I have seen a few different Goth type spiked markers on the net and at local fields. None that I was particularly fond of since it seems the distributors that produce them go a little overboard and they somewhat resemble a porcupine. They have multiple rows of spikes and just look a bit too busy for my personal liking. I do think that strategically adding a few in good taste to a marker can give it a nice distinctive flare so I purchased some and added them to my personal Spyder. I will give you a few tips and guidelines how to add these spikes to your marker and suggest sources where they may be acquired in this article.

Finding Spikes For Your Project

There are quite a variety of different spike styles available for purchase. Some of the styles available are hex, tree, claw, cone and other specialty spikes. There are a variety of spike sizes available as well. All this preference and should be purchased to your own particular taste.

The places you might search for them locally are leather shops, boutiques, head shops, biker shops and wouldn't you know it, Goth shops. Look through your local yellow pages and see if there are any of these businesses around your area and call ahead of time to be sure they have the style and length that you are looking for. Another place you might look for them is on the internet. Price wise it may be your best bet. Use your internet providers search engine and key in 'spikes'. At times you can find them on Ebay as well. If you choose Ebay, be sure to look at the seller's feedback to be sure they are a reputable seller and also check the shipping charges. Last but not least you can order them from SPPS in our 'Paintball Upgrades" section. We sell the 3/8" tall blunted end hex version described in this article. The perfect size for this application.

Planning

Like anything else you may want to add to your marker, planning ahead is a good idea. Try to visualize where you might place them on your marker and you may think about adding only a few of these spikes at a time. After adding a few, stand back and look at what you've done for a while then either add more or stay where you're at.

The size of the spikes to be added must be considered. It may be a good idea to stay on the smaller size for paintball markers. Too large and you could take a fall and gore yourself with one of the larger sized sharp babies. Speaking of sharp, using the spikes with blunted ends might be a good choice as well. You wouldn't want to stab yourself, others or those plastic deflatable bunkers with your marker now would you? Not something your local field owner or his insurance company would appreciate either.

If you have the materials, you may think about attaching the spikes to your marker with double sided tape or rubber cement before hand. This way you can attach everything ahead of time, stand back and see how it will look before committing yourself by drilling into any marker components. Try to keep the spikes evenly spaced if you are adding rows similar to the trigger guard photograph above.

After choosing a spot to attach the spikes, you'll need to mark the exact spot to drill. You can mark a crosshair into the anodizing of your marker with a scribe or similar sharp object. You might think about applying some masking tape to the area you plan to drill and mark the crosshair on it with a pen or pencil as an alternative to marking directly into the anodizing. This a good idea just in case you change your mind about location before you dedicate to drilling. For some of the locations that have a specific shape, you can mark a crosshair on the tape then cut the shape out and apply it to the component. As an example; I attached spikes to the end cap and velocity adjuster knob of my Imagine. I marked crosshairs on the tape then marked a circle the size of the area/surface to be drilled. Cut the shape out on the tape with an ex-acto knife and applied it to the part to be drilled. If when applying the tape it looked a bit off centered I could simply move the tape until it was perfectly centered. When using the punch to mark the drilling point, I was positive that the hole would be perfectly centered once drilled.

Attaching The Spikes To Your Marker

There are a couple of ways to attach the spikes to your marker. First you can either make a screw stud by cutting the head from the screw that is provided with the spike or purchase allen key set screws in the same thread size as the internal threads of the spike. I used a cutting disk attached to a dremel to cut the screws that came with the spikes that I purchased. The holes you will drill into the components of your marker will be minimally deep so the attaching studs will not need to be very long at all. When tapping into the components, you'll need at most 2 - 3 threads to catch the stud for a solid grasp.

There is another more simple manner in which you may attach the spikes as well. You can simply drill a hole slightly larger than the stud diameter and glue or epoxy the stud and spike into place. This is a bit less desirable because you cannot torque the spike down and it can leave a gap between the component and bottom of the spike. This leaves more a chance of the spike falling off at some point and possibly being lost as well. If you do not have the means and/or skills of tapping, this is an alternative. Just be sure to have extra spikes handy as replacements for the possibly lost ones.

Drilling And Tapping The Components

Since the holes will need to be drilled to a minimal depth, you'll want to use a bottom tap for this modification if you have one handy. A flared tap has flared threads and a point at the end and makes starting the threads a bit easier but the point at the end will prevent you from tapping all the way to the bottom of the hole, hence use a bottom tap. I did not have a bottom tap and didn't want to purchase a new one so I simply cut the tip off the flared tap with a cutting disk.

Before drilling, measure the distance to be drilled first. A caliper comes in real handy for this type of measurement. This is especially critical when drilling into a body component. If you drill too far into an area that has pressure fed into it or where internal components are moving, it could either cause a pressure leak or cause scraping on internally moving components. Since this may be critical, guessing the depth is not a good idea. After you find this measurement, mark a slightly shorter distance on the drill bit by wrapping a piece of masking tape around the drill bit a few times at that point. Once you reach this point when drilling, you'll know to stop and not drill beyond it. The angle you drill at is a bit critical as well. If you drill at an improper angle, the spike of course will screw in at that same improper angle. The way to control the angle is to look to the left or right and the rear before starting to be sure the angle is correct then drill it. Drill the hole at a very slow speed, check the angle often as you're drilling and use a sharp drill bit. Speaking of drill bits, be sure you use the correct size bit for the tap size you're using. Look at this chart for the proper size bit per tap size.

When tapping, use the correct tapping handle tool to house the tap. Use tapping oil as lubrication when tapping. It will make the task run much smoother. Put a slight bit of pressure on the tapping handle while turning it. After it starts to catch the hole, turn the tap about 1/4 of a turn at a time then back it off the same distance. This is critical especially if you're using a small diameter tap because they're very easy to break off. You cannot drill out a broken piece of tap because it is made of the same hardened steel that the drill bit is made of. You'll notice the tap will not budge once you reach the bottom of the hole.

Installing The Spikes

The drilling and tapping is done so now comes the easy part of the task. With a Q-tip and/or paper toweling, use some alcohol to remove any oils and such from the holes. Screw the stud into the hole and seat it. Screw the spike onto the stud to be sure everything fits properly. Once you're sure everything fits properly, remove the spike and stud and put a drop of red or blue Loctite in the tapped hole. Screw the stud back into the hole with your fingers then lightly tighten it with a pair of pliers. Do not deform the threads of the stud with the pliers. A very light grasp and turn is all it needs. If you decided to use the allen set screws, use an allen wrench to tighten it down. Put a drop of red or blue Loctite in the hole of the spike. Screw and tighten it onto the stud. Wipe any excess Loctite from the area with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol.

I used 3/8" hex and 5/8" hex spikes for my project. I like the mechanical look they have and tightening them down was very simple because you can use an open end wrench to do so. If you tighten them down too much you can easily rip the minimal depth threads from the components so be careful if this is the style you decide upon. To make the appearance a bit more consistent, I made sure all of the points and flats of the hexagons were in the same orientation. That is to say that all the flats are at the top and points are to the sides. I used only one of the 5/8" spikes on my Spyder so far because they seemed a bit large in proportion for this type of application. Don't let my preferences deter you from using a certain stlye, number or size though as we all have different preferences all the way to the types of markers we use.

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