Teak 80 - Part one: The stock

[azulll]

great!
nice work and nice pictures

[portinfer]

Well I managed to find the time to slap the first coat of epoxy on.

I thinned it 15% with acetone - I reckon about 10ml of epoxy will do a good coat on a gun this size.

It isn't finsihed yet - I was planning on sorting out the metal fittings and taking it for a swim to see how it balances.

Then take off the fittings and rub down or scrape the coats allowing a week inbetween adding another thin epoxy coat. I was aiming at two thinned coats of epoxy and then one coat of non-thinned epoxy. After this I was planning on using two coats of marine varnish with UV-inhibitor. If anyone has any suggestions on finishing a gun let me know

Ed

[portinfer]

And the handle... I am still working on the metal trigger guard but HAD to go diving this afternoon ... might finish it tomorrow in between putting up Christmas decorations.

[portinfer]

And the nose...

[Memo]

Looks beautiful . Just a friend's advice for balancing, try to balance it as close as possible to bottom to make your gun stand still when neutral in water (not upside down). Put lead on the last 2cm of the handle and also do not drill the front section too much to add lead (drill 3 shallow holes instead of 2 deep).

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by portinfer

...
I'll cut a hole maybe but I'll be using dyneema wishbones so they come off really easily (matter of seconds - it is a special 'loose' knot/friction knot) so I won't have the same trouble as you (I think).

As you have put so much effort to make what looks to be a beautiful speargun, you might want to consider the Rabitech quick fix wishbone.[ I think Spearo Dave is importing Rabitech stuff now.]
. Let me know when you start taking orders!

[portinfer]

Thanks mate - but am just tying it traditionally (2mm dyneema loops and bridle and 1.5mm constrictors).

Made a scraper out of stainless today and scraped the first coat of epoxy on the gun. Then when it was smooth I put on another thin coat (12ml of resin). I guess it will take a week to cure fully and then I will add a small piece of stainless on the nose to hold the line; add the trigger pins; add the rubber and head for the sea.

I am guessing that it will be absolutely perfectly balanced but in the extremely unlikely event that it needs an ounce of lead on the nose I will be using monsieur Memo's advise. (So nearly finished... oooh need some stainless bolts from Dave's shed too...)

[ROBERT REYES]

Nice Work.
:-)

[IvarNelson]

I am also making my own speargun, and my own mechanism.
check: http://egy.nu/~u86nnir
But i really wonder how should I fasten my mechanism in my wooden stock?!
How do i seal the wood? Can someone please explain to me how to make it waterproof, since there are steel bolts going through the mechanism an the stock?
Send me an email i you know how to, really appreciate the help.
ivarnelson@hotmail.com


Ivar Nelson

[ajwaverider]

Most people use either bolts and nuts or pins to secure the mech in the stock.I prefer pins myself because it looks alot better than bolts.The stock is sealed with thinned epoxie on the first 2 coats and followed by sanding and more coats of unthinned epoxie and finished with a uv
resistant varnish.the pin or bolt holes are finished the same as the rest of the gun but spar varnish probaly isn't needed.


Here is an article that has helped out a few people on starting there first speargun.As stated in the article it is just a primer to give you the general idea on how to go about it not a manual or measure here and cut there type of instructions . From what I seen you are building your gun a little different than the norm but don't be discouraged .There are plenty of threads on the subject if you use the search function.You can start your own thread
(if you haven't already) and ask for help or ideas from other members but ultimately You are building it for you to use so you will have to build it to your
needs.

http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/307/41

[IvarNelson]

I have been thinking about glassing my entire gun, to really seal it.
Does anyone have any opinions or experience on this?
Another thought I have is to oil it. I will build my new gun of oak (less expensive) and maybe its just best to really, really oil it?
I have the idea of oil really getting absorbed and protecting the wood while an epoxy seal sits on the surface and if it is broken the wood will absorb water and gett warped, rotten and ruined.
I have been looking for thoughs and facts about oiling in the forum but havent really found a good answer. What oils are good, can it be used with a laminate stock, is oak fine or do I need some special wood?

I have a lot of questions, since Im investing so much time and effort i natureally really want the gun to turn out nicely.

Thanks


Ivar Nelson

[ajwaverider]

A friend of mine built a gun out of douglas fir and glassed it .From what he told me the fiber glass was to stiff and did not give any when the gun expanded and contracted so it delaminated.If your thinking of using oil for your gun you will have to go with teak wood and use teak/tung oil.I'm not really sure about the properties of oak for spearguns but there are different types of oak.I had some red oak and thought about using it but the open grain made me change my mind.Happy building

[portinfer]

Well I have finished the Teak 80 ...

Gave it about three coats of epoxy followed by three coats of yacht varnish with UV inhibitors in it.

I used a cabinet scraper between coats on the epoxy as I was getting the runs using it ( ) ... but used some light sanding with the varnish.

Just a 6mm Devoto with the notches filled smooth for use with dyneema wishbones and 17mm rubbers at 50cm (barrel length is 79cm notch to rubber hole). A single wrap with a makeshift bungie made from a piece of old rubber until I can find a proper bungie.

Trigger guard made of stainless ... not too happy with the shape / work on this so will replace once I have played with it for a while.

That's about it... just need to balance the gun a bit and then find a fish...

Next stop ... a 107cm double band gun

Ed

[Mr. X]

It looks fantastic Portinfer. It looks longer than 80mm -- perhaps due to slim profile.

[foxfish]

Lovely gun mate, look forward to seeing it in action.
I have plenty of experience with epoxy, plenty of disasters as well!