National Treasure-esque Canoe Paddle
October 10, 2011 8:43 PM Subscribe
I'm making a gift for a friend and I need to make part of the blade of a canoe paddle rotate. What's the easiest way I can do this?
I have this paddle and I want to make it where the sides to the left and right of the darker grain (including the dark grain) will rotate so you will see the parts of the backface of the paddle while the center of the blade stays still. I'm planning on woodburning a design on the blade, and then when the sides rotate a new design is formed. Here is a badly edited image to show what it would look like once the sides have been rotated.
I was thinking of sawing off the sides, and then nailing them back on, but I was told that that would split the wood. So what are my other options? I have access to several woodworking machines.
I have this paddle and I want to make it where the sides to the left and right of the darker grain (including the dark grain) will rotate so you will see the parts of the backface of the paddle while the center of the blade stays still. I'm planning on woodburning a design on the blade, and then when the sides rotate a new design is formed. Here is a badly edited image to show what it would look like once the sides have been rotated.
I was thinking of sawing off the sides, and then nailing them back on, but I was told that that would split the wood. So what are my other options? I have access to several woodworking machines.
Oh shit,.. now I get it. Strike most of the preceding stuff I wrote.
Still, pretty tough thing to do with such thin pieces of wood and it's likely to end up being a huge time sink.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:09 PM on October 10, 2011
Still, pretty tough thing to do with such thin pieces of wood and it's likely to end up being a huge time sink.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:09 PM on October 10, 2011
Some clarifying questions:
Do the sides need to rotate in unison, at the same time?
Can they rotate freely, or should they be able to lock into place?
Is this for water-use or wall-mounting?
If the answers for the above are 'No', 'The former', and 'wall-mounting', you can lop off the sides like you want and carefully mount dowels into the center piece. As bonobothegreat indicates, however, it'll be hard to do without busting up such thin and lightweight pieces of wood.
posted by carsonb at 9:12 PM on October 10, 2011
Do the sides need to rotate in unison, at the same time?
Can they rotate freely, or should they be able to lock into place?
Is this for water-use or wall-mounting?
If the answers for the above are 'No', 'The former', and 'wall-mounting', you can lop off the sides like you want and carefully mount dowels into the center piece. As bonobothegreat indicates, however, it'll be hard to do without busting up such thin and lightweight pieces of wood.
posted by carsonb at 9:12 PM on October 10, 2011
Response by poster: That's a no to all those questions! No, the sides do not need to rotate in unison (but they can, either way works), they can rotate freely, and no it won't be for water-use!
posted by Deflagro at 9:34 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by Deflagro at 9:34 PM on October 10, 2011
If it were me, I would use a utility knife rather than a saw. Secure a metal straight edge to the paddle using clamps. Using that as a guide, make many passes with a sharp blade, making sure not to change the angle of the knife. Be careful not to let the grain of the wood pull the knife away from the straight edge. Change the blade if the tip gets dull.
posted by Knappster at 9:57 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by Knappster at 9:57 PM on October 10, 2011
I looks like one of those things that would be really tricky and require a fair degree of skill, plus a few attempts, to do well.
The paddle won't lie flat, for a start. To accurately cut the sides off I think you'd probably need to clamp the paddle in some kind of jig to hold it level, and then use a bandsaw or fine table saw blade to do the cuts.
To get a rotating joint isn't trivial either. Nails or screws won't do it, and neither will dowels. Those will all become progressively looser the more you rotate the sides (except for screws, which will either fall out or over-tighten until the threads strip or the wood cracks. A long bolt and washers might do the trick, but they'll protrude from either side of the paddle, which will look a bit silly. Even getting a hole through the side pieces in such a way that the sides will rotate is a tricky job, and will require as a minimum some careful clamping and a drill press.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:03 AM on October 11, 2011
The paddle won't lie flat, for a start. To accurately cut the sides off I think you'd probably need to clamp the paddle in some kind of jig to hold it level, and then use a bandsaw or fine table saw blade to do the cuts.
