Dogpaddle Canoe and Woodworks

Fine sanding, between coats of epoxy, coats of varnish or final sanding, before buffing is time consuming and often tedious but necessary to achieve a flawless finish. In this case, I'm sanding the final coat of epoxy before applying the 1st coat of varnish.
A question that I'm often asked is how fine do I sand the final coat of epoxy. Generally I sand to 220 grit. According to several varnish manufacturers, that is fine enough so that sanding marks will not show and coarse enough to ensure maximum bond between the epoxy and the varnish. When sanding the final coat of varnish, before buffing, I work my way up to 1200 grit with wet paper.

The ultra-light, freestyle paddle that I've been working on, for the past several weeks, is complete and ready to be shipped. It's made of paulonia and walnut with a 4 oz. fiberglass facing. It has a 38" shaft & 20" blade for an overall length of 58" and a finished weight of 21 oz.

The SHALLOW WATER SPECIAL, crafted from repurposed/recycled wood, is being crated and will soon be on it's way to it's owner in Minnesota, where it will likely remain warm and indoors until their water returns to a liquid state.

I finally got a chance to finish the "recycled" paddle, made from repurposed western red cedar (from old utility poles) and hard maple (from salvaged flooring). It's a SHALLOW WATER SPECIAL. LOA is 51". Since I have no personal need for it, it will become one of the few "stock" paddles that I occasionally have available.
Note: Shallow water specials are generally sized 4"+- shorter than whatever the paddler generally uses.