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The old climber in Tulsa said to file my spurs at 45 degrees, not flat, and I finally tried it
I was at a removal job in Tulsa about 6 weeks ago and the guy who owns the company, Dale, has been climbing for 31 years. He watched me sharpen my spurs on a bench grinder and just shook his head. He said a flat bevel makes the point skate on slick bark, but a 45 degree angle bites in and holds. I nodded like I got it and then went home and looked it up, because honestly I had been sharpening the same way since I started. Next job I filed them at 45 by hand with a mill bastard file, 8 or 10 passes per side, and the difference on a wet sycamore was real. The gaffs stopped sliding out on me and I was not death gripping the lanyard on every step. Took me about 20 minutes per spur which is slower than the grinder, but I am not fighting the tree all day anymore. Has anyone else heard this one, or is Dale just messing with the new guy?
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barbara_grant418d ago
Dale knows what he is talking about. A flat bevel just polishes the tip and it slides right off wet bark. I run a 45 on my gaffs too and it digs in on red oak and sycamore the same way. Twenty minutes with a hand file is worth it if you are not white knuckling the whole climb.
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