Trophy blades

As you can tell, it's been a long while since I've posted here. And if you recall I've got several projects backed up on me from last summer. However, being the person I am, I jumped into a new project before finishing the other ones. You know what they say about shiny new toys.

Anyhow, if you check back on the other blog you'll see that we decided to award trophy blades to our graduating seniors. I believe the requirement is 4 years on the team but I might be getting that confused with something else. These blades came from Concept2 who sells extra blades for such a purpose and at $40 dollars a blade, it's really a great deal. You can even request sides.

I decided to follow a tradition I'd heard of and start getting a blade for each location I've coached at. So far, we're looking at 5 different blades but to make sure that this was something feasible, I went with only two to start.

These are the blades as they come in. The base white is so much easier to paint that the older versions that came in primer gray. Still these need some touching up. I decided that despite feeling confident in my abilities, I'd start with two simple blade designs and move on from there. I chose Pacific Rowing Club and the University of Puget Sound because they shared a base color - important for the thrifty shopper - and again, have a very simple design that allows for multiple takes without tremendous frustration.

If you've never done anything like this, don't worry. Concept2 has instructions on how to get solid results. Otherwise, it's pretty straight forward. These blades are in good shape but they are not pristine and require a little elbow grease. No worries though. For $40 dollars you really can't complain.

Start with very fine sand paper. You're looking to rough up the surface a little and take off some imperfections that might show through, not sand it down to nothing. Clean well. Concept2 recommends rubbing alcohol. I went with a mineral based cleaner applied directly to a rag.

Like I said, very straight forward. Be careful when going around the edges though. The black from the blades can get onto the white parts.

I recommend putting down a base coat regardless of what you're going to do with the blades. I went with a white base because both blades I'm painting as well as two that I plan on making next year will need it but you can go with many colors.

I also went with a quick drying paint. Proper spray painting requires several thin coats. This eliminates runs and drips and a quicker drying time can really help with the down time. These Krylon cans are awesome with swiveling heads to help with angles - unnecessary here but a nice feature - and put down very even coats. I also went with a base paint that had primer in it. I think primer is necessary but I don't believe you need to buy separate primer.

One thing that I strongly suggest is taking your time to do this. Yes you could in theory bang out the blades inside of a day. However for better results I put down two base coats over a 48 hour period. I put down 4 coats on the face of the blade on day then waited for it to dry before applying the paint to the back. So far I've been really pleased with the results with cleaner lines as well as a more solid hold - no touch up required so far - but do as you please.

After two days the blades are ready for the next coats of paint. I went with only two blades this year to make sure that they got done but also to make sure that I got the process down correctly. Even at only $40 a blade it can add up quickly. These are also the most simple designs so I could afford to mess around here without causing myself a major headache.

As I said, I went with blades from Pacific Rowing Club and the University of Puget Sound. Again because of the simplistic design - two personal favorites of mine - painting would be relatively painless. This painting takes a bit longer. The red paint that I chose coats very well but required several passes. The paint for the UPS oar required the same. They are currently waiting their final few passes before getting a clear coat gloss for protection.

Some tips:

1. Don't fret over matching colors too much. I went with a basic red for Pacific and a burgundy for UPS and both look strikingly similar.

2. Take your time. There's no reason to rush this. And don't be afraid to start over. This is not a one and done deal.

3. Tape, tape, tape. Blue painters tape is awesome. So are scrapes of newspaper. Be careful though. The day I started, the wind decided to pick up so paper was blowing around that was protecting the rest of the blade. Tape well but don't tape excessively.

4. I think the base coat is an absolute must. And the two in one primer and paint is a real time saving feature.

I'll post the finished results in a couple of days.