First build Teak blank ,few questions

[foxfish]

Not enough clamping pressure, I would put it down to experience & scrap that one!
As Will points out - it might be a good idea to start your own thread

 

[Will Read]

Bit of an update , im kind of done now with the gun . I have used stainless chain links that I cut up and epoxied into the nose and handle for the shooting line and float line link. I didn't like the idea of a big line anchor like the ones you can buy . I also noticed most line anchors are a few inches up the gun towards the handle. I wanted my line anchor to be as far forward as it could be so as to maximize range , im surprised more people /manufacturers don't do this. Surely it has clear advantages or am I missing something?
I have epoxied in the mech pocket and any recess's that I will not easily be able to maintain with teak sealer. All that remains is for me to give the gun a wash with some detergent then seal it with two coats of semco . Then I can rig the gun and all that I will have to do is ballast it after a water test. I am really happy with the gun to say it has been a bit of a rush job and I haven't had use of a bench saw ,but I think given its short length it should shoot ok. I will do a proper photo shoot after the gun is sealed and rigged

 

[Will Read]

 

[foxfish]

Well done Will, it looks like you could give it a bit more sanding with fine grade paper though?
I normally go throughout the grades starting with 80 - 120 - 220 - 400. Any finish product will show up any blemishes or cross grain scratches...
By the way, sand paper is quite expensive! it seems in the last few years to have leapt up in price!

 

[Will Read]

Thanks Foxfish, your right, I probably should spend some more time with some fine grade paper. I guess now the overall shape is done I'm impatient to seal it and rig it. The finest I could find in b and q was 180. I will try and find some finer stuff. Thanks for the advice

 

[foxfish]

I think B&Q do a 4 sheet pack of green paper that is very good with the grades I mentioned - about £8

 

[Will Read]

Thanks I managed to get some , I have sanded it all down washed it with detergent ,rinsed ,dried and spent a fair amount of time trying to scrub the fine dust created from the sanding which is stuck in the grain here and there with a toothbrush. Should be good to seal it and rig the hardware in next couple of days . Pics to follow on completion !

 

[foxfish]

Good luck with applying the finish Will... I have never heard of washing with detergent before, the normal problem with wetting wood is the grain will lift a seem rough to the touch!
I small amount of white sprit on a rag just whipped over quickly will preparer the wood after fine sanding & also show up any imperfections.

 

[Will Read]

Yes I was thinking to use some white spirit but I followed the manufacturers instructions for the semco teak sealer which specified newly worked teak should be washed thoroughly with detergent to raise/open the grain slightly. I am pretty happy with how the sealer went on and it looks great. The gun still feels very smooth. Il rig it tonight and do some pictures. Hopefully I will get at least half the season out of the sealer without having to re apply. But it goes on like oil with a rag,really easy to put on and really gives a nice colour to the teak with a nice natural matt finish, still grippy.

 

[Will Read]

Finished the gun ! Id say im pretty happy with the final product . I could definitely have took more time over it , and I should have really made a mock up as advised but time has been scarce for me so I just kind of muddled through. My biggest regret is that I never actually 4 squared the blank so it wasn't perfectly straight, I kind of did a lot of the shaping by eye and the fit/feel of the shaft . Also I did have a couple of router slips as I didn't have a router table. A router does a lot of damage very quickly so beware.
The shaft is 6.5mm 110cm/ barrel about 65cm but the gun has a range exceeding my 70cm Mako railgun , due to the reverse mech and forward position of the line anchor I guess. So im quite happy with that, its also a lot lighter and slimmer .Fitted with 16mm rubber at about 2.5X stretch to first notch and close to 3 on the last notch . Looking forward to trying it out .







Some of the work is a little 'rough' and whilst I really appreciate the gun as a piece of art and do care how it looks , I knew some small details where I rushed a bit would not really affect how the gun shoots. So yes there are better builds absolutely , but I feel it will do its job and im still happy with the overall look and feel. I reckon its only taken me about 10 hours total , I don't know if that's fast or slow but I feel I did rush certain aspects of the build.
Also thinking of possibly cutting 10mm off the trigger and bending the trigger guard to make it look a bit more fluid .

 

[foxfish]

Good effort Will, I hope it catches you plenty of fish.

 

[Will Read]

Thanks Foxfish for your persistent advice and encouragement. If you want to try the semco teak sealer il send you a little pot, it's very nice stuff.

 

[foxfish]

Thanks Will but I will stick to epoxy & poly two pack for the time being although your finish does look effective.
I like to grain fill my work with epoxy & I don't think the semco will stick to the epoxy.

 

[Will Read]

Thanks Will but I will stick to epoxy & poly two pack for the time being although your finish does look effective.
I like to grain fill my work with epoxy & I don't think the semco will stick to the epoxy.

Having had chance to get out with my gun, it is as I feared nose heavy quite severely. I thought about epoxying some teak wings on the front to counter this. My other thought was router out a void at the under side up near the front and fill it with polystyrene and cap it over with some teak. Just didn't want to add more wood which will make the gun harder to swing about underwater. Any one tried anything like this?

 

[scallywag]

Is it really nose heavy or butt light? With the spear in it should slowly sink in a level attitude and float with the spear out. I balance my guns by attaching small strips of lead to the handle with an elastic band until the correct attitude is reached. I’ll then hollow the handle melt the lead and pour it in. my last guns took around 130g.

