Teardown of fault line and more

[kmc]

I wasn't sure where to put this, so I put it here... Somewhere I've seen a link for a long-handled "pry bar" and more tool that someone had developed that was very useful for both stage construction and teardown . It was a long metal bar with a claw on the end and could be used as a vertical nail pounder as well. Is anyone familiar with what I'm referencing or have a link?

Edited December 12, 2019 by kmc
Add further clarification

[rishii]

We use picks with a notch cut in them, basically a big nail puller

 

I’d love to see the tool you’re asking about

[MemphisMechanic]

Same here, @kmc. As a welder/fabricator I’d probably end up making a copy of this if it works smoothly!

[Rez805]

We used those a lot until we bought a compressor and air hammers. They work pretty well. I'll swing by the range and take a couple of photos.

 

It's basically a pipe with the end piece of a crowbar on one end and a collar at the top that acts as a guard. A bar that fits into the pipe serves as the stake driver.

 

I don't have any fab experience, but I'm sure there are some considerations to make the extraction end work well.

[aandabooks]

https://www.amazon.com/Estwing-Gooseneck-Wrecking-Bar-PRO/dp/B00DT0OY0A/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=3+foot+pry+bar&qid=1576195641&sr=8-3

 

This what we use for prying up the fault line and nails.

[Rez805]

9 hours ago, kmc said:

I wasn't sure where to put this, so I put it here... Somewhere I've seen a link for a long-handled "pry bar" and more tool that someone had developed that was very useful for both stage construction and teardown . It was a long metal bar with a claw on the end and could be used as a vertical nail pounder as well. Is anyone familiar with what I'm referencing or have a link?

 

4 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

Same here, @kmc. As a welder/fabricator I’d probably end up making a copy of this if it works smoothly!

 

I'm pretty sure someone at our range whipped these up.

 

Demo:

 

Edited December 13, 2019 by Rez805

[Joe4d]

This guy is handy.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-Xtreme-Fubar-Functional-Utility-Bar-55-099/100488979

 

[ChuckS]

We have switched from spikes to lag screws. As long as you have enough batteries for your drills, it is much easier than spikes...

[kmc]

18 hours ago, rishii said:

We use picks with a notch cut in them, basically a big nail puller

 

I’d love to see the tool you’re asking about

I finally found my bookmark but the website no longer exists. They were made by bigjohnsironworks.com and they were called the Stage Hammer. There are pictures of them using the tools at Nationals setup so they must be decent and the picture above looks kinda similar. I found there is a facebook page called Big John's Iron Works (https://www.facebook.com/bigjohnsironworks/) that is definitely the same outfit and you can see the pictures of the Stage Hammer there. However, it looks like no stage hammer posts for over a year. I left a message and will see what happens.

Edited December 13, 2019 by kmc
add link

[MemphisMechanic]

No facebook account over here. So keep us posted I guess.

[GregJ]

I asked my buddy at Red Stitch Tactical if he can make some up.  Looks like it would be a great tool to have for setup/takedown. 

[kmc]

On 12/13/2019 at 2:01 AM, MemphisMechanic said:

No facebook account over here. So keep us posted I guess.

Here's a picture of them without the foam grip.

Edited December 14, 2019 by kmc
correction

[MemphisMechanic]

That’s easy enough. Thanks.

[kmc]

On 12/13/2019 at 7:58 AM, MemphisMechanic said:

That’s easy enough. Thanks.

I did a little more research on them and thought you might be interested, if you haven't figured it out already. The outer piece is a pipe (where the claw is welded) so it fits over a landscape nail. The other rod is a solid round and works as a hammer. In his most recent incantation, the grip at the top of the solid bar comes with a foam grip. I did order one just to see what how they work, though we have a better way of putting in nails currently.

[shred]

Note that it's very easy to accidentally pinch the crap out of your (or someone else's) hand with these.  They do work pretty well though.

 

[Darqusoull13]

Also remember to make sure your spikes fit inside the guide bar. Love our bars and Big John (Email: ironman5669@yahoo.com) is a great dude. 

[MikeBurgess]

we have a club locally that got several of these and they have 1 fatal flaw, the pry bar portion is welded to a relatively thin tube and when prying nails out that are anything beyond loose they bend the tube and become non functional. we are nailing into gravel and getting nails out may be harder than on other substrates so they may work great for you  but around here the prybar portion killed them, the slide hammer part is great though 

[Harpo]

9 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

we have a club locally that got several of these and they have 1 fatal flaw, the pry bar portion is welded to a relatively thin tube and when prying nails out that are anything beyond loose they bend the tube and become non functional. we are nailing into gravel and getting nails out may be harder than on other substrates so they may work great for you  but around here the prybar portion killed them, the slide hammer part is great though 

I think(though I may be mistaken) that part of the issue there was from people prying with just the tube and/or pulling the bar partway out for more leverage.

[shred]

More likely the issue is people ditch the heavy useless (for prying) hammer-bar for any prying because there's no obvious reason to lug it around.  It ought to hold up to regular prying with just the tube.

 

[perttime]

Some stage builders like to anchor stuff with really long screws. That might depend on what is in the ground, though. The use of a cordless drill is recommended.