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View Full Version : Sharpening up the pointy bits on the tripod legs...



Vaughn
20-Oct-2010, 23:09
Hello! I got to looking at the photos of the Ries A100 that recently sold on this forum, especially the ones of the spikes http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=46332&d=1287608371
My pod use to look that nice.

I could not remember what the spikes on my pod use to look like -- certainly not like that photo! Any tricks to resharpening the spikes on a Ries pod?

I thought I would end up just sitting down with a leg and start filing away. I would normally go for a 8 or 10 inch mill bastard file, just because that is what I always used to sharpen the double-bit , pulaskis and other tools as a wilderness ranger. And "mill bastard file" has always sounded like a good solid name for a tool...:D

I am hard on the spikes. No problem in the redwoods, but up in the mountains those spikes hit granite a lot as I move (climb, stumble, skirt, balance, and photograph) across the landscape. If sharpened too many times, I imagine I'll need to replace them some day. I'll wet my feet in that creek when I get to it.

Vaughn

Brian Stein
21-Oct-2010, 00:05
We are hardly doing fine work for later polishing here, so Im with you on the file, or if feeling lazy a carbide burr on a dremel or a belt sander ....

erie patsellis
21-Oct-2010, 07:08
I'd remove them, chuck them in a cordless drill and use a grinder to get a nice point with little effort.

BrianShaw
21-Oct-2010, 07:16
How pointy do they really need to be?

erie patsellis
21-Oct-2010, 07:21
Given current events, sharp enough to pierce a mountain goat's skull. :)

bobwysiwyg
21-Oct-2010, 07:58
Given current events, sharp enough to pierce a mountain goat's skull. :)

:p

Vaughn
21-Oct-2010, 07:59
Given current events, sharp enough to pierce a mountain goat's skull. :)

Well, there has been a mountain lion attack in the area I have been photographing for 30 years (even though I have never seen one there -- which means nothing), and carrying sharp spikes might just give me an edge. Yeah, right...LOL! But if I had to face down a big cat, sharp spikes would make me feel better about it.

But when setting up on rough granite, sharp spikes tend to move less on the rock than the rounded ones. The points grab onto the irregularities of the rock.

And in the redwoods I am setting up the 8x10 up on fallen trees and such places -- often no solid ground around so I am setting the legs up on wood rather than dirt/rock (or the dirt is a foot or two under a layer of organic material). Edward Weston when he was photographing in our local redwoods complained that he lost a lot of negatives when his pod would settle into the duff during his long exposures.

The last trip out into the woods I set up on a fallen log. We estimated that the camera was about 25 feet above the forest floor. A solidly set tripod is nice to have in such situations.

I do have an electric grinding wheel somewhere. That would be a lot faster -- but is there any possible problem with heat build-up weakening the metal tips?

Vaughn

Mark Woods
21-Oct-2010, 09:25
Just keep dipping them in water to cool them.

Louis Pacilla
21-Oct-2010, 12:15
Given current events, sharp enough to pierce a mountain goat's skull. :)

Now that's funny.:)

sun of sand
21-Oct-2010, 17:35
the older ries had sharper points

i took the ball off the leg spike on my cheap tripod that screws down to cover the tips -and also limits the length of the spike- and ground em down to very sharp death spikes about 2in long
probably took 20 minutes each leg with a bench grinder but was taking off large amounts of material
i jam the spikes into the ground as im often on very spongy ground/top of brush/grass where the legs will just bounce back unless planted

cover em up with cork and am careful of my toes

Brian Stein
21-Oct-2010, 23:34
Effects of heat build up will depend on whether the steel has been hardened. If it has, then overheating will anneal it and leave it nice and soft. If it hasnt then it wont make any difference. For a knife chisel or similar you can rely on it being hardened and tempered, for leg tips in a tripod, dunno.

Brian C. Miller
22-Oct-2010, 12:26
If you aren't actually having a problem with tripod slippage, why bother?

Vaughn
22-Oct-2010, 12:49
If you aren't actually having a problem with tripod slippage, why bother?

I am going for the optimum grip on uneven rock surfaces above steep drop-offs or raging waters -- and when 10 to 25 feet above the ground on fallen redwoods. So yes, I have notices an increase in slippage.

And of course, for protection against cougers, bears, elk and mad rams.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gEDUDmZkyc

Vaughn

Jay Drew
22-Oct-2010, 19:07
That is funny.
Last week we were driving past some rather odd looking sheep (to us, anyway), & I joked something about killer sheep.
JD

Jay Drew
22-Oct-2010, 19:17
Oh! BTW Dip it often. Say every 5 seconds to start. It's amazing how faxt small parts heat up. Don't ask me how I know this.
If you should over heat a spike & soften it, please feel free to ask me how to reharden & temper it. It's not difficult except for determing ~550 deg. F.
My guess is that on tripod as good as a Reis(sp?), the spikes would be hardened, JD

Vaughn
22-Oct-2010, 19:35
That is funny.
Last week we were driving past some rather odd looking sheep (to us, anyway), & I joked something about killer sheep.
JD

When I was going to university in New Zealand in 1975, there were 3 million people and 60 million sheep. That would be every twenty sheep targeting one person -- a coup de grass in the making, so to speak. Fortunately they have a hard time finding leaders.

Thanks for the suggestions! I might just use a hand file. Thinking on it, I do not need spikes that narrow smoothly down to a point -- just take the rounded tip and put a point on it. I'll try to take off a minimum amount of metal.

Vaughn

John Bowen
23-Oct-2010, 06:07
Vaughn,

Before I started on this project I'd call Ries and see how much it would cost to purchase 3 new feet/spikes. :-) I guess that is because I've got 16 left thumbs...

Please let us know how it turns out.

sun of sand
23-Oct-2010, 07:08
my spikes and older ries spikes to compare with the modern ries

Frank Petronio
23-Oct-2010, 10:23
Wonder what Darius Kinsey did? His giant tripods never settled in the duff like that amateur Weston's did.

paulr
23-Oct-2010, 14:30
I'm bookmarking this thread in case the next project takes me into vampire country.

Vaughn
23-Oct-2010, 16:00
Wonder what Darius Kinsey did? His giant tripods never settled in the duff like that amateur Weston's did.

Yeah...what's up with Ed?! Maybe because he was using a wimpy little 8x10 -- not a nice big heavy beast that settled in quickly?

On buying new spikes - plenty of metal left on the originals. I think a mill bastard (and a few bans-aids) would be cheaper than a new set of spikes.

My spikes don't look a lot like either of the two examples (my pod was bought new in about 1996/7) -- don't have the pod with me here, so I'll check later -- and snap an image of them for a before-after comparison!

Well, if the economy and society collaspes. I can give each of my boys a lower leg section and tell them to go get me some meat.