I was cleaning out one of our storage areas at work and came across some stainless steel and aluminum and decided that I was going to give making my own snake hooks a try. The aluminum bar stock is 3ft long and 1/2in diameter. I drilled and tapped one end and then put a taper on it for the hook to thread into. The hooks are made of stainless steel and are 1/4in thick. I started by trimming them down to size and grinding the tip down to the angle I wanted, removed all the sharp edges, then clamped it up in a bender and went to work. Once I got the shapes I wanted I threaded the end of the hooks so they could screw into the aluminum. There is 1in of thread engagement on each hook which is way overkill, but figured why not. I then bead blasted the hooks and poles to get any marks, imperfections, and sharp edges in the parts removed. I am pretty pleased overall with them, they came out pretty nice and seem pretty strong.
