Started the build

[Chris W]

After realizing that I would not be able to get the species of wood I would like I settled on the fact that I will just have to use what I can find. I found some western fir and started by ripping it down to the desired dimensions and then laminated three strips together and started forming the handle which I bridle jointed in. I cut the track and the band hole and have just stared to form everything by hand.

here are a few pics of what I had done by 3pm today. more pics to be posted soon.

P.S. I know that this wood is probably not ideal for gun making but it is a first for me and I thought that it would be worth practicing on free wood before I buy some quality stuff. Plus I plan on giving it some protective coating.

 

[Chris W]

what would be a good finish or coating to put on this when I get it done?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[foxfish]

Chris, there are problems with soft woods - you will most likely need a lot of lead ballast to sink the gun, the soft wood is very prone to water absorption & of course any knocks & bangs it might receive!

You have chosen a very typical American "block" design with a lot of bulk to the gun.

I suggest you try to float it first to find out how much weight you need to add.

Then you will need to drill some holes to hide the lead, you really need the trigger & spear in place to get the true balance.

If you decide to go ahead & finish the gun then you will have to be absolutely sure you have coated every single piece of wood other wise water will enter into the fibers & swell the gun up!

Soft wood are traditionally used to crack rock faces! Wedges of soft wood are knocked into cracks in the rock & then have water poured over the wedges.
The effect of the wood swelling is so dramatic it will split off large fissures of rock!
I would carry on with the gun but ultimately use it as a template for a hardwood model, it will be a good bit of experience for you..

 

[scallywag]

Looking good. I'm just comming to the end of my first attempt. I've used 4 laminations of beach with a center lamination of mahogany purely because it's what i had to hand. Again not ideal but it looks nice and I've learnt alot, mainly about the sequance of events, and am now planning my next "ideal" gun.

 

[jtkwest]

what would be a good finish or coating to put on this when I get it done?

Thanks,
Chris

are you going to shoot it? or just coat it for the heck of it?
its probably not worth the money to put a trigger mech in it, and make a functional line release.
since it is a mock up anyway, why not put a stain on it to make it look like a dark wood and thats it. ?
since it is not for use, you could paint it with house paint if you wanted. lol

for most guns, we put either epoxy, varnish, or just teak/hardwood oil
as a coating. varnish and epoxy can be expensive, especially in small amounts
the oil is pretty cheap, but that wont do much for a pine speargun.
just put some polyurethane on it, or some thompsons weather seal or something.

 

[scallywag]

Best thing to do is finish the gun but make sure that the trigger mech is easy to remove, Give it a try and then move on to the next one rectifying all the mistakes that you make on the first gun. Thats my plan anyway.
I'm finishing my gun at the moment using a high gloss yacht varnish (£10 for a 500 ml tin) applied with a foam brush. I'm doing a coat a night with a light rub down with 600 wet and dry inbetween. Its had three coats and looking great already.

 

[foxfish]

I agree Scally - we all have our own ways to finish the guns we build, I like to use one coat of epoxy followed by four spray coats of two pack polyurethane varnish (about £25 = 500g) from boat chandlers.
After about 7 days the two pack is diamond hard & I then "Tcut" & polish the finish.

 

[Chris W]

Thanks guys so much for all the input. I was thinking about doing what Scally had proposed and finish the gun all the way through and rig it up but be able to remove all the parts to put in my ideal gun. I have learned a lot along the way so far and i know I will continue to. Still a working progress.

One question, when I finish it If I were to seal it and have everything rigged up and operational what is the worst case scenario if I were to use it for short periods of time, like just to see if it shot good and or if anything needed to be tweaked?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[rossco1956]

give it a go mate. What will it hurt except you time.
Cheers
Rosscp