Home Made Snake Hook

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.

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They look great!

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Originally Posted by Reinz

They look great!

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Thanks! I am going to make 2 more. One will be a short 2ft hook for at home cage use and the other, I am going to make a "break down" field hook, so it will be 4ft in length, but separate in the middle to 2ft sections to fit in a backpack. That one is going to take a little more machining time in order to get it right, but once I get it done I am going to do a weight test on it to see if I get it to fail.

That backpacker sounds like a great idea!

Man those look nice! Space age aluminum developed by NASA

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Originally Posted by Reinz

That backpacker sounds like a great idea!

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Thanks, hoping to have it drawn up and done in a week or two depending on free time at open machine time on the lathe. I may also try to knurl it in order to give it a little grip, we will see. The nice thing about all these hooks is they can be replaced since they are threaded in vs some of the ones I have seen that use JB Weld to hold them in place.

Looking good! Now just slap some grips on those babies and send them my way so I can take them out for a few test runs. :D

Some golf club grips!

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Actually the bead blasting made the bar pretty course, it feels pretty good in my hand, I might try some grips if it slips at all while I do the weight tests.

Just out of curiosity which hook type does everyone prefer just the right angle bend or the "hoop"?

While I have no experience with a hook, I would think that you would have more lateral control and in twisting motions with the traditional hook/hoop design. Meaning less droppings as well.

My field hook is more of a "v" shaped design - better for flipping stuff and still works fine for wrangling. My in house hooks are more traditional "u" shaped pieces.

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Originally Posted by jclaiborne

Just out of curiosity which hook type does everyone prefer just the right angle bend or the "hoop"?

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I sense a business venture coming LOL!

Let me step up and say, I'd order from you if things pan out!

Nice job!

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Originally Posted by Reinz

While I have no experience with a hook, I would think that you would have more lateral control and in twisting motions with the traditional hook/hoop design. Meaning less droppings as well.

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Originally Posted by John1982

My field hook is more of a "v" shaped design - better for flipping stuff and still works fine for wrangling. My in house hooks are more traditional "u" shaped pieces.

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Makes sense, from my testing with both these hooks they really both handle weight pretty well, it seems like if you pick something up and bend this hook you found a huge animal. That being said pulling items with them works just a well, it is easer to pull with the right angle hook because you can just reach out instead of going over the top. Both will deform a little when used like a pry bar...

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Originally Posted by Gio

I sense a business venture coming LOL!

Let me step up and say, I'd order from you if things pan out!

Nice job!

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Thank you, I appreciate it. If it gets to that point I will create a different thread in the for sale section so there aren't any TOS violations.