Those of you who know me know I like a challenge - the bigger the challenge the better. So it is with some gratification that I announce that I have accepted a new, interesting and potentially rewarding endeavor. I have decided to build an 84 ft wooden cable tool rig just like the one Grandpa used to have. If the instruction book I have is right, it should drill to 5,000 ft with little problem.

Now, I could build a combo rig with a metal crown and cement foundations, but I don’t have a cement truck or a welding machine. I do have a saw. So everything, from the mud sills and main sills up to the crown, will be made of wood. I read that oak is preferred for the sections exposed to harder use and more wear while pine is suitable for most of the rig. That’s good because pine is a good deal cheaper than oak. And, that’s important because I will need about 12,854 board ft of wood, of various dimensions, to finish the project and spud the first well in my back garden. If I want outside girts and wind braces, I will need another 1,000 board ft or so.

Nails? 850 lbs should do the trick. Machine bolts and washers – a couple of hundred of each will suffice. Those materials, together with the lumber, should take care of the wooden bits, including the bull and calf wheels.

Of course I will need some metal bits and pieces for the mechanical workings. That would be things like cants, arms, handles, gudgeons (plain and flanged), a sprocket tug rim, a clutch feather key, brakes and bands, sprocket chain (55 ft), wire rope, and the all important clutch lever pipe reach. With all these things I can finish the rig. But, I can’t run it without the myriad hand tools also required, things like lanterns (I prefer the double spouted, yellow dog variety), hay fork pulleys, a derrick pail (with a derrick broom), a long spouted railroad oiler, a coal scoop, a set of casing wagons, 2 derrick hatchets and most of the other hand tools you and I are familiar with. Obviously, I will also need a fully equipped forge to dress the bits. And, I guess I had better buy a steam engine and boiler, probably the Ajax single cylinder, 150 psi drilling engine with a locally made boiler. According to the charts, a 13 in X 14 in Ajax Drilling Engine will develop 225 horsepower at 300 rpm. That should be sufficient.

I figure construction and rig up time at about 2 years. The average derrick building crews and drilling crews of old could finish the project in a week, or two at the outside. We should be ready to spud in about March 1 of 2009. That is, of course, assuming that we pick up the requisite cable tool drilling skills such as bit dressing and maintaining correct drilling line tension, in addition to learning how to run a boiler and steam engine. Then it’s off to the races.

I am guessing that, right about now, you are saying to yourself, “what in the world has Pike been taking now?” It’s a long story. We are extending our office space here in Houston. To do that, we had to move and/or dispose of part of our library. When going through the books to be moved/abandoned, I came across a gem titled Deep Well Drilling by Walter H. Jeffery. Published in 1931 by Gulf Publishing Company (wait till the boss sees this citation), the book is a treasure trove of lost technologies and skills. When I ran across the section on how to build, equip and run a wooden cable tool rig I was enthralled. Hence, the ramblings above.

While old guys like me look back with some fondness to old days and old technologies, the generations that will take us forward are solidly focused on cutting edge and future technologies. No where is this more apparent than at an event such as the Houston Science and Engineering Fair where today’s brightest high school students present their science and/or engineering projects to a panel of industry judges. Energy technology plays a large part in the Houston Science and Engineering Fair making it a worthy endeavor that we all should support. The competing students will be the industry’s life blood in a few years. The science fair takes place on May --- . Your support would be appreciated. For more information, contact Peggy A.Cole, Development Director, Offshore Energy Venter at Oecdevelopment@aol.com