On 14-May-2005, Drew Cutter wrote:

Here is an article on Crank shafts . positive vs modified cranks ? Keith
do you have any experience with either the positive or modified crank
paddle ? Mfg. of paddles ?

You can get cranks that cause the blade to lead, follow or be inline with
the shaft. Those that lead have stability problems - they tend to want
to turn around under power. Those that follow are inclined to "caster"
into alignment on a forward stroke, but can twist in other strokes such
as running draws. Neutral cranks are nice in that they have none of
these problems.

Lendal, Current Designs and others make bent shafts that have the blade
following the shaft. Werner is the only big name maker that I know of
that makes neutral shafts. Lendal makes shafts that lead as well.

As far as spacing between the hands goes - Lendal, IIRC, makes a couple
of sizes of shafts so that you can choose the spacing you want. Any
paddle shaft that is longer than needed can be cut down to reduce the
spacing.

Mike