Home made pole spear. Help PLEASE!

[kamtam]

Thanks guy for the replies. I will probably end up buying a cheap one but would still like to make my own to experiment with. I went to lowes the other day and in the box i got my stainless steel rod out of there were pieces of 3' hollow aluminum. i will get some of those, epoxy in some bolts to make it break down, then a six mil bolt at the end for the tip. This sounds a bit more like a pole spear right?

 

[herman]

That sounds better. I would also fill the tubes with epoxy or fiberglass resin. Hollow tubes are going to be too flexable and will easily bend, making them useless. With the pressure exerted by the bands is not directly in line with the shaft so it's likely it will bend if not supported internally. In addition fiberglass inside the shaft will allow it to flex without crimping.

 

[H'Islander]

Aluminum is not a great media for saltwater applications - Annodized Al is better...but keep it simple.

OK, so it's not cost you're concerned with, rather, it's the satisfaction of making your own gear - I can appreciate that as I turn my own surf (fishing) plugs - believe me, I saved nothing over just buying a few plugs.

If you use something that can bend - and stay bent - it's dangerous. Even a slight bend can cause your spear to arc through the water and hit something other than your intended target.

Go with flexibility, material that can take the blow of a missed fish and impact with (ENTER UNDERWATER STRUCTURE HERE) -

I second the motion for fiberglas. Maybe look for old glas surf rods at tag sales? strip off the guides and grips? Just a thought.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

[kamtam]

good idea man. i actually have a broken surf rod in the shed i will have a look at. thanks to everyone for the input.

 

[Ben Dugger]

We made a number of pole spears from fiberglass rods. Drill a hole in the end - be sure it is streight with the center. You can cut and thread a short piece of rod to fit your point or even cut the end of an old spear shaft then epoxy it in place.
Grind a a shallow groove about 1 inch from the back end. Wrap the ends of surgical tubing with strong cord. Try streaching it to see if the length is correct. I like to wrap the grip area with nylon cord. Cut a short length of cord for later. Start by tucking the end under itself and tightly wrap the desired length and about 4 wraps from the end insert the short piece in a loop then finish the wraping. Cut the cord and stick the end through the loop in the short piece and pull it under. coat it with warnish and you have a pole gun.

 

[DIWdiver]

Some of the home stores have fiberglass rods for marking the edge of your driveway. Not sure they're thick enough, but worth a look.

Also, some bicyclists use them as flagpoles on their bikes. Maybe try a bike shop.

McMaster-Carr (McMaster-Carr) sell fiberglass rods in many diameters, 5 ft and 10ft lengths, fairly cheap, but shipping a 10 ft package won't be cheap!

There is a fairly popular dive flag that has a fiberglass rod with stainless ferrule for breaking it down.

Just some ideas!

D

 

[JamesBon92007]

When I was a kid we made pole spears using a broom-stick and a frog gig (I think that's what it was called--it looked like something King Neptune might carry around) and a loop of surgical rubber tubing from the pharmacy that generally required a sworn afffidavit claiming it would NOT be used to make a slingshot or in any way be used for destruction. Surprisingly enough they didn't seem to make it any more difficult to hitch a ride to the beach. I do not, however, remember ever actually ever getting any fish with it. Eventually I got a used speargun and began to get fish fairly quickly so I suggest not spending very much money on the pole spear until it proves itself worthy. Somone gave me a fiberglas pole spear but I never used it. It might still be in the garage somewhere. Even my itsy-bitsy, single-band, two-foot-long speargun gets more fish.

 

[Ben Dugger]

A good source of fiderglass rods are companies who make line pole hardware for power companies. We would machine out an end socket, threaded to take the points, epoxie it to the end, wrap the grip area with cord and tie on a loop of surgical rubber and presto...a pole spear. If anyone meeds help contact me and I will see what I can do.

Ben

 

[captain]

Used to make them out of fiberglass golf pins or what ever they are called, you know the pole with the flag to mark the cup.

http://www.barrdisplay.com/Standard...Royaline_Flagsticks/largeView_361_0_1436.html

 

[CuNanoTube]

I have not spear fished, but in terms of the physics behind the problem, I believe I can help. The threads are going to create 2 problems, friction on your hand (good for grip, but bad for the guiding hand) and increased water drag. In order to get the spear to work well you must address this. To attach the tip I would do as the other posters have said above, as for the threads, removing 6' of threads is possible, just time consuming. If you were to mount the pole into a powerful drill and spin it at high speed, supporting the other end on a saw horse with a piece of wood with a notch or something of the sort lubricated to reduce friction, you could sand the threads down or off with relative ease. The process would just be a long one. If you finished the process with a 1200-1600 grit emery paper the shaft would be pretty smooth.
Hope that helps.
-H