I just picked me up a new paddle. Needing some help, I want to put a chip guard on it what should I use?

Quick and dirt method is use straight pins to attach some 1/8 " cording / 550 cord to the edge. Start at the bottom of the blade and run it up the sides of the blade about half way (8" to 10"). Apply a couple of coats of epoxy resin to the cord and the cord will soak up the epoxy and harden into nice looking edge guard.

I used this method a few years back. epoxy tip

quote mr.barley: "I used this method a few years back. epoxy tip "

I did this to my paddle and like it. It has held up and easy to install. After you apply it just sand it to shape.

quote mr.barley: "I used this method a few years back. epoxy tip "

Yep. You can change the color by using a different types of wood sawdust

quote Grizzlyman: "

quote mr.barley: "I used this method a few years back. epoxy tip "

Yep. You can change the color by using a different types of wood sawdust"

I used a filler with the two part epoxy. I bought it at Rockler with the West system epoxy. The filler is a cream color but you can then add a dye to match your wood. The filler helps to add strength. I would think you could add sawdust as a filler too. Let us know how it went. I used the Silica powder in my paddle. I use it, abuse it, and it holds up great. I thought about putting some fiberglass on it and I'm glad I did not.

Epoxy will provide some protection but epoxy alone, unsupported by fabric does not provide nearly the strength as cloth, even with additives such as microballons, silica powder, or wood flour mixed in.

For maximum abrasion resistance you can use Dynel which is an acrylic resin that is very commonly used for edge protection on high quality paddles. It is available as a plain weave fabric and as a 3/8" hollow cord specially made for paddle edge protection. The cord flattens out along the paddle edge due to the hollow core.

Dynel cures somewhat milky white with epoxy, however, so it will be visible on the wood. If you want a very nearly invisible, but less abrasion resistant edge, you can use plain weave fiberglass cloth. Fiberglass cloth of 4 ounce/square yard weight will be virtually invisible when fully wet out and saturated with clear epoxy and 6 oz fiberglass cloth will be nearly so.

Your paddle has nice, gentle curvature along the blade tip so getting fabric to lay down smoothly along the edge should be fairly simple.

I used brown micro balloons as a filler.

Never tried the dynel on any of My paddles- sounds interesting.

I do know this though- thickened epoxy by itself(good epoxy like west) is plenty as a rockguard. I've dropped and banged many paddles on the tip and it's never failed heck my wife even ran over one of my paddles (yeah I know)- the glassed blade cracked but the tip was intact.

cured epoxy has a very high compressive strength. (9-12k psi depending on which) the tensile strength is higher than you'd think as well at 6-8k psi.

quote Grizzlyman: "Never tried the dynel on any of My paddles- sounds interesting.


I do know this though- thickened epoxy by itself(good epoxy like west) is plenty as a rockguard. I've dropped and banged many paddles on the tip and it's never failed heck my wife even ran over one of my paddles (yeah I know)- the glassed blade cracked but the tip was intact.


cured epoxy has a very high compressive strength. (9-12k psi depending on which) the tensile strength is higher than you'd think as well at 6-8k psi. "

Epoxy alone may be "strong enough" for many applications, but in comparison with epoxy impregnated fabrics it fares relatively poorly, as shown in this diagram:

tensile strength to failure

Dynel fabric and cord can be purchased from Sweet Composites (and other vendors):

dynel