Can I Cant A Cant, or Cant I Cant A Cant,, The Question Is A Little Peavey,,,,,,,,,,,

[SweetMK]

I was at a local surplus dealer,, he had some wood handles (axe, maul, etc,,,) and I was picking through them,,
I noticed a CANT handle, it was $5,, it was so large in diameter, I did not recognize it.
The guy told me what it was,, so I figured I would try to make a BIG cant,,
I borrowed a neighbors cant,, and so far I sort of duplicated his, as far as dimensions, etc,,

The hook turned out pretty nice, it is one inch solid round,, a little beefier than the neighbors.
I bent the steel bar with my wood splitter.

The rest of the parts are mostly just sawing of steel.
I was getting ready to weld the parts and I thought of the leg that will hold a log off the ground,, so back to the saw,, more parts,,
(I still have to "whittle" the cant pole a little so that the hook bracket will fit)

I still have a couple questions,,,
How far should the little steel tooth stick out at the end of the cant?
My neighbors only sticks out 1/4",, that seems awfully short,,
Should I make it longer??

Should that little steel tooth at the end of the cant have "points" ??

Should I connect the tooth at the end of the cant with the bracket that holds the hook with about 8 inches of steel bar??
Some are connected, some are not.

The bar I found to lift the cant off the ground is about 8 inches long,,
Does that seem to be high enough, ?? Should it be higher? lower??

Any insight would be greatly appreciated,,
Thanks for looking!

 

[ken morgan]

From a design standpoint the longer you make the leg the less mechanical advantage you will have, IE it will be hard to lift the log with. 8" to me sounds fair much longer and it becomes harder to lift the wood, much shorter and you risk dropping the tip of the bar into the dirt when you are tired. if you can't keep the tip of the bar out of the dirt with 8" you could always bring a small piece of plywood to toss under to prevent using your freshly sharpened chain as an excavation device

 

[Woodslasher]

First off, great score on the handle! $5 is a freakin' steal! Now, the cant hooks I've seen have 4 or so teeth on the lower bit. You can make the lower tooth longer to try it, if you don't like it grind a bit more off and try it again. Lastly, I wouldn't connect the tooth with the bracket, I'd just pin the tooth to the handle. I have a cant hook with the stand, I wish it was a plain hook as I've just never found the stand to be all that handy and I wish the haft was another foot or so longer. I prefer a straight peavey personally, but whatever floats your boat. I couldn't find a cheap haft so I trimmed up a bigleaf maple sapling for my peavey and currently it's going on 4 years problem free. I wouldn't sell it for the world, and I don't find myself missing either the point or a "tooth".

 

[SweetMK]

I got a little more done today,,

i changed the mount for the lifting foot, now, when I remove the lifting foot, all that will be left is a 1 inch piece of 1 inch round stock.
The mechanical tube will be welded to the rest of the foot.

As it sits, the height with the foot is 10 inches,, if i want it lower, I will bend the foot "leg" a little more.

I sharpened the tooth at the end of the cant handle, it is almost razor sharp now.

I whittled down the end of the cant to fit the 1.50" I.D. mechanical tube.

I think I have 4 holes left to drill, two to squeeze the bracket closed, one for the foot at the end of the cant, and one for the lift leg/foot.

Now, the hard part,,, sanding the cant handle,, I may stick it in the metal lathe,, and spin it.

 

[Bearcreek]

Looks good. Wouldn't mess with the leg myself, but to each his own. I could see it being useful for some folks. FYI, that's a cant hook, not a cant. A "cant" is a squared off log. A beam, basically. It's what a "cant hook" was designed to turn.

 

[SweetMK]

Thanks, Bearcreek,, that is good info on the tool,,
now my new dilemma,,
Since I will probably never use the tool to turn a cant,, I cant know if the tool is still a cant hook,, ?

I am planning on making another attachment that will connect to the pin sticking down for the log lifter leg.

If I bend another 1" pin just right,, and point it,,
such that the point sticks down from the bottom of the tool, I will pretty much have a peavey.
I really doubt I have a need for a peavey, I never stack long logs, which is what I have heard is the peavey's expertise,,
It is just part of the fun.

That will wait, until I test this much of the tool,, I have about a hundred feet of oak, and probably 60 feet of locust,, ready to cut.

