can anyone you know rotate a waterstick shaft?

Waterwindpowderrock · 06-04-2006

I'm looking at picking up a waterstick paddle for CHEAP, but it's way the wrong feather for me. Does anyone know how to rotate the main shaft joint on one?
seems like it'd be pretty easy, but I'm not up for trying without some beta.

thanks,

Kaleb

Electric-Mayhem · 06-04-2006

Unless its a paddle from the first year that Waterstick was around, you'll find it rather hard to change feather on them without having to cut it and reglue it wiht the new feather angle.

When waterstick starteed, they used an epoxy that you could heat up and it would allow you to either pop the blade off or just rotate it or the shaft a bit. But that year they had major problems with this happening on warm days while on the river. One guy even had the paddle seperate into four different pieces while he was paddling.

So to say the least, waterstick went to using a hard setting epoxy to put their paddles. So pretty much what it would take today is cutting it at the center, getting a ferrel that will fit in the two ends of the cut paddle, and then just epoxy it back together and make sure when it sets that you have it at the angle you want. Five Minute epoxy should do the job, or you can get normal fiberglass epoxy at Home Depot or similar stores. So no easy way out on this one. Finding the Ferrel is the hardest part. You could maybe get it from Wildwasser, but be sure to measure the diameter of the cut piece before you order, as it will matter. Hope that helps a bit.

Josh

p.s. If its a 12 degree, I would say give it a try for a while and see how you like it. For playboat, I much prefer it, as it alows you to use both blades at once, and it also makes life much easier on your wrists as you don't have rotate them as much. They are good paddles and I was sad to see them go out of business. -jh

Waterwindpowderrock · 06-05-2006

it's a 45 & I'm used to the 12.

I have broken both my wrists morethan once & have problems with anything less than 8 & more than 20!

This makes it pretty tough to find a cheap paddle!

is there anywhere I could bring it to or ship it to that would do it for me?

Paul the Kayaker · 06-05-2006

Best tip you will ever get about a getting the offset you want on a waterstick is to buy a werner with the offset you want. No matter how cheap you can find a waterstick, you'll end up buying a better paddle in a week when the shaft fills up with water. Remember its cheap for a reason and you dont want to put yourself in the position to walk out on anything because your paddle broke. My advise is to buy a good paddle built how you want it instead of trying to make a cheap one work, really important when its a waterstick your going to modify.

gh · 06-05-2006

I have to agree with Paul. This is a ton of work for an inferior paddle and it will still be inferior when you are done. I found the waterstick to be extremely hard on my wrists and joints.

Electric-Mayhem · 06-05-2006

I tend to agree with these guys.....if I was getting a new paddle then it would be a Werner (or maybe an H20....they look pretty nice). I love the feel of the the Waterstick, but its really stiff and that makes it hard on your wrists. The Werners are very nice, totally bomber, and you can custom order them for no extra price with any offset. The watersticks are good paddles, but if it breaks you are out of luck since the company is bust.

That said, its slightly more work then just buying one with that offset, but its not that hard to do. Wildwasser (www.wildnet.com) might do it for you as they have all the supplies, but it would end up costing you as much as buying a custom werner, so there is that. So yeah, the Waterstick is a great paddle, but not sure its worth modifying. Not sure where to look, but I bet you could find a 12 degree or 0 offset one that hasn't been used to badly (might even find a new one hiding somewhere).

JH

Waterwindpowderrock · 06-05-2006

If I wanted a werner, I wouldn't be wasting my time with trying to do this!

Seriously though, I've paddled the different brands & woody & waterstick are the only ones that I like (blade design and wrist orientation)

I'm guessing the reason the waterstick hurts your wrist is the same reason the werner hurts mine, I've just got different injuries!

I DO appreciate the input though.

Kaleb

btw, I'm not up for spending $525 for a paddle so that option is out!