Posting Issues

Dude, seriously... what's up with the pictures!? (That's me conversing with the computer) Sorry folks, bear with me here, It's hard enough to be a journalist, photographer and editor, I'm crappy at all of the above anyway. Some days it seems like a crap shoot to get things to line up, and it looks different on the preview compared to the actual post. Why can't the computer read my mind...never mind I said that. Just be patient and be glad I'm not using a Gutenburg press. I only have 9.8 finger as it is!

Wet Camera Blues

Ya know what sucks...cameras, wet cameras, wet cameras that don't work. The waterproof bag developed a pin-hole leak...I was out for hours. Nuff said. The paddle is coming along, all glassed and sanded smooth. It is currently hanging from the ceiling in the garage, drying after the first coat of varnish. I'll probably do 4 coats, the can says 6 coats, but I'm protecting the epoxy(and a couple of spot where I was heavy handed with the sanding) not bare wood, so we'll see... The last thing my camera ever saw...

Let's Make A Paddle ~ 3

It took about a day and a half to thin down the blade, round the shaft and get to about 90% complete before fiberglass and epoxy. I will fine tune the throat (where blade and shaft meet) grip, and give it the final once over the next two evenings. I am really stoked to get it all done, but don't want to rush anything and make a mistake. It's fun and a little scary at the same time, you put a lot of time in making something like this, you definately don't want to mess it up before it gets in the water. That being said, go get some wood and start making a paddle!

Let's Make A Paddle ~ 2

In the last few evenings, I've begun getting to grip to emerge from all the wood I glued together up there. I didn't take any photos , but last night it looked like a big fat bar of soap on a stick! I have a few more passed to make with a micro-plane rasp and lots good old fashioned hand sanding ahead of me, although I will probably cheat with my random orbit sander. The white markings are blackboard chalk. I like using it for wood working, especially with hand planes, so I can locate high/low spots on a project. It comes off easily, and It help me from working too deep into the wood most of the time. You can see a black section on the end of the grip, the epoxy didn't fill that, but it will either be sanded out or filled when I epoxy her all up later. I I did weight the paddle with the grip blocks, blade at full thickness, but cut to shape...5 lbs! The goal is less than 2 lbs, the closer 24-28 ounces the better! time to sharpen up some tools!