Re: OFF TOPIC to FRANK

Posted by FrankP on Oct 12, 2004

Paul,

Basically I just rolled 10.9 oz CF around a PVC tube that was wrapped in plastic wrap (Saran wrap). Then I wet it out. It's just as easy to work with as fiberglass. The hardest part was getting the diameter around the PVC to remain constant. (It slipped around a lot like "floating" glass initially.) I ended up using my copper wiring (which I didn't use much of on my NorthBay) to wrap around the wet out CF to hold it still. Once the epoxy had set for a few days, I just pulled the PVC tube out of the CF and had a hollow shaft to use as a paddle shaft. I layered 2 layers of CF on a 3/4" (Inside diameter) PVC pipe and that gave me a pretty good shaft diameter that is comfortable for me to hold. Just sand it down, and recoat with eposy just like doing fiberglass, and it will eventually come out with the nice shiny layer like commercial paddles. You can also do it with a vacuum sealer, but I would do that from the start next time. Once the PVC is removed I think it will be harder to vacuum seal to any real effect. With the PVC still there, you can vacuum seal and use less epoxy to full effect I believe.

I used fiberglass for my first set of blades, and will eventually make some out of CF as well. Especially if I can figure a way to dye the epoxy so that the blade carries a bit of color. I basically used Shawn Baker's method for making blades. Next time (as with the shaft) I will vacuum seal those as well.

I'll try and get pics up at some point, once I actually finish the paddle. I still need to put the ferule on it and do a bit more glassing on the blades.

FrankP

In Response to: OFF TOPIC to FRANK by Paul on Oct 12, 2004

Replies:

• Re: OFF TOPIC to FRANK by Laszlo on Oct 13, 2004
  • Re: OFF TOPIC to FRANK by FrankP on Oct 13, 2004
    • Re: OFF TOPIC to FRANK by Paul on Oct 13, 2004
    • Re: OFF TOPIC to FRANK by Paul on Oct 13, 2004
    • Re: OFF TOPIC to FRANK by Laszlo on Oct 14, 2004