Second Production Run of Harpoons

[Threemuch]

First beefier prototype made.

Beefier size, 3/8 shaft, 1/2 tip, $25 bucks for shaft and tip, $15 for additional tips. Shaft is threaded 3/8-16 on one end for mounting into a handle by epoxy or threading.

You cable, rope, and handle yourself.

Email to order. Mr. Fisherman, this one is yours.





[ 01-28-2004, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: Threemuch ]

[BUGLEMAN]

OOPS

[ 01-28-2004, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: BUGLEMAN ]

[blubeast]

Wow Kurt, you're really gett'n good at making those.

Look great.

[Nofish]

They look great! - I want one. You have mail. Cheers...Bob

They look good [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] and are under priced :smile:

What are you building them out of 304, 316 or...?

I am trying to get one made out of Hastaloy (I have 2 Hastaloy scallop bars) but my machinist is a tight wad :grin: and won't buy the material. If he gets some surplus from a job then he'll do it for me.

[ 01-28-2004, 05:58 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[Threemuch]

303. Easiest to machine. Underpriced if you consider my time, but I figure I am making em for friends. Not as corrosion resistant as 316, but not bad, and these things don't see continous duty. You could make a really cheap version out of rebar, and just coat it in oil after every trip.

Hasteloy raw materials would be in excess of $200, since you can really only buy 12' sections of rod. I have my titanium one from scrap material at work, that's about as exotic as I am going to get.
KB

I sure miss North Tongass Hardware (Ketchikan Pulp Co.) :depressed:

[blubeast]

Here's a pic of the harpoon I made using Threemuch's first run parts. Put the shaft into a 5' shovel handle. Attached using bondo.

Now all I need is a fish to stick.



Thanks again Kurt.

[Birdnest]

Sign me up for a shaft and two tips if that is possible. I will email you to get your address and work out the details.

Joe

[Threemuch]

Keta,
Mcmaster has Hasteloy. You could do 1/2" shaft and 5/8 tip, raw materials about $150.

[Bait O' Eggs]

Kurt you make some nice stuff. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Since I dont have a harpoon I figured a few days ago I had better get one so when I get my boat I will be ready to go.

I stopped at Clackamas steel a few days ago and bought 3 each 1/2 inch stainless bolts and a short piece of Stainless pipe with a 1/2 inch ID, got it all for $2 from the scrap pile. :grin:

I cut the piece of pipe, and then cut the head of the bolt and threads off with my hacksaw. I inserted the bolt body into the pipe about an inch and welded it. Then ground the welds flush, and sharpened the end with the right angle grinder. I punched a 1/8 inch hole thru the side. The third picture shows one completed and the other 2 ready to sharpen.

Not as pretty and nice as yours, but the price was right.

Now I need to find a 1/2 shaft a couple feet long to put into a handle.

I can weld the 2 pieces together a lot easier than I can drill a hole. The grinder isnt the best method for sharpening but it is all I got.

Looking for BFB now!!!

[Threemuch]

BOE-
That'll hunt! I have access to a nice lathe and mill at work, although I am just learning to use em, so if you come up with things you want to try that require some machining, I would be more than happy to contribute.

[Nofish]

Since I will soon be in possession of one of Kurt's second run harpoons - how do you rig the things? I see blubeast has what appears to be tuna cord attached to the head. How much of that do you use? rope? floats? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers...Bob

[backlash442]

Dumb question but is that for a halibut?

Backlash,
Yes

Nofish,
I rig mine with a foot or so of 1/8" SS cable, a heavy swivel, 5/16" ground line and a float. I also have a line attached to the handle.

A big halibut will pull a small float under but what Bluebeast has should work.

[ 01-29-2004, 07:53 AM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[skein]

Pilar was showing me a way to rig one so the tip always comes off. He may have a pic or a description in his pocket <hint hint>

'Course I've seen his harpoon skills in person, and his technique is, well, unique. :grin: (But we never lost a fish, even though some of them were pretty mad by the time we got 'em in the boat)

I'm going to pull the boat out of the shop and run the motors today and fire up the electronics. Anybody on 78? I wonder how far from Sweet Home the signal will carry.

How many more days? [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

Skein

I scan and monotor 78 off and on but there is zero VHF radio trafic in KF.

