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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/17/2008 7:14:16 AM

SimplyMichael

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Cali, ROCKLER? Are you kidding me? Oh, and hand planed or machine? Some woods machine plane fine, like Lyptus that hand plane like shit.

As for the type of wood, even pine will work, just make sure the grain runs straight on the handle and you should be fine. For paddles, my favorite is maple with fancy figure like quilting. Becote is amazing, purpleheart is pretty, rosewood is DENSE as is ebony.

I am going to make some paddle sets that are designed for mind fucks. There will be two matching ones, both veneered, one that is very light the other heavy so you don't know which the asshole is using. Give me a chance to do some fancy veneer work. I want to use a figure called "pommelle" which looks sort of like 3D clouds or crushed velvet in acrylic when it is finished, it looks like you can stick your finger into it.

http://www.woodcraft.com/search/search.aspx?query=zebrawood

Actually, both places carry a lot of cool stuff, LeeValley is another MUST have catalog.

Woodcraft carries "paddle stock" which I call anything from 3/8 (VERY stingy) to 3/4 (very thuddy) in 3" widths.

Order a can of General Finishes of SEMI-GLOSS Armor-Seal polyerethane. Put it on THIN using only a folded up paper towel. Put on three to four coats. Let it dry for two days after the last coat and then sand with 320 lightly till the surface is dull (low spots and pores show up glossy) and then put another two coats on. Will be beautiful and easy to clean.

As an aside, the way satin finish is made in a can and semi-gloss to is they add in very fancy dust. That scatters the light and gives it a satin look. However, you pay for that with less clarity which is why some thick coats appear so plasticky. The real way to get satin is to rub it out with something like 0000 steel wool but that is too satin for most people. The trick is to find a white 3m pad (fancy scotchbright pad) and rub it out with that....oooh it is so clear and nice.

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/17/2008 12:34:01 PM

wulfgarw

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I have a local source here that does a lot of hardwood flooring conracts and stocks some exotic hardwoods or can order it in. I have paddles so far made of black walnut, poplar, and red oak. Future projects include cocobolo, curly maple, honduran rosewood or bloodwood, and I have one in the works for a matched pair (One holed and one unholed) in purpleheart.

If you'll be making a lot of paddles, I reccomend a Dremel, a small orbital sander, a router, (I like the Dewalt brand tools) and a lot of sandpaper including 200 and 400 grit. An emory cloth is nice too. Machine sanding is ok for rough sanding and shaping, but I like to hand sand after I've moved on from say 80 or 100 grit. And like the other poster said, hand rubbing your finish is the best way to finish any paddle. Although I use a semi gloss polyurethane.

There's a lot of good advice here. But look up your yellowpages for hardwoods and you might be able to find a supplier. And my plaques story always seems to satisfy the 'Whatchya makin?' question.

Edited for grammar and finish type.

< Message edited by wulfgarw -- 5/17/2008 12:38:21 PM >

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/17/2008 6:21:23 PM

SimplyMichael

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Flooring places are a great bet as they often have remnants they will let go cheap but you don't tend to find exotics nor figured hardwoods. Plus you need tools to get the wood into shape. If you have a tablesaw and a planer you can use anything.

With a cabinet scraper you can shape the whole thing by hand surprisingly quickly. In fact, with a sharp well prepared scraper I can finish even fine grained woods like maple without touching sandpaper.

Sanding open pored woods like walnut and oak you don't need to sand past 180/220. Maple and poplar, being finer pored, can do with 320 and even 400 sandpaper. If you stain them, here is a trick to get rid of the dark edges where the end grain is exposed. Sand a grit or two past what you surfaced the rest with and it will lesson the absorbtion of finish/stain and even out the colors. That is a trick I learned doing fancy gunstocks.

I recomend wiping on a finish because for most people, it is the most foolproof. I don't know if there is a best finish as it depends on what you are doing. I love spraying on a finish, you can use lacquer which is very durable and great for doing larger surfaces. I use shellac for some stuff, especially garnet shellac as it imparts a hint of red that just makes some stuff pop.

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/17/2008 11:11:20 PM

ResidentSadist

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Nyckname
Beech hard v good.......etc
[Mod Note: screwy formatting fixed]

Thanx to both you and the mod for this post. Nice info to have.
Great thread Asher!

< Message edited by ResidentSadist -- 5/17/2008 11:12:20 PM >

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/18/2008 7:54:31 PM

SNoB

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I dont think zebra wood smells that bad, but i have noticed it does like to splinter, be carefull when you run the edges over your router. The paddle did turn out nice, but not as nice as the bloodwood, purple heart or cocobolo paddles I have made. One nice thing about cocobolo(aside from it being heavy as hell) is the natural oil in the wood, you can just polish the wood once its sanded, rather than putting a varnish on it. If you do decide to put a finish on cocobolo rub it down with de-natured alchol, then put on a coat of laquer. If you dont get rid of some of the oil in the surface, a finish wont dry.

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/19/2008 6:33:47 AM

SimplyMichael

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Be careful with cocobolo as some people can have serious reactions to the wood. It doesn't bother me but I know people who if they breath the sawdust react to it and others whom get red rashes almost instantly.

The tropical exotics can be nasty.

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/19/2008 8:58:41 PM

dodedo

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I really, really adore my purple heart paddle. It has just the right weight to be thuddy, and light enough to sting, if that makes sense. It's gorgeous, and in my opinion one of the most beautiful I've ever seen or felt.

Just wanted to put my bottom's opinion in there = )

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/20/2008 11:35:48 PM

DungeonDesigner

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Kilm dried Hard Maple is still my favorite, 19th century Walnut is next.(old chest or drawers milled down etc) Both are great hardwoods that make fantastic paddles.

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 5/21/2008 12:01:13 AM

EarthGoddess52

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I love my cocobola paddle. It's beautiful wood, but I have to be careful with it as it packs quite a wallop!! Thanks for the heads-up on the possible reactions. So far, I've not had any problems, but it's good to be aware.

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 6/12/2008 10:59:53 AM

BumpStick

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Well I have to go with Rosewood or Bloodwood as my personal favorites :D

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 6/12/2008 4:29:53 PM

Nyckname

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Keep in mind that some exotics are being replanted to compensate for what's cut. One paddle doesn't seem like much, but when you add up not much here and not much there it can mean the extinction of a species.

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 6/13/2008 3:51:13 AM

Asherdelampyr

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thanks for all the responses :D

I think I have settled on Cherry and willow, wondering if I can stain them to look identical (thanks for that idea Michael)

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 6/13/2008 7:21:07 AM

CruelDesires

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quote:

ORIGINAL: SimplyMichael

Order a can of General Finishes of SEMI-GLOSS Armor-Seal polyerethane. Put it on THIN using only a folded up paper towel. Put on three to four coats. Let it dry for two days after the last coat and then sand with 320 lightly till the surface is dull (low spots and pores show up glossy) and then put another two coats on. Will be beautiful and easy to clean.

I also like to use a few other methods to spread polyurethane onto well sanded woods and metals. The cheapo sponge brushes work great. Expecially when you are doing large surfaces. I also use cotton balls wrapped in old panty hose. The cotton holds in the polyurethane so you can cover larger items between dippings, and the pantyhose helps spread it out in a smoother finish. :)

CD

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RE: Best wood for a paddle? - 6/13/2008 8:16:12 PM

BootBlackBlast

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I love my paddles made from old ash baseball bats. They rock. Skinny long two cheek paddles. I also love cherry, rosewod, and cocobolo as well. As much as I love my cocobolo paddles, I worship my cocobolo pipes.

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