First Hybrid Build

    I had been planning on doing this build for a while and now that i have built the new router table it will be much easier to build so going to give it a go.


    I have glued up two hybrid blanks out of Tasmanian Oak (Australian hardwood) and they are almost at the stage where i can start working on the them, i have just glued a horizontal laminate on both of them today and just have to wait for a router bit to arrive before i can progress with any of it. Still got to finish off the last gun as well at some stage, to much to do at once :D


    Since this if my first attempt at this style gun i will be doing two at once and using the first blank as a sacrificial blank in case i mess anything up which I'm not planning on doing and hopefully i should have two nice guns at the end of it all.


    The wood section of the hybrid will have a enclosed graphite epoxy track and I'm using a 28mm RA carbon barrel for one of them. I'm yet to get the second barrel but will buy one very soon to use for the job.


    Going to be stripping the blanks in half and using a core box bit to do the barrel hole and glue back together.


    Both guns will be around 60" mid handle guns and running 5/16 Riffe shafts, I'm not quiet sure on the other hardware as yet but looking into it now and deciding, one will definitely have a Neptionics reef mech in it at this stage.


    Since this is such a new style build for me I'm sure there will be a few question asked on my behalf and a bit of advice needed along the way from hybrid builders out there and people with experience in graphite epoxy tracks. I will be doing some reseach on the graphite epoxy tracks throughout the forums to get a better idea on it all and do a couple practice runs on some scrap before i pour the tracks for the hybrids.


    Also going to be doing a few tests over the coming weeks with different epoxy finishes by adding in pigments etc to see if i can come up with a nice finish for the guns. Once again if anyone has any tips on this throw them my way, i would love to hear them.


    A few pics so far, i will post some more as i progress with it...






    Done the last bit of work i can do on the hybrids till the core box router bit arrives in the mail. I glued the horizontal piece to the stocks and have stripped them in half ready to route the barrel holes. Won't be able to do anymore work for a couple weeks now till i get back from going away.


    Everyone have a great Chrissy and happy New Year, hope you all spear plenty of quality fish!


    Cheers,


    Brett




    Merry Christmas Brett, I only poured one track gun back in 85 and there may be better composites now.
    I used West System with Teflon particulate.The barrel is still holding up well but it only stayed enclosed
    track for 2 months before I opened it on my Bridgport mill.
    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Quote from sdeisen

    brett is that wood (the tasmanian oak) somehwat available where you are, or is it still a real specialty type thing?
    they are alla type of eucylptus no?


    Yeah sdeisen it is a type of eucalyptus and is a pretty common and available timber over here, It's a real nice white timber and comes up looking great with the right epoxy, coating with west systems 207 makes it look really yellow and spoils the finish a bit in my opinion. Might end up keeping one of the guns with the natural white timber colour and the other i will experiment a little with.
    Here is a link to a little detail on the wood... http://www.tastimber.tas.gov.a…sGeneral.aspx?SpeciesID=1

    Thanks LunkerBuster :)



    Unfortunately the weather has turned bad over here and one of my dive trips have been canceled for a few days till things settle down... Hopefully! Always seems to be the way when you plan a trip away :angry5:


    Back to the gun build... I have been having a good chat with Ihab and i was interested about his mechs and parts and I've decided to use the Nile-tec mech (with new improved line release... not pictured) and a one piece Nile-tec handle in one of these hybrids to give them a test run and see how they perform. It's easy to judge something by looks but wanted to actually get my hands on one of these mechs and one piece handle frames and test them out for performance in a build and give my honest opinion.


    Nile-tec mech



    Nile-tec one piece handle with scales (without the ring on the bottom ;))



    I'm also getting Tin Man to make me up one of his handle frames and i will either use this or a neptonics handle in the other hybrid depending on when i recieve the Tin Man handle (no rush Tin Man, I know you are a busy man)


    Going to try and do a couple tests today with pigment mixed epoxy while the temp is good for it and see if i can come up with a nice finish.

    Thanks guys :)


    I done the first epoxy pigment test yesterday in black, only done one coat. Looks pretty good but want to do a few for more tests with different colours and also try blending some colours together to see what type of effects i can come up with. Black looks very nice in the sun with a awesome glossy finish but i reckon it would look like crap once it starts getting a few scratches from being thrown around the boat and dragged through the reef



    Top of the Morn Brett, I'm off to grab a cray in this cold Cali water, back at you latter. Do you have your
    graphite particulate yet?
    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Goon morning Don :)


    Bretto, I did the first 8" of the front of a gun like that once, black color, looked just like your piece of wood. It turned out good, I used a chicken turner to turn the stock continuously to get the smooth finish. My purpose in doing so was to cover up some cosmetic faults that the wood had in that area. But I wouldn't do it for cosmetic reasons only to a whole gun. Wood is beautiful, and the epoxy finish is more work.


    If your purpose is to give the gun a durable care free finish, as opposed to oil which you have to reapply often, I recommend penetrating epoxy.

    Quote from Don Paul

    Top of the Morn Brett, I'm off to grab a cray in this cold Cali water, back at you latter. Do you have your
    graphite particulate yet?
    Cheers, Don


    Hey Don, Not yet mate, I'm going to check out some of the west systems stuff today and might pick some up and test it out. Good luck with the crays.


    Quote from Dan


    Bretto, I did the first 8" of the front of a gun like that once, black color, looked just like your piece of wood. It turned out good, I used a chicken turner to turn the stock continuously to get the smooth finish. My purpose in doing so was to cover up some cosmetic faults that the wood had in that area. But I wouldn't do it for cosmetic reasons only to a whole gun. Wood is beautiful, and the epoxy finish is more work.


    If your purpose is to give the gun a durable care free finish, as opposed to oil which you have to reapply often, I recommend penetrating epoxy.


    Thanks for your advice Dan, the idea was to make one of these gun and leave the natural Tassy Oak finish and coat with a penertrating epoxy and the other was going to be something a bit different with the epoxy pigment coating but i will just have to see how things turn out with the tests.


    I like your idea with the chicken turner, got any pics of how that gun turned out that you can throw up on here?


    Cheers,


    Brett

    Brett I looked back on some of my old gun notes. One of my poured (open)tracks on my guns is West graphite
    #423 and the mix was 30%graphite and 70% MAS slow cure Epoxy.I waited 72hr before milling.
    The graphite makes the epoxy more brittle at higher graphite ratios. I need to go back and read your build
    to see if your going ET or open deep rail?
    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Brett, actually the idea was Griswold's a couple of years ago, he started the chicken turner mania :) I believe he got some good results coating complete guns this way.


    What I did was just modify the muzzle of a Riffe C3X with wings as attachment points for the bands, to see if inline band pull makes any difference. It was a waste of time. I didn't like the bands flopping all over the place. A better result was achieved by installing a more ergonomic handle which brought the grip closer to the plane of travel of the spear. Later I removed the wings and redid the black finish.


    It's one of my first attempts at trying different stuff. As you know I don't like the pin although it works. I used the pin in that situation because there was too little space between the plate and the wing to route the shooting line. Afterward I removed the wings and brought the gun back to it's original condition including the plate.

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