Pole spear instructions

Supplies

3 ski poles. They are very sturdy. These can be had real cheap at thrift stores, $2 each or maybe you or a friend has some in their garage.

Threaded rod 1 long piece. They are available at the hardwarestore. I paid $2.25

Long nuts. (coupling nut) 6 of'em. They fit the threaded rod. Also from the hardare store for 75 cents each.

1 Eye bolt, about a buck.

Epoxy or JB weld.

3/16 inch steel rod

Shoelaces, 2 of'em

Rubber tubing. I found some on Ebay, it's used for wrist rocket sling shots. Some medical supply houses have it.
I used to be able to get 1/2 inch tubing with 1/8 inch wall, if you know where to get some email me.

Tie straps

Grip tape. Either at a boating store or a skateboard shop has sheets for pretty cheap.

Electrical tape

A torch, either a welding torch or Propane.

Cut the threaded rod into three 2 1/2 inch pieces. They are about the same length as 2 of the long nuts. These are for breaking down the spear and for the tip to attach. The rest of the rod can be used as a guide when lining up the interior nuts.

Cut the front first tip section first, the tapered end of the pole. Make it so one of the threaded rods you cut will fit in, I made mine so that it screwed in so it mounted straighter. Once you are good with lining it up, epoxy it in. Cut the other end to measure about 28 inches.

Cut another of the ski poles about 28 inches long. This piece should be not tapered, so start from the wide end of the pole, some ski poles are fully tapered, so get one that has a long part that is the same diameter.
After cutting, epoxy or resin in one of the long bolts into an end. This is a part you should take care to make centered. Once you get a good centered piece it can be used as an easy guide to epoxy the other nuts in.

Now that we have a pretty true nut inside the mid section it will be easier to do the others.
Put the front section and mid section on something straight. Screw on another nut onto the mid sections rod. Put some epoxy on the new nut and maybe some inside the front sections open end. Slide the two together. After epoxy is set, the front section is done, don't put a rod in the nut, this is for the mid section rod to screw into. Also note that when epoxying things together don't get adhesive all over the place, tape things off, also applying spray silicoln or wax to something you don't want to stick will help.

Now that the front section is done, finish the mid section with a nut.
Use the front section nut you just installed and use it as a guide.
Screw some rod into it and the screw a nut on the end.
You can then epoxy the nut into the mid section.
The second nut on the midsection has no threaded rod, the back section gets a nut and rod on it using the line up method.

I found an eye bolt and put it in one of the nuts.
I welded them together, you could use a propane torch and solder it in or use epoxy.
Then epoxy it into the end of the back section.

I used steel rod about 3/16 inch diameter. Stainless steel or tempered might work better. If you know of a better rod metal email me. Cut to 11 inches. Grind one of their ends sharp. Insert them into another one of those nuts, this makes the tip removable to..
You can weld them in like I did or braze, solder them in with propane, even epoxy.
You can also weld on some barbs.

If you don't have a torch you can solder the rods into one of the nuts.
Here I am silver soldering the rods into a piece of copper water pipe.

Making the sling is rather easy. Get a shoe lace and cut it about 9 inches long, tie a knot at each end.
The rubber should be about 45 inches long. Insert the knot into an end of the rubber, use spit and a pencil to get it to go in. Then do the other end. Tie wrap as shown. Attach it to the end of the spear. I use two of these on my spear.

An important part is winding the tape on before removing the backing. This tells you what angle you need to wind, also cut the end square to the pole end.
After your confident with positioning remove the adhesive and start from the joint end of the front section towards the tip. Heating the tape up with a hair drier really helps the wind and adhesion. Then start at the joint of the mid section and wind towards the back.
Use electrical tape to wind over the grip tape ends.

At this point you can call the spear done. But there are a few other things you can do

I painted my spear camo green. first steel wool the poles, primer then paint. Also I painted bright stripes at the end so you can find it in case you drop it.
Here is the taped off section and the painted end.

Here is a tip for the tip. Instead of cutting the threaded rod end to length, leave it long, then put a compression spring on.
This will keep the tip from screwing off when your hunting. I would paint it green to for more camo on your spear.
Also at the two spear joints I put a nylon washer and filed them to size. This helps keep the sections screwed together.

Heres another tip for the tip. Use the button below, if this webpage helps you save time and money for making your spear. $5 is a good amount, but anything that won't put me in the next tax bracket is ok.
Thanks! Paul McTaggart