Hey all,
First post on this forum, so it's nice to meet you all. Now that that is out of the way...
I'm living in Costa Rica. It is nearly impossible to get spearfishing equipment down here. There are no stores which sell guns. Ryan Bombard, who is a well known charter operator out of Nosara (by my research) and Riffe dealer has not responded to any of my attempted communications. I am now looking to another local Spearo from this board to build me a gun. We have hashed out design details of what I'm looking for. Now the interesting part. WOOD.
Being that this is Costa Rica, there are many MANY exciting options for material for constructing my gun. Teak being the starting point, and becoming gradually more and more exotic from there. Some alternatives which we have been discussing are Goncalo Alves (Called Ronron locally)
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/goncalo-alves/
up to and including the moderately crazy but highly intriguing option of building the gun stock out of cocobolo
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/cocobolo/
Both seem to exhibit excellent characteristics for building a solid durable stock. My one minor concern about the cocobolo option is the density (specific gravity of 1.10 at 12%MC). By my rudimentary calculations, this means that the stock will not float, with or without a shaft, and will "weigh" about a pound before adding trigger mech, rigging, etc. when underwater. I'm not super experienced with this, and my thought is that having a float line rigged should alleviate any concerns about losing my gun with an accidental slip. Pros would be that it would have significant mass (less recoil), ridiculous strength (and resistance to dents, dings, and general beatings), and be simply stunning (not that the fish care).
The Ronron (tigerwood) will also look amazing, be harder and denser than teak, but have a slight float before shaft, rigging, and similar considerations.
So if you had the opportunity to work with some more exotic hardwoods, or go for the standard teak which is still a great option, what would you do and why?
First post on this forum, so it's nice to meet you all. Now that that is out of the way...
I'm living in Costa Rica. It is nearly impossible to get spearfishing equipment down here. There are no stores which sell guns. Ryan Bombard, who is a well known charter operator out of Nosara (by my research) and Riffe dealer has not responded to any of my attempted communications. I am now looking to another local Spearo from this board to build me a gun. We have hashed out design details of what I'm looking for. Now the interesting part. WOOD.
Being that this is Costa Rica, there are many MANY exciting options for material for constructing my gun. Teak being the starting point, and becoming gradually more and more exotic from there. Some alternatives which we have been discussing are Goncalo Alves (Called Ronron locally)
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/goncalo-alves/
up to and including the moderately crazy but highly intriguing option of building the gun stock out of cocobolo
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/cocobolo/
Both seem to exhibit excellent characteristics for building a solid durable stock. My one minor concern about the cocobolo option is the density (specific gravity of 1.10 at 12%MC). By my rudimentary calculations, this means that the stock will not float, with or without a shaft, and will "weigh" about a pound before adding trigger mech, rigging, etc. when underwater. I'm not super experienced with this, and my thought is that having a float line rigged should alleviate any concerns about losing my gun with an accidental slip. Pros would be that it would have significant mass (less recoil), ridiculous strength (and resistance to dents, dings, and general beatings), and be simply stunning (not that the fish care).
The Ronron (tigerwood) will also look amazing, be harder and denser than teak, but have a slight float before shaft, rigging, and similar considerations.
So if you had the opportunity to work with some more exotic hardwoods, or go for the standard teak which is still a great option, what would you do and why?