2013: Post 51 – A trial run or a paddle restoration?

I sanded my newest Greenland paddle last weekend.  It needs a final sanding, and I think I will probably take a little more wood off the blades... seems just a little too thick.  This particular paddle is the first one I have made that is all cedar wood; my other ones are either solid spruce or lamination's of spruce/cedar. Since the cedar is softer than the spruce I decided I should add some PVC to the tips the way Sean does... see this post by Sean.

I consulted with Sean as to what epoxy to use to bond the PVC to the wood and the process involved. Today I finally got around to getting the job started.  But I had not tried this before and I figured that I would do a test run on the paddle I had broken last year (see this post). Then I decided my time would be better put to use if I did my trial run on the paddle I have been using since last year.

The Greenland paddle that I have been using for the last sixteen months has the ends well chewed up as you can see below...

I cut a couple pieces from the PVC pipe I had on hand and traced out the shape on the ends of my paddle.  Once the frayed wood was removed it exposed the sound wood lurking underneath...  

A little bit of work with a file and the fit was decent enough.  The epoxy will fill any little gaps....

Per instruction's from Sean, I roughened up the smooth inside face of the PVC with sand paper, then mixed the epoxy, and held things in place with a few finishing nails....

Sean had told me that he had mixed some black ink with his epoxy so it would blend in with the black PVC.  I did not have any black ink around and since I am using my worn paddle as a trial run I really don't care about the aesthetics of it.  Maybe the white epoxy between the wood and the PC might be kind of interesting.   

I have to let the epoxy set on this end of the paddle and then I will do the other end; I have it already cut and the piece of PVC ready to be adhered.

I am thinking that adding these PVC tips to this older paddle may not be a 'trial run' after all... perhaps it is more of a 'paddle restoration'.  If I've done the job properly, and the epoxy holds the PVC in place, I will have greatly extended the life of my older paddle... unless I break it.