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I'm 100% sure there'll be some wise simple solutions on here...
I made a canoe paddle last year and have yet to get it wet.
I think I prefer the idea of just oiling it rather than varnish - but seems there's 101 ways of doing it and asking on a canoe forum opens a whole can of worms.
Has anyone done it, what did you use and did it work?
thanks
Yeah I made my own from reclaimed Iroko from science lab benches. It's a fairly oily wood already but I just applied multiple coats of Osmo to it.
I use it regularly and it still looks great.
I let a bull in a China shop use it in my boat, and he threw it up the bank when landing, hit a concrete step and it cracked down one of the old board joins/glue lines. I fixed it with several Festool Domino joints across the split and epoxy.
Bit of a sand and some more Osmo and it actually looks even better with the contrasting pieces.
There's not really any magic in an oil finish. It's a beautifully simple finish to apply. Osmo recommend two coats but you can go more. I apply it with a rag, rubbing it into the grain, have a cup of tea, then wipe off any excess hard almost burnishing it. It's always worked great for me.
Danish oil is the same process but I'd tend to keep going with coats until you're bored. Osmo is tackier to wipe off but they end up similar when dry.
My original board was around 25mm thick, so where I have the handle end I built it up with an additional layer each side before shaping.
To shape it I used a bandsaw, power plane, hand plane and orbital sander.
***Posting the above Instagram links the pictures are there when I first post but they can disappear later and just have the link text. I've noticed this in the Last thing you made thread. Anyone know why?
It even supports large penguins.
Thanks for that. lovely paddle.
Mine's ash, but assume same principles all apply - seem to be a few Osmo oils, assume just the standard top oil, rather than any of the polyx varieties?
https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/product/osmo-top-oil
I actually used the Uv protection version, mainly because I had some in the workshop but also, I wanted it to retain its colour as well as possible and it also has anti fungus etc, good for a river environment.
Ash will come up lovely. I'm keen to make another soon and might use Ash.
Post it up here when you're done 👍😊
I almost find it sheds water a little too well. I often dip my paddle deep on the stroke so as to get a bit of water on the grip which seems to help with paddleage.
That guy from Shit Creek called - can one of you help him out?
I'm just sanding down all the woodwork on our canoes. Sadly it had been varnished before but I'm oiling this time with osmo.
Sounds like Osmo for the win then...guessing even the smallest tin will see me out.