: Rehd,

: If I repaired the old paddle, it would be a backup for when I go out with
: other people and need an extra paddle. I am currently building it's
: replacement, and I am also building a storm/spare paddle at the same time.

: The storm paddle will have an Alaskan Yellow Cedar (2x2*) shaft with Western
: Red Cedar (1x2*) blades laminated to it. The shaft part seems to be the
: weak area. Should I use a stronger wood for the blades too? I have some
: extra sitka spruce, mahogany, oak, and greenish/purplish birch just laying
: around the basement/shop. I'm not too concerned about weight on my storm
: paddle, I want it to be VERY strong, I'm not concerned about dings, just
: breaking resistance. My storm paddle will spend most of it's life on my
: rear deck, waiting for an emergency situation.

: The standard paddle will be all Western Red Cedar (2x2 shaft and 1x2
: blades*). This will be my ultralight cruising paddle, for going fast all
: day. I will try to keep more of a center ridge on my new paddles, but thin
: the blade edges a little more. I want to keep the weight around what
: Whetstone paddles are, I guess around 26 oz.

: *2x2 and 1x2 are not final dimensions, I start out by epoxying 2x2's and
: 1x2's together to form the paddle blank.

: You can't really tell that there is oil on the old paddle, but I know it is
: there and it did soak in. It was put on last about 3 months before the
: paddle cracked.

: Mike

Mike,

I currently am abusing two paddles, my favorite is sitka spruce, 63" long weight 28 oz. my backup is yellow cedar, 58" long weight 24 oz. The shaft on the spruce is oval, 1 3/8" x 1" on the yellow cedar 1 1/4" x 1", The spruce paddle has split once, I mixed up some epoxy and flexed the blade so it worked into the crack, the paddle is just fine. Both are strong enough to allow me to place the blade on the ground one hand on the shaft and one on the grip and LEAN on them (6'2" 220#). If I would trim the blade of the yello cedar paddle to a reasonable size, I could probably cut 3 or 4 oz off the total weight. The only paddle I've ever broken was red cedar, I'd go with the yellow cedar for both.
Good Luck,
Bob