You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

cavelamb wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

Um, with a clamping mechanism to lock the sections in position?

There are at least four completely different mechanisms in common use.

- Spring loaded locking pins
- Eccentric cams
- Screw down collet
- Lever / knob tightened clamps

Pete C. wrote:
cavelamb wrote:
You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

Um, with a clamping mechanism to lock the sections in position?

There are at least four completely different mechanisms in common use.

- Spring loaded locking pins
- Eccentric cams
- Screw down collet
- Lever / knob tightened clamps

I think I'm interested in the eccentric cam or collet approach.
Lemme go google on that for a while.
I was getting nowhere with "telescoping pole"...

Thanks Pete.

On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

On May 10, 10:38*pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, *so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.



My pool pole, for net, brush, or vacuum, has two telescoping sections
that are locked together wirth a plastic collet type clamp. Each part
is about 8' long.

Wolfgang

Don Foreman wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

I think you are on to it, Don.

I'm playing with a small Forespar jib pole.
It usually locks in 1/4 turn but sometimes misses and rotates for a while.

I was thinking about using something like that for a tiller lock.

Either that ot something like a turnbuckle with opposite threads to screw in and
out.

On May 10, 11:38*pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, *so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

Just looked, it has two short plastic cylinders with identically
offset center holes, one piece pressed into the inner tube and the
other free to rotate on a screw. I use them for trimming branches and
cleaning the gutter. The lock holds well for endwise forces but not,
of course, to much twisting.

The ceiling painting pole with a lever-operated pin lock works
better.

jsw

On Mon, 11 May 2009 02:51:24 -0700 (PDT), Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 10, 11:38*pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, *so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

Just looked, it has two short plastic cylinders with identically
offset center holes, one piece pressed into the inner tube and the
other free to rotate on a screw. I use them for trimming branches and
cleaning the gutter. The lock holds well for endwise forces but not,
of course, to much twisting.

Jim,

Your mention of gutter cleaning caught my eye, as my rear gutters are
two stories up. I have an extension ladder that gets that high, but it
requires a lot of effort to set up, and more to keep moving it down
the side of the house.

I've tried a tall leaf-blower extension, but that gets a bit unwieldy
at the two-story mark; any suggestions you could offer would be much
appreciated.

How do you use the extension pole? Vertically ("ladderless"), or
horizontally ("less ladder-shifting")? What to you use at the end of
it?


Frank McKenney
--
Inborn desires are a nuisance to those with utopian and totalitarian
visions, which often amount to the same thing. What stands in the
way of most utopias is not pestilence and drought but human behavior.
-- Steven Pinker, "The Blank Slate"
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)

Frnak McKenney wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2009 02:51:24 -0700 (PDT), Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 10, 11:38 pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

Just looked, it has two short plastic cylinders with identically
offset center holes, one piece pressed into the inner tube and the
other free to rotate on a screw. I use them for trimming branches and
cleaning the gutter. The lock holds well for endwise forces but not,
of course, to much twisting.

Jim,

Your mention of gutter cleaning caught my eye, as my rear gutters are
two stories up. I have an extension ladder that gets that high, but it
requires a lot of effort to set up, and more to keep moving it down
the side of the house.

I've tried a tall leaf-blower extension, but that gets a bit unwieldy
at the two-story mark; any suggestions you could offer would be much
appreciated.

How do you use the extension pole? Vertically ("ladderless"), or
horizontally ("less ladder-shifting")? What to you use at the end of
it?

Probably the most effective ground level gutter cleaning method is with
a pressure washer with a telescopic pole and 180 degree hook end. You
can get all the components from Northern Tool.

On Mon, 11 May 2009 08:09:04 -0500, "Pete C."
wrote:


Frnak McKenney wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2009 02:51:24 -0700 (PDT), Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 10, 11:38 pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

Just looked, it has two short plastic cylinders with identically
offset center holes, one piece pressed into the inner tube and the
other free to rotate on a screw. I use them for trimming branches and
cleaning the gutter. The lock holds well for endwise forces but not,
of course, to much twisting.

Jim,

Your mention of gutter cleaning caught my eye, as my rear gutters are
two stories up. I have an extension ladder that gets that high, but it
requires a lot of effort to set up, and more to keep moving it down
the side of the house.

I've tried a tall leaf-blower extension, but that gets a bit unwieldy
at the two-story mark; any suggestions you could offer would be much
appreciated.

How do you use the extension pole? Vertically ("ladderless"), or
horizontally ("less ladder-shifting")? What to you use at the end of
it?

Probably the most effective ground level gutter cleaning method is with
a pressure washer with a telescopic pole and 180 degree hook end. You
can get all the components from Northern Tool.

Wow! Wearing a slicker suit, I bet.