Another question for the woodworkers,, (I try to only cut wood with a linked tool, and otherwise avoid it)
A 90+ year old gentleman gave me a VERY old can of boiled linseed oil,, he says it is the real stuff.
I have put it on a couple axe handles,, it is nice,,

Is linseed oil the best treatment for the cant hooks handle??

 

[ken morgan]

looks pretty friggin sweet to me! make sure you oil the wood to prevent drying and cracking.

edit just saw your last post...yes linseed would work great.

 

[Bearcreek]

Thanks, Bearcreek,, that is good info on the tool,,
now my new dilemma,,
Since I will probably never use the tool to turn a cant,, I cant know if the tool is still a cant hook,, ?

How a tool is used doesn't change what it is. If I pound a nail with a wrench, it's still a wrench.

If I bend another 1" pin just right,, and point it,,
such that the point sticks down from the bottom of the tool, I will pretty much have a peavey.
I really doubt I have a need for a peavey, I never stack long logs, which is what I have heard is the peavey's expertise,,
It is just part of the fun.

They both work well for turning logs. I've never heard that a peavey is better for long logs. Can't think of a reason why that would be unless it's because it can more easily be jammed between logs to pry them apart where a cant hook won't. A cant hook can be used to grab and drag logs where a peavey won't. A peavey can be stuck in the dirt to stand it up so you don't misplace it in the leaves or get the handle covered in mud. In most cases, they're interchangeable, but sometimes one is nicer than the other.

 

[TRTermite]

I got a little more done today,,

i changed the mount for the lifting foot, now, when I remove the lifting foot, all that will be left is a 1 inch piece of 1 inch round stock.
The mechanical tube will be welded to the rest of the foot.

As it sits, the height with the foot is 10 inches,, if i want it lower, I will bend the foot "leg" a little more.

I sharpened the tooth at the end of the cant handle, it is almost razor sharp now.

I whittled down the end of the cant to fit the 1.50" I.D. mechanical tube.

I think I have 4 holes left to drill, two to squeeze the bracket closed, one for the foot at the end of the cant, and one for the lift leg/foot.

Now, the hard part,,, sanding the cant handle,, I may stick it in the metal lathe,, and spin it.

Take a piece of broken glass and gloves and scrape it.. Your first pictures showed negative hook, you don't want the hook dubbed off or your bite won't be there.

 

[TRTermite]

Thanks, Bearcreek,, that is good info on the tool,,
now my new dilemma,,
Since I will probably never use the tool to turn a cant,, I cant know if the tool is still a cant hook,, ?

I am planning on making another attachment that will connect to the pin sticking down for the log lifter leg.

If I bend another 1" pin just right,, and point it,,
such that the point sticks down from the bottom of the tool, I will pretty much have a peavey.
I really doubt I have a need for a peavey, I never stack long logs, which is what I have heard is the peavey's expertise,,
It is just part of the fun.

That will wait, until I test this much of the tool,, I have about a hundred feet of oak, and probably 60 feet of locust,, ready to cut.

Another question for the woodworkers,, (I try to only cut wood with a linked tool, and otherwise avoid it)
A 90+ year old gentleman gave me a VERY old can of boiled linseed oil,, he says it is the real stuff.
I have put it on a couple axe handles,, it is nice,,

Is linseed oil the best treatment for the cant hooks handle??

You might boil it in bees wax makes it heavier but no moistier left in the wood.

 

[SweetMK]

Take a piece of broken glass and gloves and scrape it.. Your first pictures showed negative hook, you don't want the hook dubbed off or your bite won't be there.

I was concerned about that,, Several of these tools that I have seen are both ways.
I can adjust the position of the hook bracket,, and I can drill a new hole in the hook, at a point a little closer to the hook tip.

I think the hook position will be partly determined by how much I bent the tip of the hook.

I have used a cant hook that would not bite,, because the hook tip was not pointed at the pivot enough,,
so, I will try it, before I change it.

 

[SweetMK]

You might boil it in bees wax makes it heavier but no moistier left in the wood.

That is new to me,, longevity is the desire,, I may have to look into that,,,,,,, THANKS!!

 

[TRTermite]

I was concerned about that,, Several of these tools that I have seen are both ways.
I can adjust the position of the hook bracket,, and I can drill a new hole in the hook, at a point a little closer to the hook tip.

