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Rennie Heuer

Rennie Heuer

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A relative has asked me to help him out with a little problem. This paddle was a gift and holds emotional value so, rather than replace it, he wants to know if it can be repaired. This might be above my pay grade but I promised to investigate and do what I can.

I know very little about how and what these are made of. It is very light so I am guessing some form of cedar. How would one go about making this repair, assuming it can be done?

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only thing i can think of, is to remove the broken area with a bandsaw, make a plug slightly thicker than the surrounding area, glue in, then hand plane down to match the thickness of the surrounding area.
 
Paddles are usually either cedar, or ash.

To repair that one, you could clean up the break and then install a 'Dutchman' to fill in the void. The wear and tear along the tip can't easily be repaired. You might need to sand it smooth and re-contour the whole end of the paddle.

To prevent further wear and breakage, you might consider sanding the bottom half of the paddle blade down to bare wood, then putting a layer of 6 or 8 ounce fiberglass cloth over it. Many premium 'whitewater' paddles are made that way.
 
I would:
  • Cut a flat bevel with a chisel on the angle and side of the break. Basically make flat mating surfaces that meet at a crisp point.
  • Cut a piece to match as close as you can but a bit long and a bit to thick, try to match the grain.
  • Rub the patch with a pencil lead then fit/rub the two pieces together. The lead will highlight the high spots on the paddle..
  • Very carefully shave those down.
  • Repeat the rub and shave until there are no high spots especially on the edge of the break.
  • Glue and clamp the patch in place.. A couple grains of salt will help keep it from slipping. Epoxy as the preferred glue.
  • Plane the patch back to flat
  • cut the round end to match and sand back
  • Sand and re-finish.

Edit: it looks like the broken part is cedar, the central spine/handle is something else (maybe ash as Jim said).
 
I can't some up with anything different that what has been suggested, but I can't help but wonder about what glue to use. Since this is submersed more than most stuff, I'm thinking that just moisture resistant glue like T3 isn't enough. The only truly waterproof wood glue I know of is resorcinol , and it's so hard to find (and expensive) it might not be an option. That said, it's not likely they used resorcinol in the original construction, so maybe this is not the problem I imagine.
 
Go to a marine store for the adhesive. Don't mess with our standard woodworking glues.

Normally I would suggest to just get a new paddle, but is there is some emotional attachment, well, you can try to fix it as stated above.

Paddles take some major serious abuse on the ends. They get pounded and dug into rocks, sand, concrete and get mashed and mangled. That is what is used to push off of the shoreline and push you over shallows of sand mud dirt rocks and whatever else is there.

If there is that much sentimental value, fix it then make a bracket to hang it on a wall. Better yet, leave the battle scars and mount it. After that, go buy a paddle for the boat, and don't get attached to it.
 
All good advice - as expected!

It seems the best route is to cut out the broken area along the joint lines leaving a square edge on 3 sides. Then glue in an oversized patch and hand plane to match. I'll need to find a small bit of cedar, should not be too hard, and the right glue. Funny, when I was a kid my dad always had a can of Weldwood resorcinol powdered glue in the workshop. Getting harder to find these days. If I still worked for Weyerhaeuser I could get some easy. Might get hold of some old friends there. I only need an ounce of powder.

Will post progress pics as this unfolds.
 
I'd also laminate the blade with fiberglass. It won't be quite original, but it won't let you down.

I have a friend who is enormously strong and routinely broke solid ash paddles. He asked me to make him a lightweight, double-bladed paddle that wouldn't break. I made it from WRC cedar and wrapped the whole thing with fiberglass, two layers on the shaft. It hasn't broken in 20 years of use.
 
To what Ryan said, I would make the patch piece triangular so it could be wedged in place as a means of getting clamping force on the sides when glued.

You can see where the nearest joint was in the original wood. In one picture it appears that the crack extends to that joint, so one line of the triangle should, IMHO, be along that joint, and the other side far enough out to include the split area. That may make the triangle extend well above the break, which I would consider good, as a way of getting more glue area on the patch. out of the primary stress area. I would be happy if the patch extended half the length of the blade.

I use a lot of chalk in my shop to label parts; the chalk becomes a great way of identifying the fit (easier to me than rubbing a pencil)

I would not anguish over the glue. This is not a boat that sits in the water full time, but a paddle which is dipped occasionally. Regular carpenter's glue would probably be fine, but I might use water resistant (such as Titebond 2 or 3) just to make me feel better. I have epoxy and plastic resin glues, which are really waterproof, but I wouldn't bother in this case.
 
Bruce Haugen said:
I'd also laminate the blade with fiberglass. It won't be quite original, but it won't let you down.

I have a friend who is enormously strong and routinely broke solid ash paddles. He asked me to make him a lightweight, double-bladed paddle that wouldn't break. I made it from WRC cedar and wrapped the whole thing with fiberglass, two layers on the shaft. It hasn't broken in 20 years of use.
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I think this is more of a sentimental piece than something that will be put to practical use. I'll forgo the fiberglass for now as I suspect it is more likely to be hung on a wall than be dipped in the river.
 
Charlie Plesums said:
I would not anguish over the glue. This is not a boat that sits in the water full time, but a paddle which is dipped occasionally. Regular carpenter's glue would probably be fine, but I might use water resistant (such as Titebond 2 or 3) just to make me feel better. I have epoxy and plastic resin glues, which are really waterproof, but I wouldn't bother in this case.
Click to expand...

Given this, and my understanding of the limited future use for the paddle, I''l recant my words concerning the resorcinol and just go with TB 3 that I already have on the shelf. Also, given that this is likely never to see actual use, the repair is, for all intents and purposes, simply cosmetic. I'll verify all this with the owner prior to beginning repairs.
 
I would have approached it completely differently. I would have made a simple sled, that held the paddle secure, ran it over the table saw blade, right at beginning of crack only cutting off small portion, then glued up cedar and glued it to paddle,shaping to match other side on bandsaw, sand smooth. apply marine finish poly, or whatever top coat they use.
 
if for looks leave it alone if for use then use ryans idea better glue joint strenght, if used long term then fiberglass part of it the center piece is ash the rest is cedar.
 
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