Pete Keillor

On May 11, 9:03*am, Frnak McKenney
wrote:

How do you use the extension pole? Vertically ("ladderless"), or
horizontally ("less ladder-shifting")? What to you use at the end of
it?

Frank McKenney

I made gutter hangers that don't block the top out of 1/8" aluminum
strips. The scoop is a Home Depot 'Gutter Getter", which they don't
seem to carry now, bolted crosswise to the end of the pole with a
diagonal brace to the handle of the scoop. The top section of pole is
a wooden broomstick since the wires hang close to the gutter.

My front gutters are two stories up and often clogged with catkins and
leaves from the overhanging oaks. Leaves aren't too bad but when the
gutters are half full of muck I can only scoop out a foot or two at a
time.

The gutters wrap around the ends of the roof overhang to reach the
downspouts, which are straight. I ran short pieces of gutter straight
through the downspout tee fittings and cut a large drain hole in the
bottom. There are no end caps so I can push debris out the end.

The downspouts are screwed to and supported by wall brackets at the
lower end only so they are simple to remove from the ground when they
clog at the top. I had to loosen the fit at the tee to make them go
back on easily enough.

jsw

Don't you guys have a Home Depot in your area?
I've seen those telescoping poles on display just a few hours ago.

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
On May 10, 11:38 pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?

Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.

Anybody have a clue how these things work?

They're slightly elliptical, so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

Just looked, it has two short plastic cylinders with identically
offset center holes, one piece pressed into the inner tube and the
other free to rotate on a screw. I use them for trimming branches and
cleaning the gutter. The lock holds well for endwise forces but not,
of course, to much twisting.

The ceiling painting pole with a lever-operated pin lock works
better.

jsw

R T Smith wrote:
Don't you guys have a Home Depot in your area?
I've seen those telescoping poles on display just a few hours ago.

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
On May 10, 11:38 pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?
Useful for boat poles, spinnaker and jib poles, or changing light bulbs.
Anybody have a clue how these things work?
They're slightly elliptical, so they sort of cam lock when the mating
parts are rotated relative to each other.

Just looked, it has two short plastic cylinders with identically
offset center holes, one piece pressed into the inner tube and the
other free to rotate on a screw. I use them for trimming branches and
cleaning the gutter. The lock holds well for endwise forces but not,
of course, to much twisting.

The ceiling painting pole with a lever-operated pin lock works
better.

jsw



Thanks!
I haven't had the guts to pull apart a $400 spinnaker pole to see what's inside.

Well, now we know...

Pete, and Pete,

Thanks for joining in.

On Mon, 11 May 2009 10:26:23 -0400, Pete Keillor wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2009 08:09:04 -0500, "Pete C."
wrote:


Frnak McKenney wrote:

On Mon, 11 May 2009 02:51:24 -0700 (PDT), Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 10, 11:38 pm, Don Foreman
wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2009 22:01:24 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

You know those magic telescoping poles that can lock?
--snip--
Just looked, it has two short plastic cylinders with identically
offset center holes, one piece pressed into the inner tube and the
other free to rotate on a screw. I use them for trimming branches and
cleaning the gutter. The lock holds well for endwise forces but not,
of course, to much twisting.

Jim,

Your mention of gutter cleaning caught my eye, as my rear gutters are
two stories up. I have an extension ladder that gets that high, but it
requires a lot of effort to set up, and more to keep moving it down
the side of the house.

I've tried a tall leaf-blower extension, but that gets a bit unwieldy
at the two-story mark; any suggestions you could offer would be much
appreciated.
--snip--
Probably the most effective ground level gutter cleaning method is with
a pressure washer with a telescopic pole and 180 degree hook end. You
can get all the components from Northern Tool.

Thanks for the suggeestion. I'll take a look.

Wow! Wearing a slicker suit, I bet.

You'd better believe it. If there's any dampness in the gutter, even
the leaf-blower approach produces an incredible amount of organic
residue spattered in all directions. Adding water would just make it
that much messier. grin!


Frank
--
Remember that anecdote is not the singular of data.
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)

Jim,

Thanks for the reply.

On Mon, 11 May 2009 15:14:11 -0700 (PDT), Jim Wilkins wrote:
On May 11, 9:03*am, Frnak McKenney
wrote:

How do you use the extension pole? Vertically ("ladderless"), or
horizontally ("less ladder-shifting")? What to you use at the end of
it?

Frank McKenney

I made gutter hangers that don't block the top out of 1/8" aluminum
strips.

Ah! Mine were "professionally" installed using cross-supports ("stick
barriers" at cleaning time) screwed into a long face strip. At least,
_most_ of them were screwed in. Grump!

Did you do this, that is, install the gutters, from scratch?? Or just
replace... er, re-hang existing gutters?

