Pair of bent shafts

I just finished a pair of virtually identical Ash / Cedar / Basswood / Carbon fiber bent shaft paddles that I was commissioned to make. The shafts are made of cedar with a 1/4 inch strip of ash laminated down the center to give it strength. I tried to choose the cedar for the haft and upper grip that would contrast in color with the fairly light ash. I went with a redish wood for the shafts and darker, almost brown pieces for the top grip. The blades have a basswood core on top of which I laid up 6.5 oz twill weave carbon fiber. I choose bass wood because it is light weight and easy to work with. The blades were shaved down very thin and being bass wood they were very flexible but with the addition of the carbon they are very stiff. All of my paddles are meant to be used so the blade angle was set at 12 degrees that should be suitable for long touring days. These are the lightest paddles that I've made to date and weigh in at 17.25 oz. I should really apologize for the quality of some of the images.

 

Looks like some beautiful work! How do they feel in the water?

 

They're like sculpture or jewelry--- lovely. Paddling is even more fun, when you're using something beautiful like this. Must be an extra joy to know you made them!

Kathy

 

Thanks, I haven't had a chance to try them out yet. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to get on the water. Studies are keeping me pretty busy right now.

Like I said though, they are for someone else so I won't get a chance to really use them.

I'll have to make one for my self.