I think the hook position will be partly determined by how much I bent the tip of the hook.

I have used a cant hook that would not bite,, because the hook tip was not pointed at the pivot enough,,
so, I will try it, before I change it.

I was not dictating (I hope) but you are going at it like I would. My Dad ruined more than one shovel and cant hook tip with his way of (Sharpening) thinking. The only thing I should add is if you are using hot rolled steel the point will dull or bend easier than most people will imagine. Cold rolled will help but some better grade is above my paygrade of advice.

 

[SweetMK]

The tip of the handle is made out of a backhoe bucket tooth,, when cut with a Porta-Band,, occasionally sparks fly off the blade.
THAT part should be adequate.

As far as the hook, I will try it as is, my hook is 2X the size of a typical cant hook. It is strong.

I made the hook out of heavier steel, because I see so many videos of people not being able to get the hook to grab.
They step on the hook, and everything else,,,,,,,,,,
Hopefully, the extra weight will push the hook into the wood a little better.

If the hook tip bends,, I have hard facing weld rod,, VERY high alloy, a few beads ought to stiffen the tooth,,

 

[TRTermite]

The tip of the handle is made out of a backhoe bucket tooth,, when cut with a Porta-Band,, occasionally sparks fly off the blade.
THAT part should be adequate.

As far as the hook, I will try it as is, my hook is 2X the size of a typical cant hook. It is strong.

I made the hook out of heavier steel, because I see so many videos of people not being able to get the hook to grab.
They step on the hook, and everything else,,,,,,,,,,
Hopefully, the extra weight will push the hook into the wood a little better.

If the hook tip bends,, I have hard facing weld rod,, VERY high alloy, a few beads ought to stiffen the tooth,,

I used to be able to make a Cant Hook sing and seldom used a peavey. I still know how they work but too old, fat ,and LAZEE to worry about it. Once you get the hang of them You will be impressed. I bought my first 30" from A L Boggs of Springfield Mo .In 1976 I have never had to sharpen it.

 

[Okie]

Just my 2 cents. (from cant hook experience when cutting the larger firewood logs
I happen to have two cant hooks with good handles that I got at different times dirt cheap at garage sales.
I cut lots of firewood.
I use both cants often and was going to put a lifting leg on one (I have welder, cutting torch and could easily do such) BUT
Some of the main tree trunks I get into are large and require splitting after cutting to firewood length.
For me cutting firewood in usually deep leaves and rocks underneath the logs or main trimmed tree trunks my two cant hooks really work better if I just cut some (usually several) smaller limbs and place beside the larger firewood logs, roll the trimmed log unto the limbs to hold the log off the ground and cut firewood the full length of the log once it's up off the ground. If it's a really big log I sometimes cut part way through before i roll it onto the limbs and I make a upsweep cut from the previous kerf if it looks like it might bind the saw doing a downward cut.
A lifting foot would not be user friendly for me if I only had one cant hook because the cant with leg is trapped under a heavy log and require lots of grunt to get a heavy log onto the leg and off the ground.

 

[rwoods]

SweetMK, report back on your use of the stand. I see lots of folks that have that feature but has yet to see anyone use it, I tried one once and found it useless for the log at hand. It seems it would be handy if they work.

Ron

 

[Brufab]

Nice work on the project. My dad made a longer hook or whatever the term is for bigger logs it sorta works but not as we planned it would. As you said real life test will determine what will work best in your project. Thanks for sharing, looks great!

 

[SS396driver]

Very nice work . I would use just the BLO on a hand tool . BLO soaks into the wood as apposed to bee's wax or carnauba that coats the surface. Not fun trying to hold onto a waxed handle .

 

[Oletrapper]

SweetMK, report back on your use of the stand. I see lots of folks that have that feature but has yet to see anyone use it, I tried one once and found it useless for the log at hand. It seems it would be handy if they work.

Ron

I purchased a Stihl stand for my short 3' cant hook years ago. It works well for small logs. The Stihl stand is designed to be used on THEIR cant hook handle. Mostly the same diameter from tip all the way up to the top. There is no way I could put it on my 4' 6" cant handle because of the handle diameter.
Hope yours works as intended. Looks great! OT