Bushmiller
4th September 2013, 09:17 PM
I have a few cant hooks, but none of them were up here in QLD. I had to move a pile of old power poles and I thought I would probably do my top trying to roll them with a crowbar. I thought you might like to see my little effort. Of course as usual, there is no obligation to read so feel free to exit right now.
If you're still reading I guess there is nothing much on TV or you are really, really bored with the election campaign and even this thread is an improvement over the Tony and Kev show.
Here goes. I did in fact have a couple of parts from old cant hooks so I suppose I cheated a little. I had a "protection plate" from the original cant hook that I have taken the design from for all subsequent hooks. As you can see, the four holding bolts were a little the worse for wear. Actually they wore better than the timber, because there was a handle in there once :wink: .
283921283922
I cut off the bolts and salvaged the plates. The hook came from something that was intended to be used with a crow bar. I have tried using it as intended but it drove me to distraction as it slips around all over the place.
283924283925
So I cut the ring off. Unfortunately the hole was 25mm and I used an old 22mm bolt, which is much larger than required. As you can see later, 12mm is ample. A couple of thick bushes are required either side of the hook so the bolt head is clear of the plate. Trouble is that big bolts need thick bushes. I had a small piece of thick steam pipe, but it took it's toll as it is not mild steel. I can't remember if I tripped the circuit breaker seven or eight times during the cutting.
283926
When fitted, it looks like this:
283928
In fact this shows both bolts. Normally if starting from scratch just the smaller bolt is sufficient and it is placed in which ever hole is suitable for the size log. I was not going to cut 22mm holes! The additional holes were 13mm.
The hook did not have the best curvature. It is important that the point can bite into the timber. This is the way I did that:
283902283903283904283905283906283907
Yes I know they are not quite in line, but the logs don't know that :rolleyes:.
I bent the hook out a little to grind the weld profile and then pulled it back in with a clamp. I used a 2.5mm rod for the root run and then a 3.2mm to fill the "vee." I ground it back flat because it has to pass through the slot in the plate.
283930283931283932283933283934
The timber handle was a piece of spotted gum that I milled recently and had quite a bit of sapwood in it. Spotty is good in that way as the sap makes good strong handles. This particular piece was a bit thinner than I would have liked. 50mm thick would have been good but this was about 40mm. Finished it was less than 35mm. I made it a little wider to compensate and extended that width further up the handle, but I'm fooling myself thinking it will be as strong.
283927
Now that brings me to a little issue I had. I decided that I would like to have some kind of point on the bottom of the handle. The advantage of this is that it can be used as a crowbar too. If I had not gone down this track the cant hook would have been simple and finished right here and you could have returned to the TV thinking "glad that wasn't any longer."
But there is more to come. I will be back after tea :) .
Regards
Paul
If you're still reading I guess there is nothing much on TV or you are really, really bored with the election campaign and even this thread is an improvement over the Tony and Kev show.
Here goes. I did in fact have a couple of parts from old cant hooks so I suppose I cheated a little. I had a "protection plate" from the original cant hook that I have taken the design from for all subsequent hooks. As you can see, the four holding bolts were a little the worse for wear. Actually they wore better than the timber, because there was a handle in there once :wink: .
283921283922
I cut off the bolts and salvaged the plates. The hook came from something that was intended to be used with a crow bar. I have tried using it as intended but it drove me to distraction as it slips around all over the place.
283924283925
So I cut the ring off. Unfortunately the hole was 25mm and I used an old 22mm bolt, which is much larger than required. As you can see later, 12mm is ample. A couple of thick bushes are required either side of the hook so the bolt head is clear of the plate. Trouble is that big bolts need thick bushes. I had a small piece of thick steam pipe, but it took it's toll as it is not mild steel. I can't remember if I tripped the circuit breaker seven or eight times during the cutting.
283926
When fitted, it looks like this:
283928
In fact this shows both bolts. Normally if starting from scratch just the smaller bolt is sufficient and it is placed in which ever hole is suitable for the size log. I was not going to cut 22mm holes! The additional holes were 13mm.
The hook did not have the best curvature. It is important that the point can bite into the timber. This is the way I did that:
283902283903283904283905283906283907
Yes I know they are not quite in line, but the logs don't know that :rolleyes:.
I bent the hook out a little to grind the weld profile and then pulled it back in with a clamp. I used a 2.5mm rod for the root run and then a 3.2mm to fill the "vee." I ground it back flat because it has to pass through the slot in the plate.
283930283931283932283933283934
The timber handle was a piece of spotted gum that I milled recently and had quite a bit of sapwood in it. Spotty is good in that way as the sap makes good strong handles. This particular piece was a bit thinner than I would have liked. 50mm thick would have been good but this was about 40mm. Finished it was less than 35mm. I made it a little wider to compensate and extended that width further up the handle, but I'm fooling myself thinking it will be as strong.
283927
Now that brings me to a little issue I had. I decided that I would like to have some kind of point on the bottom of the handle. The advantage of this is that it can be used as a crowbar too. If I had not gone down this track the cant hook would have been simple and finished right here and you could have returned to the TV thinking "glad that wasn't any longer."
But there is more to come. I will be back after tea :) .
Regards
Paul