my next landing net project

[Chavender]

after about 18 months I've only just tonight got hold of a medium-large " Y " brass spreader block



now I can finally build my larger net (I have a smaller one) .I got the (loop) frame at the last Tff agm ,off one of the members who was making the frames ,I think mines not ash but horse chestnut or something



I did try making a spreader block out of something else .and its not bad ,but the arms are too narrow for my big frame and wouldn't support it properly



too make this fit better I was looking at getting some brass flat bar the right width and have it braised to my spreader block .arms .But this will keep for something else now.

but I've struck it lucky a spreader block showed up on the radar it wasn't cheap £50 (used ?) but as they're like rocking horse doo doo's to get hold of .I thought it was worth it ,now all I have too do is take the net off my small framed net (the net was too big for it ) and replace it with a more suitable one with finer mesh (the gudgeon & minnows kept falling through the mesh) then i'll have to varnish my big frame (its a little light in colour so I've a oil based varnish I know has a honey hue that'll add just the right amount of colour and should darken with age adding too the character of the frame ) & I'll need to drill some holes to fit the nets hanging hoops spacing .and fit my new spreader block .then i'll have a vintage small ash loop net and a bigger hooped net too choose from .

quite by coincidence I have just this week made a new landing net handle from two put together sections from a bamboo pole ,I've only just renovated the top three sections for use as a 3m bamboo whip for the canal/silvers and the spare bottom sections I made into a landing net handle (i'll add link here later ) if this isn't upto it i'll make one from a old split cane sea rod or something .

[Chavender]

I am part way through my new hoop net build ,the new yoke/net head arrived ,I was both surprised and slightly disappointed at the same time .



when I unpacked it ,it came with screws and a free threaded end for a handle .... bonus



but my bonus joy was short lived ,as the thread's turned out to be metric ( ) & therefore not universal fitting ,hence the matching handle threaded end ,but the male (bolt) threaded bit wasn't secured (glued in) and removable



At least with a removable threaded bit I can fix this ,I tried a standard (universal fishing ⅜ bsw) male threaded net into both female ends which screwed in partially so the thread must be close .I've two options to sort this and convert it too ⅜ bsw



I could get a tap and recut the threads to ⅜ bsw or as close enough it'll work ,or make a double threaded adaptor (bolt) that's metric one half and imperial the other and glue it into the net head so I can use any handle I have ,or I could cross thread a ⅜ bsw bolt into it (with added araldite) cutting its own threads

I've gone with option 1. and orded a ⅜ bsw tap & plug cutters to try and re-work the threads .



if this doesn't work out ,I can use a different method ,but it will be done (this head cost a bomb) And until the tap bit comes I've cracked on with the frame & net .

[Mark]

Looking good Steve.

[Barbulus]

I do like these nets and admire the Forum Members who create them. Something about the brass and shape that really works.

[SkimmingTheCream]

I seem to remember that the thread is 3/8 BSF not BSW.
I'm not sure how much difference there is between the two and I could be wrong anyway. I work in healthcare not engineering ....
If the two threads would not be interchangeable then it might be worth checking before trying to alter anything.

[Chubman]

3/8 bsw is a coarse thead ,were as 3/8 bsf or british standard fine is not compatible, a finer thread with a different pitch

[Chavender]

well the taps arrived today (I was too busy to play with them) and tomorrow i'll have a go at the threads in the handle head first ,the actual English universal thread is 3/8th BSW Whitworth Tap Taper First & Second Plug ,so as the metric thread is coarse ,the bsw is close in its pitch and tpi (16) and should recut the metric thread just enough to change the angle to allow the standard fittings to work hopefully ,if not then i'll bodge a correct threaded bolt in and cut it too size .but I'm confident it'll maybe just about almost work sort off .

[Old Man Oakley]

Dear Chavender

May I ask where you got the spreader from, and was it terribly expensive, planning on making my own net shortly. But I think I will hit the same issues over thread sizes.

Many thanks

OMO

[QuinetteCane]

BSW is indeed the old Whitworth which originated with Whitworth Armstrong pre WW1 and is a very coarse thread.
BSF which is the standard used for fishing. British Standard Fine is the definition and is not compatible with BSW thread size.

[Chavender]

the spreader came from a internet auction site ,its the first one i'd seen ,and so I went for it ,it cost me £50 ,I think it was a one off item not seen any others ,its not new so may of come from a broken landing net or something.