jim pallow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... I recall Bob [Richardson] saying that the double
> head was to facilitate the pulling of the spike.
> Also, he said there was a special tool in the shape
> of the letter "F" with the stem as a long handle for
> the purpose of pulling the spikes. The handle was
> kinked at the bottom for a pivot point. I think its
> is odd however, that I've never seen that type of
> puller. All of these weird designs are usually
> related to patent avoidance.
-------------------------------------------------------
You can't imagine how good it feels to have someone of Bob Richardson's stature verify my guess! (See [
ngdiscussion.net].)
Another guess would be that - in addition to avoiding patent infringement and royalty costs - these spikes were relatively easy to manufacture. It seems to me that a long strip of 1" thick, 5½" or 6" wide mild steel could be heated and passed through a series of rollers to get the cross-section shape, and then 1" wide spikes simply sliced off. The separate step of smashing a head onto each spike would not have been needed.
- Russ