First Hybrid Build

Quote from Don Paul

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

Thanks for the info Don, i went to my West Systems supplier but they are closed till the 4th of Jan and i will be away unfortuantly, so won't be able to do any tests till i get back from my holiday around the 9th. I was planning on doing a enclosed rear track, open front hybrid.

Also thanks for putting up them pics Dan.

I done some more tests today with the epoxy and pigment finish, lets just say it didn't go to plan <img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin"> Will try a different approach tomorrow... No photos of today's mess

Quote from Dan

What happened? Your test piece looked good, what did you do different?

First test piece was with west systems and added in a fine black powder pigment (looked great)! I then used a new clear coat epoxy which a had not used before and added pigment paste mixed with same epoxy through the clear coat and the epoxy was heaps thinner than the west systems so that is where i messed up, just way to thin and the colours would just mix in with the clear coat not give the effect i was looking for. I should of just stuck with the west systems for the whole test

Haven't done any more tests yet but will do more soon and add them up, just been trying to finish off the last gun before i get to involved in the hybrids. Coating the other gun tomorrow so it should be done soon and i will progress more with the Hybrids in the new year.

Cheers,

Brett

Managed to get a little more done on the hybrids over the last few days. I have routed out the barrel holes and glued the two halves back together. I routed out the dovetail section for the epoxy graphite enclosed tracks and also routed out the slot to fit one of the mechs.

Thanks Guys!

Yeah I'm not by any means experienced in making hybrids let alone epoxy graphite tracks so this is a huge learning curve for me. I also don't like the idea of a big bulky gun for everyday use and that is why i wanted to try and make it more streamline and thin, whether it will work well or not i am unsure of but guess time will tell. I only plan on running 2 x 16mm on one and 3 x 16mm or 14mm on the other.

The barrels are Rob Allen carbons sdeisen, i might keep one the same camo effect and have a play around with the other one but undecided at this stage

Tin Man & Wood Guy... I got the ball cutters in the mail today from SFS and I'm very happy with the quality of them! Bob is great to deal with and was very fast in making them and shipping them out, thanks heaps for you help guys and for putting me in touch with him.

Cheers,

Brett

Quote from Tin Man

Glad you're happy with them. One other thing to keep in mind is that they can re-grind standard carbide tipped router bits into custom profiles as well. So if you ever needed a goofy size, like say a 1-3/16" ball cutter, then you could send them a 1-1/4" cutter and they could cut it to your specs cheaper than fabricating a whole new cutter from scratch.

Awesome, I'll have to keep that in mind then. Thanks again for your help Jeff

Cheers,

Bretto

Had a bit of spare time today and the conditons were right so i poured the epoxy graphite tracks into the back half of the hybrids. This was my first attempt at doing this but so far so good. With a bit of luck i can route the enclosed tracks in the next couple of days.

It appears that my first attempt at the epoxy graphite tracks was a success! I trimmed all the excess epoxy off today and it's all ready to route the enclosed tracks later on in the week. With a bit of luck I'll have these guns all finished and out under the water in a couple of weeks for a test run.

Quote from Dan

Looking very good. What did you use to stop the epoxy track on the bottom, a pipe? If so was it hard to take out once the epoxy was dry?

Thanks Dan! I trimmed so much off the rails on the carbon barrels so they were round and used cling wrap around the barrel ends that insert into the timber. I poured the epoxy graphite straight onto the cling wrapped barrels and let it set overnight. The barrels fit very snug and can be pulled out pretty easy, the cling wrap won't stick very well to the epoxy and it all just pulls out when you take the barrel out for the first time. Very happy with how it all worked out in the end.