 

[foxfish]

One of the benefits of a wooden gun is high mass! In other words a buoyant gun that requires quite a lot of ballast to get it sitting just right in the water. High mass, stabilises the gun & reduces recoil but often at the expense of fast tracking !
Of course we strive to get a perfect compromise.
I quite often use wings on my guns ......

 

[Will Read]

One of the benefits of a wooden gun is high mass! In other words a buoyant gun that requires quite a lot of ballast to get it sitting just right in the water. High mass, stabilises the gun & reduces recoil but often at the expense of fast tracking !
Of course we strive to get a perfect compromise.
I quite often use wings on my guns ......

Nice gun, yes that's a very valid point, I will add some wood and try and achieve a better balance that way

 

[Will Read]

Nice gun, yes that's a very valid point, I will add some wood and try and achieve a better balance that way

So finally got round to adding my 'wings' to my homemade teak gun . I glued them on with west systems epoxy and have sanded out some grooves to accommodate the bands when loaded without compromising the hydrodynamics . as wellas the wings I have also fitted a 6mm 105cm devoto shaft as opposed to a 6.3mm 110cm . So hopefully between doing this and the wings the gun should be less nose heavy and balance nicely in the water, will post a report when I get chance to give a water test.

 

[CCspearo]

Ive just bought some nice Teak with a view to making 1 laminated gun and hopefully a short solid teak gun. Ive done a fair bit of research and am gradually building up a process of the bits/tools I need and techniques for this process. I have a couple of questions that are bothering me . Number 1 - I am worried about the alignment of the shaft in its track and the trigger mechanism . The left to right issue seems fairly easy ,just change router bits and don't move router so the centre of the mechanism pocket is exactly centre of your track . The bit that concerns me is the height of the mech against the shaft track ,I guess there is not much room for tolerance and the shaft must enter/exit the mech at just the right place in terms of the height up and down . Is there a specific technique for getting this right ? Also should the mech be floating in the pocket on the pins? or wedged in the pocket tight and pinned ?
Number 2 - any screws I fix into the stock for hardware , do I need to drill a hole and epoxy it then put the screw in , to stop water getting deep into the stock?
Number 3 What tools do I need , obviously in an ideal world I would have a full workshop at my disposal but I want to know what I can get away with . My list for things I feel I definitely need are ; Table saw for taper cuts(I will make a jig) Router for mechanism pocket and shaft track and rounding the blank edges and cutting band holes , Decent mortice chisel and paring chisel for squaring corners of my routered pockets , Dremmel multi tool with sanding attatchments and palm sander for finishing , Pillar drill for drilling holes to pin the trigger mechanism. And lastly a belt sander to shape the stock around the butt to make a kind of loading pad fluke tail sort of thing , I don't know how feasible it would be to remove 10mm from each side of the blank with a belt sander in terms of how long it would take and accuracy ,?? Would I be better rough chiselling these concaves and then sanding . Idealy id buy a bandsaw but im already spending a couple of hundered on tools so I can justify everything,i have a jigsaw but im thinking it may be a bit thick and hard to get through?, these guns will cost me twice what I could buy them for likely !
All advice graciously accepted , Thanks , these are not going to be big bluewater cannons with 3 or 4 power bands but slim manoeuvrable guns , most likely a 78cm and a 92cm roughly with single bands and 6.5mm shafts for typical light uk fishing in North wales .

Hi Will
I have made about 8 timber guns over a 40year period. I find running hot wax into the screw holes works really well, it soaks into the wood and does not crack like epoxy when you drive the screw. I just light a candle and let the wax drip into the hole. It must be done after the gun is epoxied otherwise it would effect the coating. I cut my tracks with a table saw made from an upside down power saw bolted to sheet of chipboard with a couple of pieces of timber clamped on for guides. I make 3 passes to form the U shape and clean up with a 6mm tent peg wrapped in sand paper. This may save you buying a router. I think a pillar drill is a good investment Igot mine for the cost of a drive belt, some one put it out on hard rubbish day and it just needed a new belt! The tool I use the most is my belt sander turned upside down and bolted to a bench. It is great for shaping timber and finishing stainless components as I make my own spears, floppers, rollerheads, trigger mechs and clusterheads. good luck with the build, looking forward to seeing some pics.

 

[CCspearo]

Hi Will
I have made about 8 timber guns over a 40year period. I find running hot wax into the screw holes works really well, it soaks into the wood and does not crack like epoxy when you drive the screw. I just light a candle and let the wax drip into the hole. It must be done after the gun is epoxied otherwise it would effect the coating. I cut my tracks with a table saw made from an upside down power saw bolted to sheet of chipboard with a couple of pieces of timber clamped on for guides. I make 3 passes to form the U shape and clean up with a 6mm tent peg wrapped in sand paper. This may save you buying a router. I think a pillar drill is a good investment Igot mine for the cost of a drive belt, some one put it out on hard rubbish day and it just needed a new belt! The tool I use the most is my belt sander turned upside down and bolted to a bench. It is great for shaping timber and finishing stainless components as I make my own spears, floppers, rollerheads, trigger mechs and clusterheads. good luck with the build, looking forward to seeing some pics.

oops my advice may have been a bit late but it may help someone else. The gun looks great Will. It looks very functional and sturdy it should give you years of enjoyment.