pike

[jake pogrebinsky]

A simple,2-3 hour project.Pike,pike-pole,or a lumberman's pike,is something that one cannot be without,if any manipulating of logs in the water is to be done.Used for rafting and driving logs,(just walking on floating logs without it for balance is tough),it was once the most common tool on all rivers.Not so any more.
Still produced(i own a sexy factory one with an aluminum haft),they're too costly to ship to Alaska with the 12',14' or a 16' haft,and even here not many have a use for one.But occasionally,like today,i do get to bootleg one,and will probably have a couple more orders before summer.
I've made them any way possible,it actually matters very little.Sometimes a socketed tool,or simply a tang,i often go with the langettes,as in this one.Spreads the load better on the end of the local white spruce pole.And gives it this funky,dark-ages pole-arm look.
2' of 1/2" rnd,bent double,faggot-welded and the loop cut to make the tines.The "threads" on the end are actually used,sometimes,to twist in for a surer hold,and to release with reverse twist.

[bigfootnampa]

Interesting Jake! Personally I would prefer to see that weld made up with a couple of twists (like a cable weld) or the whole chiseled from one piece of larger stock... The image of the weld separating just as I perform some critical maneuver and my head getting crunched as I slip down between the logs haunts me! I have been wanting to do a similar forging for use here on the farm as a trash pick and general use prod/hook. I am thinking of maybe creating a fork on the end instead of a spike, but maybe your "threaded" spike would be even better. We have nice hardwood for poles here and sockets are just overkill when a hotset tang is nearly indestructible anyway. As a side note I recently read where the Nepalese tribesmen who make Kukris set their hidden tangs in pitch and claim that no handle so made has EVER come loose in combat (as you probably know these knives have been used... REALLY used in lots of combat situations).

[jake pogrebinsky]

'Tis true!The welds do fail,or can,potentially.A twist,a rivet or two,to back the weld has never killed anyone yet.I do tend to lazyness at times.
The connection blade/haft always reflects the physics of the duty of a given tool.I can see how the pitch prevents the vibratory issues in a sword,changing the harmonics that can shock the hand so severely.However,the kukri probably doesn't have to oppose much pulling moment(unless you really get it stuck ).
The way the factory pikes are made is a threaded tang in a hardwood bung pressed into the Al pipe.I did have one come unglued(and watched it sail away gently,on the log that it was still stuck in),the wood has weathered and rotted.
But,yes,it all has a place.One should choose the correct technology. B)