paddle material

[dgp1957]

Hi guys
I have a plan for the Jeannie Deans with drawings for paddles, orriginally these were built from brass on the original model.
However my metalworking skills are wayyyy below that level of construction.
Has anyone made a set of paddles using plasticard?

David

[chipmonk]

Hi David, yes paddle wheels from sheet plastic (styrene) are light, strong and fairly simple to build. I have lost count of the numbers I have successfully made. From 75 mm diameter ones for the "PBM Edwardian paddle steamer" to 200mm ones for a monster tug. There are a couple of build guides on here but I'm not sure how far back in the construction area you will have to look. I make the floats from 1.5mm and the arms and rims from 1.0mm with simulated feathering gear.
Hope this helps, cheers Chris M

[dgp1957]

Thanks Chris the plans I have are quite intricate so I think I'll try for a non scale type of paddle as basic as possible lol 

[bill stafford]

hello,
the HIPS plastics are a good material to make paddle wheels from , if you use brass,it is very heavy, aluminium is another choice.i have made paddle wheels from all three.
 i now have made paddle wheels from float a boat kits, took me 4 hrs to paint time ,brass took 3 months of my very short spare time+ the need to make some complicated building jigs+silver solder tools
bill s

[Spankbucket]

For me styrene sheet is the only way.....I have even used cut-up old CD cases...brilliant stuff, 'free', which I use for lots of other non paddler projects!!

[DamienG]

I've had great success with polystyrene for paddle wheels.

Damien.

[andy]

I always took 1mm aluminium sheets. There was no only problem with this amterial. With all plastic I know, the materials will not have the restistance to UV light and oils. The will loose their elastic advantages by the years, and then a breake might happen.
Aluminium sheets should be riveted or screwed on their wheels.

Andy