Varnish or Epoxy for Refinishing a Wood Kayak Paddle

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fishr3
Posts: 592
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:35 pm
Location: Katy, TX

Varnish or Epoxy for Refinishing a Wood Kayak Paddle

Post by fishr3 »

I have a nice wooden kayak paddle that I would like to refinish, but can't seem to find the right varnish or epoxy stuff to do it. I'm obviously no boat builder, but this could be the beginning. I find the wood and fiberglass construction of this paddle quite fascinating. Looking for advice on the best "value priced" marine epoxy that I could use to refinish my wood kayak paddle. I also would like to know where folks go to buy their boat building materials. More specifically the epoxy.
Making a wooded paddle might be a good introductory craft to try before taking on the whole boat building thing.
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gerald
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Re: Varnish or Epoxy for Refinishing a Wood Kayak Paddle

Post by gerald »

Paddles are great to build. The design, mechanics, and engineering of a paddle is very subtle and very difficult. BUT paddles are like boats. It's really hard to make a "bad" one. My first paddle was made from a 1X 6 yellow pine board. Heavy, but it worked. Just copy your favorite paddle and you're good to go. Along with that are the greenland and aleut style paddles that you can make out of a laminated blank or a single piece of wood.

Finishing is partly an individual preference. You need to protect the wood but it's also how the paddle feels to your hands. I mostly just epoxy paddles. If I want more protection than that I'll use Varathane exterior UV protected water based polyurethane--same thing I use on my boats. Any of the marine spar varnishes and urethanes will work fine. You can find them at Home Depot and Lowe's. Some people prefer to oil their paddle with an appropriate wood finishing oil. I understand that walrus fat works well for the eskimos... Paddle finishing is really not rocket science (though the physics of the way paddles work IS...)

I buy all my epoxy, some cloth, and misc. supplies from http://www.uscomposites.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and I get cloth, closed cell foam, and a few other things at http://www.sweetcomposites.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I never quit looking for new places and new stuff...
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