Making the Shaft blank

I had a Southern Yellow Pine 2x6 left over that I used for the paddle shaft. For a piece dimensional lumber, it was fairly decent. It has very straight grain and tight growth rings. The only draw backs are its weight and workability. Dark grain is significantly harder than the light and presents some problems when sanding and planing. Some times the grain rings will detach and splinter, especially where the grain runs out of the surface. Still, it looks nice and so far I have been able to mitigate the problems.

Nick Schade recommends splitting the shaft blank and flipping end for end prior to glue up. At the same time, it is easy to use a 1/2" cove bit to create a hollow in the center to reduce weight. The cove stops short of where the blade is mounted so that the core is not exposed during blade shaping.

The yellow pine I am using for the shaft is fairly dense, even though it has been sitting in my garage for several years and should be very dry. When I cut it, the smell of pitch is pretty strong, so I guess that is where the weight is coming from.

The picture shows the hollow created with the cove bit. Before I glued it up, I coated the inside with epoxy. When the two halves are brought together, a perfect cylinder is formed. I used Gorrilla Glue for all the glueups. You can kinda see the squeeze out. So far, I've been very happy with how it bonds.