Wood handled boat hook

[Steve Laume]

I have had one of those nice,cast, brass, boat hooks for a few years now. I intended to make an eight foot ash handle for it but then began to worry.

I have dropped my cheap aluminum one over the side instead of letting it pull me overboard as it was hooked to a mooring and the boat drifted off when a strong wind caught the bow before I could secure it. Once released it floated and I was able to retrieve it and pick up the mooring.

The question is weather a bass headed ash boat hook will float? Ideally it would float with the hook down and the handle floating in a vertical position. That might be asking a bit much.

I would hate to go to the work of making a handle and then lose the thing. I know Hamilton Marine sells them with an ash handle and was just wondering if anyone had done any float tests on theirs.

I could also make the handle out of cedar for extra buoyancy. Then there would be a strength issue but if enough force was needed to break a cedar handle I might be in trouble anyway, Steve.

[Jeff and Sarah]

How about just putting a cylindrical float around the pole about 1/3 of the way from the hook end (wrap it in canvas or leather and it won't even look too bad)? It wouldn't have to be very big to be buoyant enough for the pole and it will float vertical like a man overboard pole (which I presume it could also be used for).

[John Danicic]

Or rather a guest did and it indeed floats point down.

I made the handle out of a closet hanger rod. Either ash or oak, I can't remember which.

[johnny of STORK]

I made mine with a closet pole, and kept cutting it off until it floated vertically with about a foot sticking up. I think it is around 6 feet long, maybe a little more. I cut a recess near the hand end, and wrapped the recess with a turk's head.

Johnny

[Steve Laume]

So what did it do before it decided to float with a foot sticking up?

Closet pole is usually fir so it would be less dense than ash but more than cedar. I like the idea of it floating upright but closer to eight feet seems like about the right length.

I would hate to cut up decent wood just to experiment with the floating characteristics of various species but it might come to that. So if you used a more dense wood the handle would be longer before it stood up, right?

Floating flat would be fine by me too, as long as it floats, Steve.

[Jim Davis]

Mine is about 10 feet long. I floats kinda flat, but that hasn't been a problem. One thing I do is put a turk's head at my draft so I have a quick and dirty sounding pole as well as a good non collapsing/folding boat hook.

[Ldybg]

I made one out of mahogany and bronze head, it floats handle up.

[Ken Textor]

Steve,

All woods have a specific gravity, which is a measure of a cubic foot of that species of wood (ash, in this case) against a cubic foot of water. The value for the water is 1.0. The value for kiln-dried white ash is about 0.6. That means ash will float in water. (For woodworking fans out there, rosewood, lignum vitae, ebony and some other tropical species are more than 1.0 and will sink) So, if you want to do all the math for an eight-foot ash pole versus a pound or so of brass hook, you will conclude that it will indeed float, handle vertical and clear of the water. For what it???s worth, a Douglas fir closet pole will float higher in the water, with more handle exposed, because it has a specific gravity of about 0.48. Softwoods in general have lower S.G. values, hardwoods are higher.
Yes, I have made many boat hooks over the years. I would suggest refraining from varnishing it. Hard service will make short work of the varnish. I do recommend painting the handle end with some sort of bright, day-glo color. When you drop the thing overboard, the vertical handle end will be much easier to see, particularly as it drifts off very quickly in a Maine tide. Good luck,

Ken
________

[tjr818]

I just went through this process. Take a look at a Wooden Boat article all about this. A little trimming here and there, maybe some added lead weight and you'll have a really nice boat hook that will float with the handle sticking up a foot or TWO. A note of caution: if the fit is very close, the wood will swell up when you do your test float and you will have a devil of a time getting the bronze hook back off of the shaft.

[Steve Laume]

I did make up a boat hook. It is a thing of beauty that could have fended off the Titanic burg.

I used two pieces of ash with a teak spline running up the joint to strengthen the epoxy bond. The only place the teak shows is on the end but I had some 1/4" so I used it. I sawed off facets until it was nearly round then hand planed it with some taper towards the hook end. The thing is still very beefy. To fit the brass casting, I worked with a rasp and chalk dust to take away the high spots. When I got a really nice fit I bedded it in epoxy. This method would allow for a pretty sloppy fit but it seemed better tight. I did a turks head at the joint and a couple of more on the handle end with a line wrapping in between them. The whole thing got a few coats of Cetol, including the knots.

It is very pretty and pretty dang heavy. It has worked well for picking up the mooring but I have not tried the float test. I am pretty sure I could have used cedar or some other much lighter wood but I will never worry about it being strong enough, Steve.