William R. Watt wrote:
John Fereira ) writes:

A quart of boiled linseed oil runs about $7. A quart of mazola corn oil is
about $5.

You'd go out and buy a quart of linseed oil to use a couple ounces on a
paddle sahft when you could just reach into your kitchen cupboard for a
couple ounces of cooking oil you already paid for? Chances are you'd
already have paint thinner on hand to thin out the linseed oil. If not,
you'd have to buy a quart of that too. That's the only reason I suggested
cooking oil.

Corn oil doesn't cure, it just soaks the wood, goes rancid and stinks.
It provides virtually no protection and is not a useful wood finish.

You can buy linseeds, aka flax seed,
at a health food store and make your own linseed oil, and some day I might
try it to see if it's cheaper.

You'd also need to buy some Japan Drier to add to it, unless you want to
wait weeks for it to cure. That would cost as much as buying boiled
linseed oil off the shelf. Raw linseed oil is not a good wood finish.

If you have to go out and buy all that
stuff retail just to finish one Greenalnd paddle it can more than double
the cost of the paddle considering a piece of red cedar doesn't cost much.

True, but you'll have plenty left over for other projects. Greenland
paddles are sort of like potato chips, you can't make just one. ;-)

Regarding epoxy, you can buy a quart kit of Everfix epoxy for $20 at
Home Depot, which is a bargain compared to what you pay for tubes. It
has a long shelf life, so it will still be usable when you need it in
the future.

Polyester resin is fine for laminating fiberglass, but it's a very poor
substitute for epoxy when you're working on wooden paddles. It's not an
adhesive and it's nowhere near as strong as epoxy.

I have lots of red cedar on hand salvaged from the floorboards of a
backyard patio deck when I refloored it. I've cut up that red cear for
gunwales, chines, thwarts, a sprit and all kinds of things boaty. There's
nothing like making a paddle, or a whole boat, for free and I encourage
every paddle maker and boatbuilder to try it.

Recycling materials is great, if you have access to them. Most of us
aren't as fortunate as you in that regard.