Moss Hollow's Homemade Mash Paddle!

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Evan!

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Well, it kind of sucks to be using this beautiful wood on something so utilitarian, but you use what you got, right? I needed some hard wood (that's certainly what she said), and maple fit the bill---all I had was some wormy, which is WAY too pretty for this, and some curly, which I decided to use. I don't have a coping saw, so it wasn't easy. I traced the outline with some varying-sized rolls of tape, because I don't have any curve templates either. I cut it out with a jigsaw, then squared the edges with a flush router bit. I sanded the edges, then took a 1/4" roundover router bit to it. I cut 7/8" holes staggered on the paddle end, rounded those out, then worked my way up on grits to 600. I then wiped it down with moist towel to bring out the grain, and went up to 600 grit once again. It took a lot of work, but I think it's ready to be put into the lineup...

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Looks like a mean spanking paddle to me.

Remember the good 'ol days when teachers and coaches could actually paddle kids in school?
 
that's some darn nice looking mash paddle you have there. I have one of the plastic ones that start hurting my wrist when I have to stir the mash for a bigger beer.

Kai
 
Evan! said:
Well, it kind of sucks to be using this beautiful wood on something so utilitarian, but you use what you got, right? I needed some hard wood (that's certainly what she said


I don't care how exotic the wood is, it cannot be utilitarian when it comes to brewing beer...if that's your attitude then no wonder "she said" she needed some hard wood from you....sheesh. Priorities...it's the man code. Rule number 7.
 
It would be cool if you could finish it with boiled linseed oil, like an old Military Surplus Rifle. I don't know if the linseed oil would be kosher with brewing though.
 
cowgo said:
I don't care how exotic the wood is, it cannot be utilitarian when it comes to brewing beer...if that's your attitude then no wonder "she said" she needed some hard wood from you....sheesh. Priorities...it's the man code. Rule number 7.

It wasn't meant to denigrate brewing at all, it's a simple matter of economics: curly maple isn't cheap. I love brewing, but I don't think that it's so sacred that I should be using a diamond-encrusted racking cane.

Woodworking is another hobby of mine, and if you could see the difference between a piece of curly maple that's been sanded to 1000-grit smoothness then had a few coats of deft applied, and a piece of curly maple that's just stirred the mash on an imperial stout, you'd know what I was talking about.

That having been said, it looks pretty damn nice right now, prior to being used....

I'm not going to finish it, I don't think. After the discussion we had the other day, I'm a little paranoid about using the salad bowl finish that I typically would use.

Now, bronzing, that's an idea!
 
RichBrewer said:
Nice job! Looks like it will work good. :mug:

Thanks...I sure hope so. It's nice and solid, and I added that extra grip notch low on the handle for less slip. I was getting really tired of using my plastic spoon to stir the mash, and I'll be damned if I'm paying $10 or $15 for one of those plastic paddles that look like they couldn't stir a bowl of cheerios, much less a stiff mash...

Now all I need to do is paint "FAH Q" or "Soul Pole" on it and blast some Alice Cooper, and I'll be ready to roll...:D

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Evan! said:
Thanks...I sure hope so. It's nice and solid, and I added that extra grip notch low on the handle for less slip.

Now all I need to do is paint "FAH Q" or "Soul Pole" on it and blast some Alice Cooper, and I'll be ready to roll...:D

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Haha, No More Mister Nice Guy!
 
That is really nice! I'm jealous- I would love to use a mash paddle like that. I have such an appreciation for nice things and think you did a great job.
 
thanks yoop. I take my woodworking as seriously as I take my brewing (well, okay, not quite), and the wife lets me do all the projects that require detail work---because I'm sufficiently anal-retentive.
 
That's one fine looking paddle (he says as he prepares for the impending 5k pornage that should be posted soon).
 
Evan!, what are the paddle dimensions.

I made something crude out of poplar and it is 6 inches wide.
I am a mashing newbie so I have only a vague idea about what would be a good width.

I like the round bottom, didn't think about it on mine!
 
beergears said:
Evan!, what are the paddle dimensions.

I made something crude out of poplar and it is 6 inches wide.
I am a mashing newbie so I have only a vague idea about what would be a good width.

I like the round bottom, didn't think about it on mine!

Well, I wanted to go with 36"L, but I was constrained by the length of that piece of maple, which was about 33"L. Not a big deal. So the base block of wood was 33"L X 5"W. I planed the wood down to get rid of the surface imperfections (it was a raw piece from a mill), and ended up with about 7/8" thickness. The handle was cut down to about 2"w.
 
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