Advice on Shaping Wood Blades

[Neo5370 132]

Kinda of new to shaping wood blades and I have 4 questions so far:

1. What's the best way to heat the blade withough delaminiating it?

2. What's the best way to fix delaminating?

3. What's the cheapest power tool for sanding/shaping the profile?

4. Should I "re-seal" the sanded areas to prevent water absorption and if so, what's the best way to do that?

[interpathway 9]

#4, truck bed water-proof coating. Comes in a can. Provides a water seal and some grit to the blade.

[Chadd 916]

My suggestion would be to shape one blade and then have a manufacturer copy that pattern. Given the life span of a wood blade, it really isn't worth the time investment to shape each one by hand.

Kinda of new to shaping wood blades and I have 4 questions so far:

1. What's the best way to heat the blade withough delaminiating it?

2. What's the best way to fix delaminating?

3. What's the cheapest power tool for sanding/shaping the profile?

4. Should I "re-seal" the sanded areas to prevent water absorption and if so, what's the best way to do that?

It's not easy to heat the blade enough that it will allow you to re-shape it without delamination. It will take a lot of practice. I always used a heat gun or torch, but the key is to heat it slowly and not hold the heat directly in one spot for too long.

I've never been able to fix delamination. The only way to address it is to apply your own fiberglass overlay and then adhere it to the blade.

Sanding is going to take an extremely long time to change the shape in any meaningful way. Especially as you're going to have to get through the fiberglass lamination first. A file or rasp will be the fastest, and cheapest, tool to use. Power tools really aren't the right tool for the job.

Yes, you should seal the blade when you're done. The best solution would be to re-apply a fiberglass overlay, like the blade originally came with. Barring that, you at least need to seal it so moisture does not get into the wood as that will cause it to get soft more quickly. Make sure you also remove the tape as soon as you get off the ice, as wet tape will speed up the degradation of the blade as well.

[Scotty 8]

My suggestion would be to shape one blade and then have a manufacturer copy that pattern. Given the life span of a wood blade, it really isn't worth the time investment to shape each one by hand.

I agree.

If you are set with the curve and are a more experienced player that is already comfortable with how you do things, get the profile the way you want it and have it made into replicas.

[Neo5370 132]

Thanks guys!