January 11, 20179 yr Popular Post Made this for my nephew who tops out of the lineman apprenticeship in March. Found the wood at a thrift store for a buck and figured the pattern would work. Had to add some length to the pole and rope, I'll put his name & year in the lower left. I have some thin stock oak that should work just fine. The pattern is from scrollers café & was created by Gayle M.
January 12, 20179 yr That is just really nice. You're a great uncle. I'm sure he'll treasure it forever.
January 12, 20179 yr Popular Post My brother in law retired a few years ago after working many years as a lineman . He's also a woodworking hobbiest. I know he would love this piece. No one really appreciates what a lineman experiences when going out in winter storms to restore service, especially when it comes to the intolerance of of the general public. Beautifully done. I'm sure your nephiew will appreciate it. Edited January 12, 20179 yr by It Was Al B add content
January 14, 20179 yr Popular Post I retired after 42 years of serving this profession, there is many up and downs until the bucket trucks came along. I like your final project
January 14, 20179 yr Popular Post 27 minutes ago, cycle man said: I retired after 42 years of serving this profession, there is many up and downs until the bucket trucks came along. I like your final project I bet after 42 years of service you'd have a bible's worth of stories to tell! Thanks for your service to the trade @cycle man. It's a thankless craft. But somebodies gotta do it right! 31Lima US Army, Wire Systems Installer, Lineman. No bucket trucks, just my gaffs and two hands, free climbed anything that stuck out of the ground, no safety harness, the only time we "safety on" was in the leaning work position once we got to the top, free climbed back down too. Learned to climb poles at the "pole garden" at Ft Gordon GA lineman's school. The only bad fall I ever had was during a mission in Honduras, I was about 40 feet up on my way down, the pole I was climbing had been climbed hundreds of times before by others, so the pole was shredded, I hesitated when gaffing in with one leg and I lost it, I hugged the pole and took the splinter express down for another 30 or so feet. I was in the camp hospital tent all day getting splinters removed from my chest, belly, inside arms, and inside thighs, I was a bloody mess. I was wearing my BDU bottoms but only a t-shirt, my chest and belly took the brunt of it, even after I returned to my home base in Panama I was still finding wood in my torso for a couple months after. But I loved the job!
January 14, 20179 yr @DuckSoup...Spectacular piece Bob. Once your nephew sees this, you may very well end up with additional work for his fellow lineman...VERY nicely done...Thanks for sharing... I'm gonna' have to look closer in our Thrift Marts...never have seen wood of this caliber before....great find, eye and vision for use.
January 15, 20179 yr Splinters are no fun, but hopefully you only gaffed the poles. I knew some guys who made mistakes... ouch.
January 15, 20179 yr Author Thanks guys for all the compliments. One of my nephews first task to get in the program was to climb a pole. Having worked with linemen over the years I made a call & a friend spent two Saturdays on a blank pole teaching him how. He spent 3 months this pass summer working with a line crew and he really enjoyed the work. They gave him plenty of room to apply what he learn in class. 6 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said: I'm gonna' have to look closer in our Thrift Marts... This looked to be maybe a souvenir from a trip out west. Had a clear coat, which I removed, and a stamp "from" but couldn't make it out. It cut and smelled like cedar. I was able to grab this the week HandyDan was sick.
January 15, 20179 yr 3 minutes ago, DuckSoup said: I was able to grab this the week HandyDan was sick. Good strategy...It certainly was the perfect piece of wood for this project.
January 15, 20179 yr 56 minutes ago, p_toad said: Splinters are no fun, but hopefully you only gaffed the poles. I knew some guys who made mistakes... ouch. I didn't gaff myself, that was a good thing. Half those splinters were about two inches long and about 1/8" in diameter, big splinters! A couple months later one of em worked it's own way out of my chest, it was huge!
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