of the main piece - to fatten the loom and the faces of
the blades. I usually cut a long slot in the middle of the main piece - as
it is so strengthened by the cheeks that this wood isn't needed.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Best Regards
Paul Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand
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