Improved Gutter Nail/Golf Club Snake Hook

[John_White]

Improved Gutter Nail/Golf Club Snake Hook

Almost everyone is familiar with the homemade golf club and gutter nail snake hook. In short the end off a metal shaft golf club is cut off and an appropriate sized, bent gutter nail is inserted into the shaft. Unfortunately, sometimes the nail doesn't fit snuggly and wiggles around a bit and the hollow metal shaft of the golf club is fairly weak. After experimenting with several methods of securing the nail into the golf club shaft I stumbled across Gorillia Glue (available at Home Depot). Gorillia Glue is a very strong glue that foams 3 to 4 times it's original volume as it cures.
Procedure: Once the golf club and gutter nail are ready for assembly, fill the hollow shaft of the golf club with Gorillia Glue, up to about 25-33%. Insert the pre-bent gutter nail in to the shaft and hang the snake hook by the handle (gutter nail down) for a day or two. The glue will seep back down toward the nail and at the same time expand and fill the hollow shaft golf club shaft with a strong, rigid, cellulous foam. The end result is a firmly attached nail and a very strong foam filled, light weight shaft.

[eddie]

Some of us have been using Gorilla glue for that for a while

Still a great post for those that want to make their own hooks

[JuliusSqueezer]

I use gorilla glue for my hooks too....but a gutter nail? lol..ok never thought of that. Aren't they aluminum? I do make some aluminum heads for some of my cage hooks and "indoor" use hooks. I like the light weight and agility. But while you are in Lowes or Home Depot, you might pop over to hardware and find the welding steel section. There you will find various sizes of still rods. For standard hooks, I use 1/4 inch steel. For Field hooks, I use 5/16 inch steel. I buy the 4 foot sections and cut them into four 1 foot rods. Bend them to shape and then grind the edge down on a bench grinder. They also sell aluminum stock in the same place of varying widths and lengths that work great for making cage hooks. Gutter nails might be cheaper though. That aluminum stock is pretty expensive. I may have to check into that for the cage hooks.

[Ed_r]

Brett do you have a how to with graphite shafts? I tried this before but so far the golf clubs I have or have found have a plastic filling in the shaft already. Do you drill that out?

[John_White]

The nails I use are galvanized steel. So, I guess that they are not true gutter nails? As for a field hook I use an iron rod with an ice axe head or a modified Craftsman fiberglass shaft potato rake (guaranteed for ever by Craftsman).

[JuliusSqueezer]

Yes Ed, I drill it out with either a 1/4 inch or 5/16 inch bit depending on the size head I plan to use.