: Yeah ... the USC 635 with the slow hardener is slow. I transitioned
: to the USC medium hardener and it cures at about the same speed
: as the Raka slow ... maybe a tad faster. I've only used the USC
: 635 medium for laminating and small layups however ... I don't
: build strippers anymore ... because I can build SOF's much
: faster ... so I dunno how the medium stuff performs for exterior
: layups ... but I suspect it would be fine.

: Ken Blanton

Thanks Ken,

I just ordered the USC 635 kit with 1/2 gal resin and ~21oz. of Medium Hardener for $34.

I found a nearly clear old-growth, vertical grain Doug Fir 2x12-10' at the local lumberyard at lunch time. time to start rippin' and laminating. I haven't even mixed epoxy in 6 years. How sad is that?!

Plan is to lay them up so the grain in each piece reinforces the adjacent pieces so I don't have a weak grain line I'm unaware of if I'd hae had a solid piece. Then cut them into octagons and plane them round. The blades will be laminated with Ash edges, and the tip will have an ash spline (I still have 1/16" ash left over from attempting Ross Leidy style cradles 12 years ago!) across all the layers, then I'll bed about 6 layers of glass in silica fume/epoxy to cover the tip.

I built a set of oars for my first raft like this 7 seasons ago, and they've held up phenomenally...and when I'm on the river, I really abuse them! The first set of oars just needs a couple of epoxy fills in some deep scrapes/gouges in the glass/epoxy tips, and a fresh coat of spar varnish.

I'm preaching to the choir about the durability of wood, but I also like that the blades are buoyant. Something you don't think about when you let go of the handles of a set of composite or aluminum/plastic oars and the blades drop and the shafts go vertical!