Ishi fishing spear head attachment.

[wstanley]

Close up of binding. Based on the color and look of that cordage it looks like modern cordage (of that time). I believe I read that Ishi did not like making cordage because he considered it to be the work of a woman. I'm not posting that to be funny, just as a small insight into his culture - albeit not with much context. I'll be using dogbane.

[GlisGlis]

the forks look firmly secured to the shaft

[DC]

I was going to say that . Yeah, that looks much more secure. I'm happy now.

[wstanley]

I started working on the toggles (correct me if I'm wrong if that's not what they're called) portion of the harpoon. As I mentioned looks like Ishi used metal. Took a 5'' fragment of deer leg bone and ground it flat on my cement patio. Then split it starting with a sharp chert flake to get the groove going and then a heftier basalt flake to really take off the material. Next I will sharpen them and prepare them for hafting.

[wstanley]

Been out looking for straight bull pines and I have cut one down (pics to come). However, during my search I began thinking that really any straight stock of tree/bush would work. In fact its very possible the shaft/harpoon was milled wood acquired from Berkley. So I went back and looked at the historic photos of the group on their way to Deer Creek on horseback with some of their gear to see if a 10' pole was attached anywhere - but nothing. So I'm more inclined to think Ishi with an axe prepared one fairly quickly during their trip. The shaft comes up very dark on all the 4-5 photos Saxton Pope took of Ishi with it. This makes me think that Ishi had to quick dry it over fire (as well as some minor straightening - assumption). I cant remember how long those men were up there for, but I want to say it was a month (if anyone knows please chime in). So waiting for it to dry would have taken too long.

I am also going to cut down and Incense Cedar of similar dimensions to make as second shaft - replacement/back up. These grow all around me and I cant remember if they grow as far north as Ishi's homeland (I spent two months out there on a job and I should know!). They grow extremely straight. Does anyone know for sure if Incense Cedars grows up their - perhaps a little higher country? Thanks

[wstanley]

Been a while but I got back into making this harpoon. Cut a bull pine down and I let is sit in the shade in about 50 degree weather for two weeks then threw it in that little creek for 2 days. Bark peeled off like a banana peal and I got the shaft down to the dimensions I wanted. For the next week I spent about 20 minutes a day straightening out the shaft between those trees while the sap and moisture content was still pretty high. This got the shaft decently straight. Had I applied heat I would have gotten it straighter. From there I twisted up at least 20 feet of dogbane cordage to attach the forks (oak). These forks are on their firm, and with the added cordage halfway on the forks (like Ishi has it) it will be very secure. From here I just need to make the toggles. I still would like to heat treat that shaft a bit to darken it up.

[Fox]

Well dang 20’ of cordage is hard ! That thing is sweet! Well done...

How do you take the outer bark stuff off the fibers of your dogbane? I wiggle it between my fingers which is how I was taught.... but it gets tangled and takes so very long

[willie]

I'm guessing the lighter colored attached 11'' forks are intended to stay on though? Is that correct. If so, I wonder why not find a forked stick instead of making them and tying them on. Is this way stronger; or if they break then you just replace it? Sorry I am slow to understand the whole system here going on. Thanks for your feedback.

with a rocky shallow bottom like in the pic with ishi, I would suppose it is easier to relash a tine than find a another forked pole.

nice to see the project coming along.. salmon will be here soon!

[GlisGlis]

it looks like a very good job
following with interest

[wstanley]

Thanks all.

Fox, if you wait until the stocks are bone dry that outter skin/bark should just flake off on its own as you process the fibers. I really don't spend time taking it off. If that helps.

I'm processing some more dogbane now to make three-ply cordage for the toggles. The binding for the forks was two ply.

[YosemiteBen]

Dogbane is a great cordage material! I have made hundreds of feet of it in my time. A light scraping will take off a fair amount of the skin. scrape in one direction not back and forth just until you see the fibers begin to break loose. I flatten the stem and break it open and usually end up with four pieces which I then break backwards over my fingers to separate the fiber.

I am not great at the photo thing. I will try to find someone to help me with that part. WStanley - come on up we can do a photo shoot....

on a side note. California is down to 5% of our average snow pack. Temps are unseasonably warm. An article I read yesterday indicated the 75% of western states can expect 130% of the 5 year wildfire average of acres burned!

[Yooper Bowyer]

Maybe that is where the Tennessee summer has gone to 

I feel that some news outlets like to exaggerate things to get attention, but of course you know what you're doing.

[wstanley]

Heck ya Ben. I could make it down at some point. I'll let ya know.

Working on the toggles. I am using elderberry. As you can see I abraded/ground the hafting groove and drilled out the entire stick with a keakook drill. The biface of course is obsidian. I need to make some pine pitch glue, sharpen up some deer bone into points haft them to the toggles, and finish my three ply cordage that will be attached to the toggles via pine pitch glue and sinew. 

[Fox]

So awesome

[wstanley]

Harpoon is finished. The cordage for the toggles is three ply dogbane and the rest of the binding is two ply. The harpoon tips are the same deer leg bones I posted earlier. Those were sharpened on my cement patio. The cordage attaches to the toggles with sinew and is covered in pine pitch glue for waterproofing. The toggles stay on snuggly even after whipping and carrying the harpoon around, but slide off easily with a bit of a tug (fish). Need to test it now! The shaft I think is key, to find something straight and with a good balance. When scouring the forest I had the idea in my mind that I needed something with the dimensions of a "flag pole" for the shaft. I feel that prehistorically (in CA) folks probably used bull pine because it grows straight and narrow when immature - bull pine grows in all foothill settings of California and is a strong wood. Anyway, once I can test this puppy out I'll post pictures. It was a blast to make, and I plan on making more but just with a single fork.