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Post by Telemachus on Jul 14, 2018 12:47:56 GMT
Presuming we actually make it to the east side of the Pennines, which is far from certain, we’ll need a hand spike I think. Disinclined to spend a lot at a marina/chandlery so thinking about something like a pickaxe handle. Does anyone know the dimensions of the hole into which the spike goes? How much force is required to operate ( ie does it need to be strong wood?). Ta.
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Post by Robbo on Jul 14, 2018 13:21:40 GMT
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Post by Mr Stabby on Jul 14, 2018 13:46:17 GMT
A 3' length of 3" x 2" wood is fine, you'll find loads lying around in any builders merchant, they are used as bearers on lorries delivering concrete lintels etc. You don't need to use a great deal of force to operate the locks, so for a one-off trip any old bit of wood will do.
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Post by Telemachus on Jul 14, 2018 13:57:26 GMT
Great, thanks both.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2018 14:54:07 GMT
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Post by Telemachus on Jul 14, 2018 16:19:20 GMT
Got a pickaxe handle from one of those “proper” hardware stores in Marple. It just needs a bit of trimming.
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Post by Mr Stabby on Jul 14, 2018 16:21:31 GMT
I'd only partially agree with that article. It says "Hand-spikes can be bought at boatyards in the area or you can make your own from a piece of 4" x 2" or 3" x 2" hardwood about 3' long, tapered to about 2¼" x 1¾". Hard wood is needed as soft wood will quickly become chewed up" but firstly you don't need to taper it, I presume they mean at the handle end to make it a little easier to use. I did whittle mine down with the Mr Stabby knife to while an hour away, but it isn't necessary. Secondly, the piece of driftwood which Jim Riley kindly pointed out to me floating in the cut was pine, but I did the C&H in both directions without it being "chewed up" in any way.
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Post by Mr Stabby on Jul 14, 2018 16:26:24 GMT
Got a pickaxe handle from one of those “proper” hardware stores in Marple. It just needs a bit of trimming. I'd suggest you wait until you get there and see what it is you are dealing with before trimming it. It probably won't be necessary. Most of the locks can be operated with a windlass anyway.
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Post by Telemachus on Jul 14, 2018 16:32:24 GMT
Got a pickaxe handle from one of those “proper” hardware stores in Marple. It just needs a bit of trimming. I'd suggest you wait until you get there and see what it is you are dealing with before trimming it. It probably won't be necessary. Most of the locks can be operated with a windlass anyway. Yes I think that would be best. Cutting bits off wood is easy, cutting it back on again is difficult.
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Post by Mr Stabby on Jul 14, 2018 16:46:49 GMT
If it's any help, here is a pic of a ground paddle being operated with a handspike (or rather, a scavenged piece of timber). The lump of wood is poked into a cylinder which has four slots cast into it, and is passing through two of those slots. The next step will be to move the wood downwards through (nearly) 90 degrees, remove it, then rinse and repeat. If your pickaxe handle has no greater a profile than the piece of wood in the photo then you won't need to modify it. Generally the ground paddles will be operated with a handspike and the gate paddles with a windlass.
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Post by thebfg on Jul 14, 2018 16:50:21 GMT
do they take ages to operate? if so how do the control freaks over on Cwdf cope with the opening and closing of paddles at their say so.
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Post by Mr Stabby on Jul 14, 2018 16:55:23 GMT
do they take ages to operate? if so how do the control freaks over on Cwdf cope with the opening and closing of paddles at their say so. Yes, they are a bit slow to operate, and also a bit of a pain to lower as there's really no other way to lower them other than by withdrawing the spike and letting the paddle drop.
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Post by Telemachus on Jul 14, 2018 17:09:03 GMT
If it's any help, here is a pic of a ground paddle being operated with a handspike (or rather, a scavenged piece of timber). The lump of wood is poked into a cylinder which has four slots cast into it, and is passing through two of those slots. The next step will be to move the wood downwards through (nearly) 90 degrees, remove it, then rinse and repeat. If your pickaxe handle has no greater a profile than the piece of wood in the photo then you won't need to modify it. Generally the ground paddles will be operated with a handspike and the gate paddles with a windlass. The pickaxe handle has an oval end, max dimension of the oval are 2 3/4” by 1 7/8” inch or thereabouts. If it needs trimming down it will just be a matter of squaring off the oval which shouldn’t be difficult.
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Post by Mr Stabby on Jul 14, 2018 17:13:23 GMT
With those dimensions, it shouldn't need trimming down at all. Out of interest, how much was the pickaxe handle? I know the cheeky fuckers at the local boatyards charge £15 for a handspike.
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Post by Telemachus on Jul 14, 2018 17:19:48 GMT
With those dimensions, it shouldn't need trimming down at all. Out of interest, how much was the pickaxe handle? I know the cheeky fuckers at the local boatyards charge £15 for a handspike. £5.99
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