Making a woody

[DANger-is]

I'm new to spearfishing and don't yet have a gun. So I was hoping to get some help with a few questions.

Are Homemade woody guns going to be better than what you buy at the shop for around the $400 mark?

I'm a woodwork teacher and am confident in my ability to make a gun but being new to this has anyone got a set of plans that I could work off?

Any recommendations on lenght etc?

Is there a good kit to purchase with all the mechanical parts?

Cheers
Dan

 

[foxfish]

Welcome to db, we have hundreds of featured gun build some with very in depth details of construction methods.
However I don't know if folk build guns to cut cost or even if they do, I am not sure if they manage to do so?
There is a certain satisfaction when you complete the circle of choosing wood, to seeing a fish on your plate, that is a very good reason to build your own gun.
You can search here DIY & Homemade to find many gun builds.
Here is a good one http://forums.deeperblue.com/homemade-spearguns/63452-teak-80-part-one-stock.html
Or if this is more what you want http://forums.deeperblue.com/diy-homemade/85671-5-time.html

 

[flyflicker]

Island Sands is an excellent woody maker

 

[DANger-is]

Are there plans available to get me started?

Do people make their own handle or do they tend to buy one?

 

[foxfish]

Did you look at my links!? teak 80 shows every aspect...
Do you have a specific style in mind?
I dont know of any plans?

 

[Tin Man]

I don't think that I've ever seen a complete set of plans for sale.

A good start would be to tell us a bit more about your area, and the fish that you want to hunt. That way, guys from your area could chime in with information on the type / sizes of guns that they use in similar situations.

The handle is arguably the most personalized part of the gun. There are lots of good ones available for sale online, and I have also seen absolutely beautiful work from people who created their own.

A sort of "in between" approach is to use moldable plastic (like Shapelock) to mold the handle. That allows you to get a truly custom fit, without so much carving.

 

[DANger-is]

Did you look at my links!? teak 80 shows every aspect...
Do you have a specific style in mind?
I dont know of any plans?

Yes I did look at the links and thankyou for putting them up. The 5 at a time one is giving me a good understanding.

In terms of style, I don't really have anything in mind yet. I'm not sure weather to make my own handle or just buy one. I do like the look of the wings, so I might incorporate that.

I have some European Oak at home so I was thinking of using that with a strip of Jarrah in the centre to give it some weight. Will this suit?

In terms of triggers, Whats the difference between a $50 one and a $200?

 

[DANger-is]

A good start would be to tell us a bit more about your area, and the fish that you want to hunt. That way, guys from your area could chime in with information on the type / sizes of guns that they use in similar situations.

Most of my diving is around Perth, on reef. In terms of fish size, I would aiming for table fish such as snapper and dhu fish around the 5-10kg mark.


What is a "good" handle.

A sort of "in between" approach is to use moldable plastic (like Shapelock) to mold the handle. That allows you to get a truly custom fit, without so much carving.[/quote]

I haven't heard of shapelock before so I will have to look into it

 

[foxfish]

Sounds like you need something like a 100cm twin band gun but to be honest most of us would own several guns for different circumstances.
You can use virtually any hardwood but what we are trying to achieve is a good balance, a gun that sits level in the water & not muzzle or butt heavy.
If this will be your first gun it might be very difficult to obtain this first time, so you may need to removed some stock or add some weight (lead or tungsten) to get the balance right.
If you build the gun too slim then it will sink even when the spear is released = not good!
So first you need to decide on a style & length, mid handle guns are great but more complex to build so I would suggest an open track 100cm rear handle gun.
You will need three laminates of your chosen wood but teak is possible the best.
You will need to use epoxy glue, the handle is not really difficult to make however the trigger mechanism will need to be purchased.
I would recommend Reef Trigger Mechanism as a great tried & tested model.

 

[DANger-is]

Thanks FoxFish, thats exactly the sort of advice I'm chasing.

