Sinusoidal stakes-U-shaped versions

instead using a series of different diameters of drill rod that
have been bent to a U shape and clamped in a vise. The U's
function just like the parts of a sinusoidal stake.

To make them you take round drill rod (available from most
hardware stores), in various diameters. Normally these are a
yard long or so. Shorter pieces will work but it is nice to have
the leverage when making the U. Clamp about 4 inches of the rod
in a big vise and with a torch (oxyacetylene is fastest-other
large flames will work) you heat up an area of the rod about 6
inches or longer to a glowing red. It is faster to heat if you
hold a firebrick as a reflector behind the rod as you heat it
and you may need to drizzle water on the vise to keep it cool.
When the rod is red hot grasp the still cool end and yank it
sideways so that it bends along the side of the vise thus making
a right angle with the part you clamped in the vise. Hit it flush
onto the side of the vise with a big hammer if you wish. Then
bend the rod back the other way again creating the U shape. The
size of the U will depend upon the thickness of the rod you are
using. Other ways of bending it are around something like the
horn of an anvil and beating it down. Because you want to keep
the steel smooth it can be a good idea to use a wooden mallet for
this-hence also my susggestion of bending it while red hot and
shaping the U just with your leverage on the long cool end of the
rod. Then you cut off the rod leaving a U shape with a handle on
one end to clamp it into the vise. This is what it looks like.

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A series of these is different sizes works like the U’s in a
sinusoidal stake. You may need to flatten the part that sticks in
the vise so it clamps better, or to use a pipe vise to clamp it
while in use. Because each U is only a single one this gives a
little more manouverability around the stake than using a
sisnusiodal one. Charles

Charles Lewton-Brain
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada