Finish on re-painted sculling blades

[bnw...@gmail.com]

The paint on the backside of my blades has worn completely thru, from contact with our dock.
This may sound like a silly question, but going to ask anyway.
Is there a preferred finish on sculling blades? Glossy, flat, satin?
Does it make a difference on front and back sides?
Thanks in advance...

[Matt C]

We've tried a few finishes at our club:
- The spray can paint is easy to apply, but wears through readily. The spray cans don't always give you a choice of finish, but they are all going to end up looking like a flat finish after a while.
- A two pack epoxy applied with a spray gun lasts far longer, but not everyone has a spray gun and compressor.
- We've just started a trial with pre-printed vinyl stick ons. They look terrific. You don't need to be a technical expert to apply them. Expensive, but so far so good.

[Andy McKenzie]

Depends on the dock, but I always try and coach people to keep their blades spoon side down when in contact with the dock - doesn't really take any effort and is probably as effective as anything else! Especially good with Concept blades with vortex tips. With spray can paint I usually finish the blade off with a clear lacquer spray.

[lin...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at 10:26:35 AM UTC+1, Andy McKenzie wrote:

> Depends on the dock, but I always try and coach people to keep their blades spoon side down when in contact with the dock - doesn't really take any effort and is probably as effective as anything else! Especially good with Concept blades with vortex tips.

But isn't "spoon side down" going to damage the edges instead? I would prefer to wear out the paint on the back versus the edges

[carl]

But that depends on the relative merits & protection of the back & lip
of the blade. Historically, with wooden pencil oars, it was a capital
offence to lay the back of the blade on the dock or other hard surface,
while the tip of the blade was protected by a thin brass sheath, wrapped
over the tip & extending on both faces for about an inch back towards
the shaft. Later, with the advent of excellent adhesives, this was
replaced by a hardwood strip laminated onto the face-side of the tip.

I would suggest that both the tip and the back of the blade matter to
its performance, so one should act to protect any part of that blade
from abrasion. Its sole purpose is to propel the boat, & it should not
be used in other ways - except in extremis.

Cheers -
Carl

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[Dick White]

We repainted the blades of 36 of our club oars last year with 2 coats of Interlux Brightside paint. After a year and half of steady use, they are holding up well. We are lucky that I had available to me a commercial spray booth and a large workshop area to spread them out to dry. The colored stripes were done by brush, so this paint can be done either spray or brush.

dw

[bnw...@gmail.com]

Thanks all, lots of helpful information being provided...
The 2 part question(s) still not fully addressed (maybe I wasn't clear, happens a lot, just ask my wife),
a) the final finish being flat, satin or gloss, does it make a difference? and
b) is there any reason that the back of the blade be a different finish than the front?

Thanks again...

[Jonny]

> Thanks all, lots of helpful information being provided...
> The 2 part question(s) still not fully addressed (maybe I wasn't clear, happens a lot, just ask my wife),
> a) the final finish being flat, satin or gloss, does it make a difference? and
> b) is there any reason that the back of the blade be a different finish than the front?

I paint a LOT of oars! I also repair/rebuild a lot of blade tips and also the backs of bladed.

a) the only difference will be in appearance. There is not going to be any performance or wear benefit. A flat finish may look closer to new for longer than a gloss finish, but the fact that it was flat to begin with may be an issue in the eyes of some.

b) The only possible scenario is one where the paint is a different type or applied differently on the back (ie thicker, textured) of the blade to improve abrasion performance.

I'd say that most oars are finished in gloss. Usually only paint, but sometimes with a clear coat on top for an extra layer of protection if you are trying to 'Rolls-Royce' things.

The only way to prevent wear to the paint on the dock is to use some of the methods above, like turning over and letting the protected tips touch the dock (Vortex edge, Croker tip protectors), or to somehow alter the dock (I've seen matting put down - even fake grass).

I've toyed with the idea of using a clear stick on film (vinyl) on the back of the oars for a replaceable protection layer, but this is going to either be expensive or a lot of time to do well. You can get some very nice products like "helicopter tape" but that isn't cheap.

[Denis Rabij]

That's a good answer, I'd like to add that MAINTENANCE is the name of the game, that is, if you decide on some sort of paint, or film, then it is a good idea to have a maintenance program before any "wear" becomes actual structural damage. Like Jonny said, if you decide on a expensive and/or complicated process, that may reduce the need of maintenance, but it is very unlekely you will not have to do some maintenance. In short, he club (or the owner of the scull/oar) has to balance between effectiveness and cost/benefit :)