To get a rotating joint isn't trivial either. Nails or screws won't do it, and neither will dowels. Those will all become progressively looser the more you rotate the sides (except for screws, which will either fall out or over-tighten until the threads strip or the wood cracks. A long bolt and washers might do the trick, but they'll protrude from either side of the paddle, which will look a bit silly. Even getting a hole through the side pieces in such a way that the sides will rotate is a tricky job, and will require as a minimum some careful clamping and a drill press.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:03 AM on October 11, 2011
There are lots of ways to do something like this. How it comes out is a matter of how obsessive you are, and that's about it.
A narrow kerf sawing device (like a flexible Japanese hand saw) would be my tool of choice to remove the sides. $20 at any decent hardware store.
Once the sides are off, you have a number of choices for rotating elements. Some may require a little work. I think I'd opt for a dowel, contrary to other suggestions. Drill the hole large enough to permit free movement.
This isn't something that has to last in practice... so approach it as a limited life thing. Make it work / look good and do not consider durability and/or perfect function and you'll be on the right track.
Concentrate on finish and the most primitive of the functional requirements. Don't fret about durability or absolute perfection in the mechanics and I think you'll hit the target.
posted by FauxScot at 5:20 AM on October 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
A narrow kerf sawing device (like a flexible Japanese hand saw) would be my tool of choice to remove the sides. $20 at any decent hardware store.
Once the sides are off, you have a number of choices for rotating elements. Some may require a little work. I think I'd opt for a dowel, contrary to other suggestions. Drill the hole large enough to permit free movement.
This isn't something that has to last in practice... so approach it as a limited life thing. Make it work / look good and do not consider durability and/or perfect function and you'll be on the right track.
Concentrate on finish and the most primitive of the functional requirements. Don't fret about durability or absolute perfection in the mechanics and I think you'll hit the target.
posted by FauxScot at 5:20 AM on October 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I started typing up the way I'd do it using hanger bolts hidden under a plug, but I realized that might be too involved. Yeah, just use a smallish chunk of dowel. Glue it in on one end but not the other. Make sure it fits pretty tight - you may want to drill the hole a bit undersize and sand the dowel until it fits tightly. Wood shrinks as it ages and dries, so in five years it'll be loose and in ten years it'll fall out. Not much you can do about it.
If you can find them in an appropriate size for whatever thickness of dowel you end up using, dowel centers will help a lot with getting the holes aligned. Drill one hole, pop in the dowel center, align the pieces and press them together. You'll have a nice starter hole exactly where you need to drill the other hole.
IMPORTANT: Practice this whole thing on scrap a couple of times before you work on the real one.
posted by echo target at 7:11 AM on October 11, 2011
If you can find them in an appropriate size for whatever thickness of dowel you end up using, dowel centers will help a lot with getting the holes aligned. Drill one hole, pop in the dowel center, align the pieces and press them together. You'll have a nice starter hole exactly where you need to drill the other hole.
IMPORTANT: Practice this whole thing on scrap a couple of times before you work on the real one.
posted by echo target at 7:11 AM on October 11, 2011
Please understand that doing this may destroy the functionality of the paddle.
You'll have to leave gaps in the wood, and that will reduce ithe blade's drag through the water.
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 5:31 AM on October 12, 2011
You'll have to leave gaps in the wood, and that will reduce ithe blade's drag through the water.
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 5:31 AM on October 12, 2011
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If you try to saw off the "blades", you're going to lose material from the thickness of the saws cut and even more trying to plane down to flat edges for gluing (without taking into account that a paddle doesn't have ANY straight edges to use as a guide). The second big thing is that beveling the edge of the fin to change it's angle is going to make the edge "wider" than it would be in a straight cross section and that will make it REALLY awkward to join up and glue.
A paddle is supposed to be light and elegant. I think that any modifications you're planning are likely to turn it into an abomination.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:02 PM on October 10, 2011