# DIY Line Tamer Spikes



## 994 (Apr 14, 2008)

Snakesurf said:


> I know we just had something similar to this but not specifically boat spikes. Has anyone made your own and if so do you have pics? I have an idea of something but would like see what others have done. Also what materials and how did you fasten them to the deck?


They’re only like 3 bucks a piece from Carbon Marine. It’s a well made product from a great company.


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## Snakesurf (Jun 18, 2019)

mosquitolaGOON said:


> They’re only like 3 bucks a piece from Carbon Marine. It’s a well made product from a great company.


You can make them for less than .50 cents you also must get at least 24 of the Carbon Marine $69 worth of them at a time to get enough.




































Here what I did, and you can step on them, they are waterproof, tuff and they won't come off. You can also make them in different colors: Got two 12”x18”x 5 mm EVA foam sheets one black & one white from Hobby Lobby and the rest of the stuff from just about anywhere and whatever tools you have laying around. These are actually tested, and they pass. You can make them look like anything you want and now my Piranha has teeth.

I cut the triangle pattern template out of cardboard and marked the EVA and cut it out of the white and black EVA with scissors (make sure you cut a reverse pattern if you are going to do it like this). I originally was going to use the round bottom part of the template instead of the oval piece, but it did not work, and I cut it off. Glued (2 pieces) the white to the black patterns together for strength with the E6000. I used masking tape to hold them together but it made a messy glue line that the adhesive from the tape stuck to. If you lay them on a flat surface with some wax paper down first, you can just put something like a piece of board or books on them till they dry, and you won’t have a messy glue line.
For the oval base I used one sheet and the Exacto knife to cut out the rectangle, make sure the cut out is a little thinner than the actual thickness of the two pieces of the spike glued together. Glue the base to the spike with the E6000 and make sure you flatten out glue on the bottom (use a toothpick) and the spike base is flush with bottom of the oval base and will sit upright at a 90° angle to the base. It is foam and you can move it around. Dry them on wax paper or something the glue won’t stick to.
Once dry use the Loctite marine sealant on the bottom of the base by spreading a thin layer over the hole area and stick down to the bow where you want them. You may have to come up with a way o hold the base down flat till it dries so don’t more than you can do that for. I could do about 3 at a time and the glue takes about an hour to set and about 8 hrs to cure. That particular marine sealant is very good for all kinds of boat stuff. Also stick the marked pieces together and the oval base pieces down so you don’t see the cutout marks.
If you save image as on the bow spikes jpeg and print it at 8.5 x 11 it will be the correct size for your template.


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## 994 (Apr 14, 2008)

Snakesurf said:


> You can make them for less than .50 cents you also must get at least 24 of the Carbon Marine $69 worth of them at a time to
> Here what I did, and you can step on them, they are waterproof, tuff and they won't come off. You can also make them in different colors: Got two 12”x18”x 5 mm EVA foam sheets one black & one white from Hobby Lobby and the rest of the stuff from just about anywhere and whatever tools you have laying around. These are actually tested, and they pass. You can make them look like anything you want and now my Piranha has teeth.
> 
> I cut the triangle pattern template out of cardboard and marked the EVA and cut it out of the white and black EVA with scissors (make sure you cut a reverse pattern if you are going to do it like this). I originally was going to use the round bottom part of the template instead of the oval piece, but it did not work, and I cut it off. Glued (2 pieces) the white to the black patterns together for strength with the E6000. I used masking tape to hold them together but it made a messy glue line that the adhesive from the tape stuck to. If you lay them on a flat surface with some wax paper down first, you can just put something like a piece of board or books on them till they dry, and you won’t have a messy glue line.
> For the oval base I used one sheet and the Exacto knife to cut out the rectangle, make sure the cut out is a little thinner than the actual thickness of the two pieces of the spike glued together. Glue the base


Well to be fair Carbon Marines look like they cost $3 and yours look like they cost $0.50. To each their own I guess.


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## Snakesurf (Jun 18, 2019)

Its your money not mine. I would rather spend it on rods, reels and good bourbon besides overpriced plastic. Maybe even take my smokin hot wife out to dinner or even my spoiled kids.


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## Czech_Mate (Jan 4, 2019)

mosquitolaGOON said:


> Well to be fair Carbon Marines look like they cost $3 and yours look like they cost $0.50. To each their own I guess.


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## Snakesurf (Jun 18, 2019)

Here's what I did to my car.


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## AZ_squid (Mar 14, 2018)

Snakesurf said:


> Its your money not mine. I would rather spend it on rods, reels and good bourbon besides overpriced plastic. Maybe even take my smokin hot wife out to dinner or even my spoiled kids.


What's your bourbon of choice?


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## Snakesurf (Jun 18, 2019)

Not sure how we got here but it's Four Roses, Al Young Limited Edition. It is pretty hard to find but I have a connection.


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## 994 (Apr 14, 2008)

Snakesurf said:


> Not sure how we got here but it's Four Roses, Al Young Limited Edition. It is pretty hard to find but I have a connection.


Now we’re talking. I met Al a few years ago in Kentucky. Wonderful man and had a great conversation. I have since finished my bottle of AY50, and would love to find another.


