Carbonology catch-up

It dawned on me just recently that so far this year I hadn’t mentioned any proper ‘carbonology’ at all.. I was reminded because another big roll of the shiny expensive black stuff was delivered last week ready for an autumn of moulding..

I have no surf kayak fins left in stock which is a situation to be sorted soonest I think, and I’m making myself another carbon Greenland paddle.. not because there is anything wrong with the last one, it’s pretty much perfect, still looks lovely and is still going strong after more than a year, rather I want to play about with some ideas as well as just have a spare so last week I dusted off the moulds and removed the cobwebs from my vacuum pump..

With regard to the carbon surf kayak fins, ha, they continue to do well.. there have been a few sets in continuous use for over a year now and their owners still think they’re great..  so it appears to have been a worthwhile exercise I think.

They’ve proven more than tough enough in use, and very repairable too.. earlier in the summer I received a set back that had suffered something of an argument with a large rock. The rock as you might expect came out of that in rather better shape..

However the nature of the construction meant I was able to bring it back to as new.. As the other fins in the set were showing some wear on the leading edges from all the beach launchings and landings I put new leading edges on those too.. so they’re now back where they belong and performing as well as ever.

There, got some carbon out of my system for a bit.. although a buddy has just invested in a CNC machine so we’re looking at machining foam cores for paddle blades (mine are hollow) which would speed up manufacture and open up all sorts of possibilities beyond greenland paddles.. wing blades for example.. could be fun!

I also promised a buddy that I would make him a carbon fibre spoon… to match his bicycle…

cheero!