... The scoop is a Home Depot 'Gutter Getter", which they don't
seem to carry now, bolted crosswise to the end of the pole with a
diagonal brace to the handle of the scoop.

Okay. Once you've eliminated the barriers, and set the ladder up once,
your only limitation would seem to be the length of pole you can work
with while balanced on the ladder. Heck, with those logjam hangers
out of the way, my Looj might even work.

... The top section of pole is
a wooden broomstick since the wires hang close to the gutter.

My telephone and fiber cables are in the way on one run, but after
re-reading I realized that you're probably talking about _power_
lines. Ack!

My front gutters are two stories up and often clogged with catkins and
leaves from the overhanging oaks. Leaves aren't too bad but when the
gutters are half full of muck I can only scoop out a foot or two at a
time.

If you had a Trained Assistant runing below with a large bucket, you
could replace the scoop with a "tilted wedge" shaped to the gutter
that would get under the sludge and firce it up and over. Hm. Guess
you'd need two so you could work both ways from the ladder.

(It's a lot more fun to design something for someone _else_; you don't
have to deal with the inevitable Unforseen Consequences. grin!)

The gutters wrap around the ends of the roof overhang to reach the
downspouts, which are straight. I ran short pieces of gutter straight
through the downspout tee fittings and cut a large drain hole in the
bottom. There are no end caps so I can push debris out the end.

The downspouts are screwed to and supported by wall brackets at the
lower end only so they are simple to remove from the ground when they
clog at the top. I had to loosen the fit at the tee to make them go
back on easily enough.

Ah! That leaves the lower bracket supporting the entire weight of the
downspout; not a problem?

Thanks for the description. You've started several trains of thought;
now all I have to do is get one to the station before it derails.
grin!


Frank
--
Everything has to start with fantasy... Knowledge is what
you finish up with, if you're lucky, after you've done the
hard work -- but the hard work needs passion to drive it.
People need reasons to be interested, reasons to be committed,
reasons to do their damndest to find the truth.
-- Brian Stableford / Dark Ararat
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)

On May 12, 9:00*am, Frnak McKenney
wrote:
Jim,
...
Did you do this, that is, install the gutters, from scratch?? Or just
replace... er, re-hang existing gutters?

I installed new ones after reshingling, planning from the start to
clean them from the ground. Several areas around my house aren't
suitable for a ladder. Even where the ground is relatively level I
rope the ladder to trees or the car so it can't slip sideways. The
rope runs over pulleys at the to down to mountaineering ascenders,
which make moving the ladder sideways simple.
http://www.cmi-gear.com/catalog/ascenders/small.asp

I also fixed up a weighted brush and pulley rig to clean the chimney
from the ground and made the tv antenna mast telescope to lower the
antenna for repairs. Right now my HDTV antenna is two salvaged 6"
aluminum standoffs stuck in the ends of plastic hose, a repair to an
old Radio Shack UHF antenna. After the transition I'll tune it to the
highest local station's frequency.

... The scoop is a Home Depot 'Gutter Getter", which they don't
seem to carry now, bolted crosswise to the end of the pole with a
diagonal brace to the handle of the scoop.

Okay. Once you've eliminated the barriers, and set the ladder up once,
your only limitation would seem to be the length of pole you can work
with while balanced on the ladder. Heck, with those logjam hangers
out of the way, my Looj might even work.

... The top section of pole is
a wooden broomstick since the wires hang close to the gutter.

My telephone and fiber cables are in the way on one run, but after
re-reading I realized that you're probably talking about _power_
lines. Ack!


If you had a Trained Assistant runing below with a large bucket, you
could replace the scoop with a "tilted wedge" shaped to the gutter
that would get under the sludge and firce it up and over. Hm. Guess
you'd need two so you could work both ways from the ladder.

No ladder. The pool pole reaches from the ground. The gutter supports
the weight and steadies it so I only have to slide the scoop along
until it jams, then lift to spill the load over the edge. Naturally I
don't stand directly underneath.

(It's a lot more fun to design something for someone _else_; you don't
*have to deal with the inevitable Unforseen Consequences. grin!)



The downspouts are screwed to and supported by wall brackets at the
lower end only so they are simple to remove from the ground when they
clog at the top. I had to loosen the fit at the tee to make them go
back on easily enough.

Ah! That leaves the lower bracket supporting the entire weight of the
downspout; not a problem?

The lower end of the 10' section is within reach from a stepstool. The
piece below it is well supported.

Frank

With only a few small exceptions this was or could have been done with
hand tools. I made replacement antenna fittings and the antenna and
chimney brush pulley assemblies from stainless steel on a metal lathe
but commercial hardware would have worked.

jsw