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Dead Chainman

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(@bob-h)
Posts: 153
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Topic starter
 

Asked my new partner for one today, all I got was a blank stare, please tell me you guys know what I'm talking about.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 4:09 pm
(@curly)
Posts: 462
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I presume it's like a dead man?

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 4:30 pm
(@mattharnett)
Posts: 466
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Is it either a stick or a rock?

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 4:39 pm
(@mark-laing)
Posts: 24
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It's a chaining pin. Oh man I'm old. The point where to hold the plumb bob is where the pin goes into the ground. It's inserted at an angle. I wonder if I still have my chaining clamps.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 4:51 pm
(@paden-cash)
Posts: 11088
 

around here someone might hand you this..

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 4:52 pm
(@bob-h)
Posts: 153
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Well I prefer old carpenters gimlets, but anything you can jam in the ground and hook the end of the tape on to pull a distance works.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 4:54 pm
(@bob-h)
Posts: 153
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Topic starter
 

OK, so I'm not crazy, that's what I was expecting.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 5:00 pm
(@Anonymous)
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I still use chaining pins. It's the tension handle that is tough to use when there is only one in the crew.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 5:17 pm
(@dave-lindell)
Posts: 1683
 

I've occasionally used a rear chainman named A. Spike.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 5:34 pm
(@bryan-newsome)
Posts: 429
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I am down to my last two...

Lost several (the other nine) through the last 37 years and in this day and age, have not found a need to purchase a new set.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 5:48 pm
(@the-pseudo-ranger)
Posts: 2369
 

Never heard a screw driver called a dead chainman before. Whats the origin of that expression?

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 5:50 pm
(@bobkrohn)
Posts: 158
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Ever heard the term "Silent Rear Chainman"

(a pin, spike, nail used to anchor the end of the chain when chaining alone):-D

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 5:57 pm
(@paul-landau)
Posts: 215
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It was just a "dead man" here in the NW, usually a rock or screwdriver.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 7:02 pm
(@jimmy-cleveland)
Posts: 2812
 

I have a full set with leather quiver in both of my trucks. One is daily survey chariot, and the other one is my errand truck. There is at least a 100 ft and 25 ft tape in each one, along with flaging and other basic supplies.

I use my chaining pins regularly

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 8:47 pm
(@ontarget)
Posts: 169
 

If I'm working in a grassy/clear area (city subdivision) I put a piece of reflective tape on them and use them for sights. Its like carrying a pocket full of prisms. Light to carry and pretty accurate when the tape is only a couple inches above the pipe I'm locating.

 
Posted : April 30, 2013 9:53 pm
 RFB
(@rfb)
Posts: 1504
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> It's a chaining pin. Oh man I'm old.

We used to call them "Surveyor's arrows"

Now that's old.

 
Posted : May 1, 2013 4:27 am
(@roadhand)
Posts: 1517
 

> > It's a chaining pin. Oh man I'm old.
>
>
>
> We used to call them "Surveyor's arrows"
>
> Now that's old.

You might be a dirty old surveyor if you've ever fingered a 19yr old.......

calculator 😐

 
Posted : May 1, 2013 11:23 am
(@rplumb314)
Posts: 407
Customer
 

An old grade foreman I met once had a big spike that he called a "college boy." He explained that a college boy could hold the end of a tape but couldn't do anything else.

 
Posted : May 1, 2013 6:59 pm