Crow's Foot Poling Tip

[Tsuga8]

you can cut a strip of sand paper the appropriate width and "shoe shine" the insides of the slots, just pull the strip back and forth while putting some downward pressure on it to clean up the insides and put a slight curve on them

KISS. Why didn't I think of that.....

 

[Gamma1214]

Your local hardware probably sells rolls of emory cloth for cleaning copper pipe (around 150-180 grit) which would work perfectly for your application.

 

[Boatman53]

I would hesitate to cut up a slightly used belt from a belt sander. I’ve done that many times.
Jim

 

[Tsuga8]

All helpful suggestions, thanks folks!

 

[Tsuga8]

Got out to try my "swamp fin" today. Worked really well as far as not sticking in the muck, and the velcro straps seemed to hold it in place well. I did find it to be a little heavy out of water, despite being cheap softwood 2x stock. I think it's a "swing-weight" or balance issue more than anything. I may try to either find that bit of inner tube and try it on an aluminum pole, and/or shave more off the curved edge to shed a little weight and make it a bit more streamlined.

 

[Boatman53]

You could try drilling some cross holes the the meatiest part I don’t think it would effect the performance and not expensive if it fails.
Jim

 

[Tsuga8]

After another outing with my crow's foot, I'm determined to lighten the swing weight. I think I'm going to try recreating the foot entirely with 1-by- stock instead of 2-by- stock. I think the thickness is unncessary for strength and adds a lot of weight. I debating gluing a strip of 2-by- to the bottom and carving a smooth blend into the 1-by-, but I'm not sure that little bit of extra surface area at the bottom will make a difference. I also intend to alter the profile to a concave curve, to further limit unneeded material and weight. I'll post when I rough it out, but thoughts welcome in the mean time. I could really lighten things up by going with composite materials, but I don't use it enough to justify the cost and hassle of such a project.

I also found that by simply using a much shallower angle on my pole plants, I got by decently without the crow's foot at all. This resulted in more frequent plants instead of a big plant-and-climb-the-pole push, but I was moving pretty well without getting stuck.