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## 7665 (Jun 9, 2014)

They are probably cast with a product made by smooth on, sold at Reynolds advanced materials. If I was going to do this I would use my lathe to turn a wood plug, sand it smooth, seal it, make a mold using plaster (not plaster of Paris but usg #1 or hydrocal) and then once that is dry (don’t forget to use mold release for the plug) you could cast them in whatever Reynolds recommends as being UV stable. I’m currently casting some ink brayers out of their urethane 40, it cost me about $130 for a gallon plus 15 for colorant (the color makes it UV stable). The bag of hydrocal or usg #1 plaster is $20 or so, mold release is a few bucks, plus time = probably more than buying the silicone or whatever they are made of, spikes from carbon marine. We also are not counting the consumables like cups for mixing, spoons or popsicle sticks for stirring. I’m not this far into my conchfish build to worry about it, but I doubt I would make my own. You would be best off making a mold where you could cast a few at a time because the stuff can take overnight to dry. 
seems penny wise and pound foolish to me. Also take into account if you do or do not have mold making experience. It would be a simple mold but plaster or hydryocal are not the easiest to work with.


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## AZ_squid (Mar 14, 2018)

Gonna have to try that one if I ever get a chance. Basil, woodford and the occasional elijah are my go to bottles. Have an older gentleman duck hunting partner from Kentucky, he's slowly been leading me down the bourbon road for about 7 years now.


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## Snakesurf (Jun 18, 2019)

spinnb7 said:


> They are probably cast with a product made by smooth on, sold at Reynolds advanced materials. If I was going to do this I would use my lathe to turn a wood plug, sand it smooth, seal it, make a mold using plaster (not plaster of Paris but usg #1 or hydrocal) and then once that is dry (don’t forget to use mold release for the plug) you could cast them in whatever Reynolds recommends as being UV stable. I’m currently casting some ink brayers out of their urethane 40, it cost me about $130 for a gallon plus 15 for colorant (the color makes it UV stable). The bag of hydrocal or usg #1 plaster is $20 or so, mold release is a few bucks, plus time = probably more than buying the silicone or whatever they are made of, spikes from carbon marine. We also are not counting the consumables like cups for mixing, spoons or popsicle sticks for stirring. I’m not this far into my conchfish build to worry about it, but I doubt I would make my own. You would be best off making a mold where you could cast a few at a time because the stuff can take overnight to dry.
> seems penny wise and pound foolish to me. Also take into account if you do or do not have mold making experience. It would be a simple mold but plaster or hydryocal are not the easiest to work with.


I live very close to Houston and can get those materials and more. Half the companies that make resins, fiber clothes and mold materials are actually located here. I used to make surfboards and came very close to building boats before I had to get a real job. You do a great job with your builds. Are you designing anything yet or are you getting the build plans from somewhere? 

These spikes are pretty cheap to make with the EVA foam sheet. I could of made them look a little better but I wasn't even really sure they would work. They came out surprisingly durable. When you build or make anything thing you learn at the same time as you know. One thing I got from this, even though it was so simple, was how good that Loctite adhesive / seal is. 
Anyway keep posting your boats they are awesome.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Silicone and the nozzle end of a caulk tube. Line up about 10 of them, spray some WD-40 in each so the silicone doesn’t stick and fill them up.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Silicone and the nozzle end of a caulk tube. Line up about 10 of them, spray some WD-40 in each so the silicone doesn’t stick and fill them up.


and.... how's that working so far? Or is that just an idea?

I would think some random company besides CM have things like that that can be purchased.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Backwater said:


> and.... how's that working so far? Or is that just an idea?
> 
> I would think some random company besides CM have things like that that can be purchased.


I have 36 clear Carbon Marine spikes with white bases waiting for me to get around to installing them. 
I’m going to make two 1/4” or 3/8” thick strips of Starboard with holes drilled in them and use a Forstner bit to counter sink the base of the spike so they sit flush and make them removeable from my permanent toe rails with flush fasteners. This way I can remove them when I want to put my boat cover on and when I’m going on trips that I won’t have someone on the bow with a fly rod. I will do a build thread when I get around to it.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> I have 36 clear Carbon Marine spikes with white bases waiting for me to get around to installing them.
> I’m going to make two 1/4” or 3/8” thick strips of Starboard with holes drilled in them and use a Forstner bit to counter sink the base of the spike so they sit flush and make them removeable from my permanent toe rails with flush fasteners. This way I can remove them when I want to put my boat cover on and when I’m going on trips that I won’t have someone on the bow with a fly rod. I will do a build thread when I get around to it.


I never thought about the clear ones. I wonder if they will yellow out in the sun. Yeah I was wondering about my custom skiff cover if I permanently mounted. Would they get broke or stay permanently bent when the cover smashes them over long periods of time. I may not be able to use them and resort back to a laundry basket (not those fly line bucket that you can hardly get your fly line in).


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Backwater said:


> I never thought about the clear ones. I wonder if they will yellow out in the sun. Yeah I was wondering about my custom skiff cover if I permanently mounted. Would they get broke or stay permanently bent when the cover smashes them over long periods of time. I may not be able to use them and resort back to a laundry basket (not those fly line bucket that you can hardly get your fly line in).


Your Backcountry doesn’t have a toe rail does it?


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