My favorite paddles are the Grey Owl Fleetwood. I refinish the grip and shaft down to about three inches above the throat. A lobor of love and I enjoy the feel of the oiled wood. My river paddles get only the grip refinished as they see more abuse o the shaft. I do buff the factory finish with fine wool or wet/dry sandpaper to get the slickery off the varnish or poly surface. Feels better and doesn't reduce the integrity much.
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canoe paddle grip modifications
- Thread starter gumpus
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Well I know that the super high end Quimby paddles leave an oil finish on the grip and also a section about a foot long for your shaft hand...the rest is varnished...like Odyssey is describing.
Fully agree that it's all subtle stuff.
Holmes375, I have handled a Fleetwood and that is one sweet paddle. Wonderfully light and balanced and the blade size seems perfect.
Mike - I'm a big fan of Black Bart paddles. Bud Moll (Black Bart) was a great guy. His paddles are slightly heavier than Zav's and in my view they have better balance since the shaft has some weight to it. He did not make the straight shaft Troublemaker for long before he met his untimely demise (hit a black bear on his Harley). He apparently put the final clear finish on in a dusty room so the shaft has a slightly gritty feel so I sanded mine down all the way to 1500 grit and then polished back to a smooth surface with rubbing compound. A lot of work. I was younger. It does feel better.
Fully agree that it's all subtle stuff.
Holmes375, I have handled a Fleetwood and that is one sweet paddle. Wonderfully light and balanced and the blade size seems perfect.
Mike - I'm a big fan of Black Bart paddles. Bud Moll (Black Bart) was a great guy. His paddles are slightly heavier than Zav's and in my view they have better balance since the shaft has some weight to it. He did not make the straight shaft Troublemaker for long before he met his untimely demise (hit a black bear on his Harley). He apparently put the final clear finish on in a dusty room so the shaft has a slightly gritty feel so I sanded mine down all the way to 1500 grit and then polished back to a smooth surface with rubbing compound. A lot of work. I was younger. It does feel better.
All this talk about removing finishes, to enhance paddle feel in the hand, has me with sandpaper in hand.
I have tung oil, mineral oil, linseed oil, teak oil, and some Watkins blended stuff in house.
For the more learned; is there a preferred oil?
I have tung oil, mineral oil, linseed oil, teak oil, and some Watkins blended stuff in house.
For the more learned; is there a preferred oil?
Apply sandpaper.. Apply more finer grit sandpaper. Go to finer grained sandpaper. No steel wool ( unless you like tiny shards in your hand).
Don't rush..
I personally find linseed oil tacky.. In LA do things ever dry?
I think I have only used teak oil and Watco stuff.. http://www.thesawguy.com/teak-oil-vs-tung-oil/
Don't rush..
I personally find linseed oil tacky.. In LA do things ever dry?
I think I have only used teak oil and Watco stuff.. http://www.thesawguy.com/teak-oil-vs-tung-oil/
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Varnished and carbon paddles give me blisters'. Very little oil and a brisk paddle is the best way to work oil into paddles-repeat as necessary. Actually, your body oil will do it in time.
Thanks for the sanding tutorial. I did learn those lessons around 1959 or 60, doing pinewood derby cars. Lots of wooden boats (over 4,000 board feet of cypress) and gun stocks since then.
And YES, Louisiana has lots of days for drying. Our ground level can also be in very close proximity to the water table, which to some can be associated with occasional dampness.
Just as well I haven't found time to start sanding, as I'm reading all about 100% tung oil vs polymerized tung oil vs boiled linseed oil vs polyurethane vs varnish vs Watco vs etc etc. Makes for good reading though.
my hubby lived in LA for seventeen months. He was perpetually hot and damp.
An acquaintance with wood canvas canoes lived near Baton Rouge.. His canoes stored near the ground developed this fungus that looked like thrush
An acquaintance with wood canvas canoes lived near Baton Rouge.. His canoes stored near the ground developed this fungus that looked like thrush
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I will not claim to be more learned, but I use the same oil for paddle grips that I use for wood gunwales. A mixture of one third turpentine, one third boiled linseed oil and one third spar varnish.
Yes, there is some varnish in it. Varnish is, I believe, itself an oil, resin and solvent concoction.
That mix does not feel like straight varnish on a paddle grip, but rather more silky smooth and not sticky grippy. I have had the same can of that oil mix for years and occasionally top it off. It has never gone bad or solidified.
In fact at one topping off point the only spar vanish I had left was a near solid hockey puck in the bottom of the can. I dropped it in, added the turpentine and linseed oil and a few month later when I went to use it all was liquid.
Good use for the last dregs of varnish too.