[Threemuch]

Lots of questions about rigging. There are quite a few options, which is why I am selling them unrigged.

Handle:

Metal: Simply drill and tap a 3/8-16 hole in a metal rod, aluminum(heavy) or steel(heavier)and thread it in, You can use a nut on the threads to jam it, so it won't come out or locktite or epoxy it in place.

Wood or fiberglass: I would drill a hole the size of the OD of the nuts or very slightly smaller, and put the nuts on a 3/8-16 bolt and tap them into the wood. Then unthread the bolt and thread your shaft in, glue the assy in place with epoxy. Shovel handles make good harpoon handles.

PVC: Use a 2" sch 80 pvc pipe. Get an end cap, and drill a 3/8 inch hole. One nut inside, one outside and tighten, and put the cap on the PVC pipe and fill the bottom couple inches of the pipe with epoxy or bondo.

Remember, they have to be strong in compression. Light bending loads are expected, but little tension.

Tip line:

Cable: I use 1/8 cable with crimps, if you can't do this yourself, let me know, and I can put it together for you, but I reccomend you do it yourself, since this is the most likely failure point. One loop on the tip, one for the rope. On the rope end I use a flemish loop, but not o the tip end, since you need this to go through the fish without hanging up.

Cord: Parachute cord or nylon cord in excess of 300 pound test can be used in place of cable. Not quite as strong, but goes through the fish easy, no crimps to hang up.

Rope:
Use something you can grip in your hands, that won't tear you up if it slips. Nylon is better than poly, but more $$.

Buoys:
Some put buoys on their rope, others put a loop on a cleat. 95% of the fish, you can harpoon and hang on to the rope, especially if they have little slack to build momentum. But a really big fish can get some steam and rip it out of your hands, then hit the cleat hard. This is when things break. I would prefer to have the fish pull a JAWS and run around dragging floats. I use 2 10 pound floatation crab floats. Like $2.50 EA at Seattle Marine online. That's 20 pounds of floatation, Plus hook and line pressure, which will bring the fish back up.

You can put as big a buoy on as you want, an anchor buoy would work but they are awful bulky.

Any questions?

[blubeast]

Nofish, I used a split ring on the head (like used on key chains) then 15' of tuna cord that's attached to 15' of the yellow poly cord with the floats attached. I put a loop ontop of the floats so I could snap anoth line to if incase of a big fish.

Got my floats at Englunds - they were seconds... about a buck each if I remember correctly.

btw... the shovel handle I got came pre-drilled with the metal collar so it should not split when burried into a fish.

[Threemuch]

Dale-
A split ring on the tip will make it harder to drive through a fish. Plus the split ring is almost certainly your weak point. Let's put about 14" of cable on the tip. I have the stuff. In fact, I think I have a few of the 3/8 tips left.

All of the tips that I have made were about 3/8" with a 2' long 1/4" shaft. They would bend but they could be streightened out easy. I had access to lots of broken shovel handles (North Tongass Hardware) and used them but I have a fiberglass rake handle that I will use on my next harpoon.

Threemuch's attachment method is the only way to do it. I would also suggest a large swivel between the cable and the rope with a cable thimble on the rope end of the cable. If you are going to use poly rope make sure you inspect it often as when it starts do deteriorate you can get pieces of it in your hand, I would rather use nylon rope or ground line. I also prefer to use an 18” buoy ball but the crab floats will work good. I'd put them flat end toward the harpoon head to cause more drag.

[ 01-29-2004, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[Nofish]

Kurt,
I can probably get access to some cable to attach to the tip, but I am not familiar with the terminology - what is a "flemish loop"? Do you do anything "fancy" with the cable where it attaches to the tip?

Thanks everyone for all of the input - this is great info. Bob

I use a thimble but here is a link to the Flemish Eye

Another Flemish Eye Link

[ 01-29-2004, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[Pitch Pocket]

I don't have a harpoon and probably should get one for the boat. Just watched Moby Dick on TIVO and the Captain Ahab thing looks like fun.

How often do you use a harpoon on Oregon halibut? All of my Oregon halibut (3 ) have been 50 lbs or less and they fit in my big Beckman. My brass knock off hammer from my old 57 MGA with wire wheels quieted them down before I brought em in the boat. Of course if you do get a monster there are few alternatives, but how many have you had to harpoon down here?