In terms of size, I'm thinking about 30mm thick x 100mm wide (the stock will be 40mm + the wings) and about 1.2m long. Will these dimensions work?

When gluing up the stock, do you cut the middle laminate 130mm shorter with a 30 degree angle to fit the handle to?

I was thinking of routing out a square guide and then filling it with resin and then re-routing the arc in the resin. I was thinking it would have better wear properties. Do you think this is a waste of time?

So many questions!

 

[foxfish]

What do you mean by "the wings"?

 

[DANger-is]

I mean the stablizers on the side. I'm now thinking the gun will be about 40 high by 60mm wide.

What do you think is the perfect setup, in terms of gun length, spear diameter and slings, for shooting reef fish up to 10kg.

 

[foxfish]

I am sorry my friend but you are asking questions we just cant answer!

There is not such thing as a perfect set up or gun, every dive can be completely different, clear water, cloudy water, big fish, small fish, rough weather, deep dives etc....

However I would recommend that you build a #100cm# long gun with two 18mm bands, rear handle, three laminates of teak.

I would epoxy glue up a 45 x 45mm stock x 110cm long, fit the handle & trigger cut a 8mm 1/2 round track, drill a hole for the bands.
I would then buy a 140cm 7.5 spear with shark fins, then temporary tape the spear & two bands in place then see how it all sits in the water.

Once you have some idea about the buoyancy you can start shaping the blank. Take off a bit of stock & check the balance in the water (paddling pool or swimming pool is good for this) Keep going until you have the shape & balance right......

# the guns length is measured from band hole to trigger mech#

 

[DANger-is]

Is it okay to put the timber in water when it's not sealed?

 

[benicio]

what i'm using is a build woddy gun. bought this from a fisherman who lives near the shore. it looks too primitive but works well. yet i don't trust this thing if aiming a fish larger than 12 inch.

 

[foxfish]

Is it okay to put the timber in water when it's not sealed?

Yes, why not it will be for a few seconds only.
Like I have already said - if you are unsure about the whole concept then build a prototype from a solid piece of cheap wood.

 

[DANger-is]

I've decided to make a 1 meter gun, so the overall length will be about 1.2m. I'm going to go with an enclosed track with a 7mm shark fin spear, with 2 18mm slings. Sound like a good setup?

I glued my plank up the other day. I'm using 5 peices of european oak at 11mm and 2 peices of Jarrah at 2mm, just to give some colour difference. The over all dimensions of the blank are 60mm(about 2.5 inchs) wide by 40mm high.

I've glued the laminates vertically using West systems. Do you think I need another laminate laying flat on the base to give it more strength. Ideally, I'd prefer not to because I'd like to see the jarrah strips from the underside of the gun but I will do whatever makes the gun stronger. What do you think?

Cheers
Dan

 

[Tin Man]

I don't think that it is necessary to laminate a horizontal strip from a strength perspective. Many people put a horizontal lam on top, because it avoids a potential cosmetic flaw if your track doesn't end up dead center of the middle lamination.

 

[foxfish]

Sounds good Dan, you will need to ensure the blank is perfectly square & then cut the track.
I would look at spears before you go to far though as some have smaller fins than others & that will define the how thick the top of your track will be or in other words how deep to cut the track.
I have had this problem before when I have cut an 8mm track & then found that a 7mm spear sits to low to expose enough of the shark fin. If that happened your wishbone wont be able to catch on the fin & you will have to plane down the top of the stock.
The other issue I have found with enclosed track woodys is the actual shape of the top of the gun, I prefer to shape a slight angle away from the middle as this makes loading the wishbone much easier to engage the fin.
.
PS - search for Tin mans post to see his guns (if you haven't already)

 

[DANger-is]

nice tips, thanks guys

Tin man where can Ifind pics of your guns?

I'm back at work in a couple of days so I'll post a pic of a shape protype that I was playing around with last week.

Dan