Paddle Construction Methods & Techniques
I thought I would try to shed a bit of light on how I make my paddles. I build 3 different kinds of canoe paddles, a normal straight shaft and blade paddle, a straight shaft power stroke blade design, and a bent shaft power stroke blade design. Here are profile shots of what they look like. Bent shaft paddleStraight shaft paddle As an avid flat water canoer/paddler, I am very conscious of the need to keep the weight of the paddles down as much as possible yet making them strong at the same time. A lot of this can be achieved by careful wood choices. For example, I use a lot of bass wood for my shafts and blades. While technically a hard wood, it is very light, yet flexible enough t...