Caught quite a few fishing in Alaska, but don't remember ever using a harpoon, just a big net or a tailer. Never caught a barn door, but did have some fish pushing 80 lbs or so.

[edsr]

Harpoon smarpoon - you don't need no stinkin harpoon - get a bigger net! :smile:
edsr

My "Bigger Net" is a 50 fathom gill net and I still like to harpoon butts :grin:
Now get back to making Alaska Yellow Cedar Plugs Ed!

[Threemuch]

Harpoon is certainlyg not required, but I sure wanted one last year. That's why I started making em. We lost a BIG fish on Bluebeast because it came to the boat hot and when I went to gaff, I was tenative, because I knew 100 pounds of angry flat fish was coming in the boat. When I went to stick it, it sounded, and the line parted.

Harpoon would have got that fish. That said, any fish under 50 pounds can be handled pretty easily with a gaff. And under 25, I usually just swing em in by the leader. But harpooning em is fun.

[tailchaser]

One thing to use on your attachment to the harpoon is a section of about 18" of heavy duty wire. Make a loop at the upper end and put some plastic around it to attach a clip to. Kinda hard to explain, but it's for when you throw the fish into the box you don't have to mess with sending the point back through it. You merely detach it with the clip and pull the wire through the hole. A lot quicker and easier on a half dead ticked off fish that you aren't messing around with sharp points while he's flopping on the deck and you can get your tip back. I'll take a picture tonight and show you, pretty easy once you see it.

tc

[Pilar]

The trick with the cable attachment to the head is to double the cable about 8 inches on the tip end. Then use three crimps on the tip end of the cable. One to secure the cable at the hole in the tip and 2 at the other end of the doubled section just far enough apart so that the shaft fits tight between them. Make the other end of the cable up with a thimble and attach a line. I use 25' of TUNA! cord. This holds the tip on the shaft with no additional help. You no longer have to hold the rope or tape the rope or whatever. Popeye showed me how to drill a relief hole in the harpoon tip so that it won't suck onto the harpoon shaft. The down side is that it will fall right off unless you hold it on with the line or tape the cable or whatever.

Also the double spaced crimp peels the tip off the shaft when you pull it out of the fish. The tip won't just fall off and when you pull the shaft back after stabbing the tip stays behind every time. Add a float and you'll be styling. The float works much better than just tying the harpoon line to the boat. Don't ask me how I know this, Ok Skein?

As far as whether you should harpoon your fish or not ...... You'll know if FB needs a harpoon when the time comes. And believe me you'll wish you had a harpoon to use when the bigger fish shows up at your boat. Spear em and let em tow the float around. It's great fun according to Puffin.

[Pitch Pocket]

Makes sense, can't use it if you don't have it. If you can stand another, I'd take one.

"Drink, ye harpooneers! drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful whaleboat's bow -- Death to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death!"

Melville's Captain Ahab

[Threemuch]

Sold out, again. If you are interested, email, I will do another run if people want em.

[Mr. Fisherman]

Originally posted by Pitch Pocket:
How often do you use a harpoon on Oregon halibut? All of my Oregon halibut (3 ) have been 50 lbs or less and they fit in my big Beckman.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Have a look here....

Sea Lion Photo Album]

We harpooned....

This one...

Pic 1

and this one...

Pic 2

and this one...

Pic 3

and this one...

Pic 4

and this one...

Pic 5

but Capin Dan! netted this one...

Pic 6

and all of these...

Pic 7

So it can be done.

A harpoon is required equipment on Sea Lion

Not braggin, just stating the facts.

Thanks fer askin ...

Oh yea, Skein asked "How many more days? " 153for Tuna, 104 for Halibut, thank you very much for bringing it up...

[ 01-29-2004, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: Mr. Fisherman ]

[Pitch Pocket]

Tried to look, but the site doesn't open.

[Noah II]

Worked fine for me.
Thank for the pictures.
NoahII

[Threemuch]

First batch is done, I will cable them up for an extra couple of bucks (the wire is .39 a foot and the crimps are .20), since I have had lots of requests to cable them.

Kurt