Subject: RE: baidarka finish on a paddle
From: Per Berntsen (per.berntsen.371@student.lu.se)
Date: Mon Jul 17 2000 - 17:54:52 EDT
I am far from an experienced paddle maker, but I attended a course with Sven
Ulstrup in Denmark once, and would like to share with you what he said about
finnishing the paddle.
1. His opinion was that sandpaper never should be used on the paddle, and
not on the kayak frame either. As far as I remember the sandpaper sort of
crushed the ends of the wood fibers according to him. This would make it
easier for the water to get into the wood. Sven uses only a draw knife(I
don't know the rigt word for this tool, but it was a metal handle with an
adjustable blade in the middle) to finnish the surface. This leaves the end
of the fibers cut but not crushed according Sven.
2. He didn't use any oil to finnish the paddle, explaining that using the
drawknife made this possible. The resulting surface was really nice to handle.
He was pretty good with the drawknife to say the least, and the surface he
produced was really nice and smooth.
Per Berntsen
At 02:23 PM 7/17/00 -0500, you wrote:
>A problem I have with varnished paddles is that they make the paddle not too
>slippery, but too "sticky." When you slide your hands up and down the blade
>of a glossy, varnished paddle, they tend to grab, release, grab, release,
>etc. instead of sliding smoothly, especially when the paddle (or your hands)
>are wet. Another problem I have with highly-varnished paddles is that they
>feel too much like plastic, and not enough like wood.
>
>I use tung oil rather than linseed oil, but the finishes are similar in the
>way they are applied and cure. I usually use two or three coats, rubbing the
>paddle with 0000-grade steel wool between coats and after the last coat to
>smooth and dull the surface. Before you apply the first coat, be sure to
>raise the grain first by thoroughly wetting the paddle, and then sand it
>smooth after it has dried.
>
>I have never had wood discolor or rot on an oiled paddle, even where the
>finish has worn off. On the other hand, I have had wood discolor under a
>cracked polyurethane finish. I think the difference might be due to the
>polyurethane retaining moisture that has seeped into the wood through the
>crack. Though oiled finishes are supposed to be more water-permeable than
>polyurethane varnishes, I suspect that they also allow the wood to dry more
>thoroughly between uses.
>
>The only reason I finish the wood (aside from beauty) is to minimize the
>possibility of blisters. According to John Heath, Greenlanders have
>traditionally never applied finishes to their paddles.
>
>BTW, for people in the Twin Cities area, I will give a talk on Greenland
>paddles and paddling tonight at 7:00 p.m. in the basement meeting room of
>Midwest Mountaineering, Minneapolis. The event is the monthly program
>meeting of the Inland Sea Kayakers chapter of the Minnesota Canoe
>Association (http://www.isk.canoe-kayak.org).
>
>Chuck Holst
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Marian Gunkel [mailto:gunkel@student.hu-berlin.de]
>Sent: Monday, July 17, 2000 12:26 PM
>To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
>Subject: baidarka finish on a paddle
>
>
>Hi all,
>
>recently, I built my very first greenland paddle (using the wonderful
>description by Chuck Holst). Now I can't decide about the finish. In several
>articles on making paddles, folks suggested either no finish at all or
>linseed oil, most warned of using varnish.
>According to those articles, varnishing a paddle makes the surface of the
>paddle to slippery, thus reducing the grip on the paddle. But there seems to
>be ways to sand the varnish afterwards or to use different varnish (can't
>remember the name).
>
>What finish do you prefer? Will an oiled paddle still take on water? I might
>be going for linseed oil in the first place since I am leaving shortly for
>the Aland islands (a huge archipelago in the Baltic Sea, Europe).
>
>Looking forwards to your answers,
>Marian
>
>
>Marian Gunkel
>Berlin, Germany
> http://www.mariangunkel.de
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