That's a good combo and used by a lot of home brew wood paddle makers. Easy to work with and quite durable. I use it on my river paddles that see a bit more abuse. After the initial saturation coat on new wood, apply the following coats using 400 or 600 grit wet sandpaper for a very nice satin finish.
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One of my favorite canoe shops used to sell "gunnel lotion" which is 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 distilled white vinegar. I like it a lot. The finish is not as durable as something like Watco. Another one I like is Badger Oil from Badger Paddles. Pure hemp oil and totally safe to handle and touch. It's expensive but you can get a lot of use out of a small can.
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If you buy good quality boiled linseed oil and you warm it up before applying it penetrate the wood like nothing else and is not tacky at all. A good mix that I use to use a lot is 1/3 build linseed oil, 1/3 Mineral spirit and 1/3 good quality spar varnish. apply warm on warm wood sanded to 400 grit, on the first coat when wood is still wet sand to 600 grit don't let the surface dry out for a few minutes and then wipe off the excess and slurry wait 24hrs and apply multiple coats of the same mix (w/o the sanding sanding) every 24 hrs until you're tired of applying finish to your paddle and go paddling!!
G
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Brad, that is three votes so far for the varnish, boiled linseed and turpentine mix. The latter two ingredients are ubiquitous and inexpensive. If you have any varnish around it is worth mixing up a batch to see what you think.
The only variation in that one thirds oil mix is adding a bit more turpentine when doing the first coat on new wood gunwales. It is stinkier and stickier and takes longer to dry with the added turps, but seems to penetrate raw wood better. I would not use additional turps on a paddle grip, but I like it first gunwale coat.
In the interest of full disclosure my can of oil mix has a dollop of two of other oils, some Tung oil, a wee bit of lemon oil and walnut oil, even dribbles of Watco from an emptyish can.
When I get to the point that I only have a few drops of oil left in some can or bottle I empty the dregs into my varnish, linseed and turps mix. Probably less than 5 percent by volume all together. I do not know if it actually does anything, but it beats keeping a can with a thimblefull of oil on the shelves and I feel better tossing a truly empty can in the trash.
I used to make a mix like that, and then I read that Watco Teak Oil is essentially the same thing - but with a mildew inhibitor. That's what I have been using for several years now, and it does a good job of preserving my poles, even near the ends where they get scuffed up a lot (with frequent touch-ups).
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hand rub it in-rub it in. sounds like a song.
It appears that some of the learned have spoken. And I thank them for their perspective.
Gum terp, BLO, and varnish, with a 2-3% addition of Japan dryer, has reworked quite a few gun stocks.
Sometimes just BLO, and perseverance make for satisfying idle time in front of the tv, or a smoker waiting on a brisket or a pork butt.
I removed the grip factory finish on a couple of double bent paddles, and will probably also do the shaft grip.
Didn't modify the grip shape, as we are satisfied with their shape as is. But there are several other paddles that I want to experiment with altering the grip. Not a plethora of available retail paddles to try out various grip shapes on, so it will be slow going on the stock removal.
I like a T-grip, but Turtle's have me curious.
Great thread gumpus
I never even thought about altering the shape of a grip to improve it. Thanks to all
Gum terp, BLO, and varnish, with a 2-3% addition of Japan dryer, has reworked quite a few gun stocks.
Sometimes just BLO, and perseverance make for satisfying idle time in front of the tv, or a smoker waiting on a brisket or a pork butt.
I removed the grip factory finish on a couple of double bent paddles, and will probably also do the shaft grip.
Didn't modify the grip shape, as we are satisfied with their shape as is. But there are several other paddles that I want to experiment with altering the grip. Not a plethora of available retail paddles to try out various grip shapes on, so it will be slow going on the stock removal.
I like a T-grip, but Turtle's have me curious.
Great thread gumpus
I never even thought about altering the shape of a grip to improve it. Thanks to all
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Been following this thread. It was an inspiration for me to pull out a paddle given to me with a broken handle and repair it.
Tried making it look like the picture on the left in post #1.
I'll get to try it out in the next couple weeks. Thanks!
Tried making it look like the picture on the left in post #1.
I'll get to try it out in the next couple weeks. Thanks!
G
Guest
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canoe grips and shafts are like hammer and shovel handles. How many varnished ones do you see? A little thin oil is ok, I even used salad oil on one and rubbed it in. Also it's better to burnish them after sanding the finish off.
What are you using to burnish?
My experience in burnishing has primarily been gun stocks, and knife scales.
I have in the past used heavy felt, denim, leather, a golf ball, and even a pair of well worn deerskin gloves. Always looking for better advise.
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To burnish I use a deer antler like on gunstocks. One spot is concaved and fits the curvature or the paddle shaft. I also use a scraper instead of sandpaper to remove the finish.
