Gun build Journey begins!

    First off i would like to thank WoodGuy, TinMan, Dan, and everyone else that shared their personal experience and knowledge on my thread. I wasn't going to post my gun build pics on this site because of all the beautiful custom guns everyone else are building. Im kind of embarassed but i figure this will only benefit me from all the feedback i will get. So here it goes!!:) These guns are 53" long and made with "sapele" wood.

    This is a pic of one of the clamps i built from scrap pieces of aluminum and some 3 1/2" screws. I figured screws will do alot better than C-clamps. Turned out pretty good.:)

    Heres a pic of the blanks. There was some saw burns on the blanks so i just sanded them off.

    I inserted a muzzle protector made of scrap uhmw i found. Its not delrin but it will do. The only problem is that there are blade marks on the uhmw, and i don't know how to get the uhmw smooth.

    Shaped the muzzle and put aluminum barrels for the rubbers.

    Heres a pic of some scrap pieces of 1/4" thick aluminum that i fabbed up and welded. Im not done yet but im getting there. This is all the progress i made for now and cant wait to finish the guns. Feel free to comment on my progress. Any constructive criticism will greatly appreciated!!


    Aloha Bruddah Keoni

    very vreative to make your own clamps like that...never seen that done and it seems like a good idea.


    looking forward to more reports.



    with the muzzle inserts are you going to be making normal bands and somehow jamming them into the small hole for retention or are you making BW style bands with wishbones(sort of ) on each end?

    i like to spear fish

    808natural---very nice job so far sir.:thumbsup2:
    With the number of great gun builders here for advice and assistance you can't go wrong :toast:
    Looks like you have some serious tools and shop at your disposal also (drool).
    Enjoy your "Journey"

    Looks like you're off to a good start. Just make sure the blanks are square and straight along the top , bottom, and sides before you start cutting. It will make all the difference when you start putting things together.

    Thanks for all the generosity!:). These guns will have a BW style rubber setup kind of like the seasnipers. I am using west systems two part epoxy and all I need now is the triggers and the ball bit. I ordered everything I needed from Josh at Neptonics but we had a couple of delays so can't wait til it gets here! Thanks again everyone!!


    Aloha

    I'm sure you already know this, but the ball cutter won't cut with the neck, so you'll have to use a straight router bit to cut the neck, then the ball cutter to cut the track. Go slow!

    Thanks for the reminder WoodGuy. I'll be sure to do that. Does anyone know how to finish uhmw? Is there anyway to get it smooth without running it through a table saw? I heard about putting a torch to it but will excessive heat change the properties of the uhmw or cause it to bend?



    Dan, the aluminum barrels seem to be fine for the job but I won't know for sure until I actually put it to the test. Everything I did on these guns are pretty much my first time, so it's all trial and error for me. I'll keep you updated on how everything worked out.



    Aloha bruddah Keoni

    I did a test using a planer to take a small cut off some uhmw one time and it worked, but I haven't worked with it. I know Tin Man has used heat to remove "fuzz" on uhmw with success, but if the saw marks are down into the uhmw and you need to remove the surrounding uhmw, I would plane the top of the gun with the uhmw installed. If you don't have a planer, I would use a sharp, fine toothed saw blade on a table saw and take a very fine cut- just enough to remove the saw marks (and, hopefully, not create some more in the process).:D

    I think I will make a jig and use heat trying not to burn the wood around the uhmw. I will let everyone know how it went!!


    Does anyone know the rpms to run on the ball bit while cutting the track on my guns?

    Finally done!! This was a fun project and im kind of bummed that its over!! Heres some pics of the finished product.

    I ended up painting the guns black with some texture on it. This does two things, it hides all my mistakes:D and the texture makes dings and scrapes from diving less noticable.:thumbsup2:




    I was gonna use the usual riffe line anchor, but it just didn't look right. Plus it won't look like a custom gun if i didn't make everything myself. I think making my own line anchor added a little more attitude to these guns.


    Heres how the guns look fully rigged.




    Personally i would like to thank bruddah james (Quick Learner) for experimenting with me on this project. He's actually the reason why my guns are black. James ended up messing up on his guns and had to paint his muzzles black to hide his mistakes. I saw his textured paint and decided that it would be a good idea to paint my whole gun black. Turned out that it was one of the best decisions i made.


    ps. sorry everyone for not taking more in depth photos of the build. I was just so focused on making the guns that i forgot to take step by step pictures for everyone to see. Anywayz i love how the guns turned out!!


    Aloha bruddah Keoni

    They look great, youvwill enjoy every catch, go out and kill lots of fish.


    Is that a pet wild boar on one of the pics? NIce

    Pucho
    Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

    Yea that is a pet wild boar. My dive partner went hunting and caught his mother then ended up taking the little guy home and is now raising the boar. That's a kalua pig plate lunch he's eating. Suprisingly he loves it!


    Fishingdude I like the band set up because the bands move around much more freely making it easier for the way I load my bands (band farthest away from you goes to the fin farthest away from you and then second band to second fin). This way the bands stack on each other really nicely and the stretch on the two bands are equal.

    Thanks Dan. The handles are the one thing on the guns that I am particularly proud of!! I love the way it feels and if you noticed one of the handles are a little smaller because my partners hand is smaller than my own. I made sure I fitted the handles perfect for myself and my partner. Some people have a hard time believing that I made it. They said it looks like I bought it!!:nono: But I guess that's a compliment.


    Dan I like the angle of your homemade handles and the thickness of the butt part of the handle embedded into your palm. I tried to mimick that a little and it turned out pretty good.


    The boar will eventually become kalua pig for the whole family!!:D

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