Gun Build: Sneak peek

    As I mentioned in a previous thread, I was looking for some specific shafts for a gun that was built with the help of Jeff (Tinman) and Chad (Griswold). Many thanks guys!:toast:


    The gun is 60" rear-handled semi-enclosed track gun made to shoot a 7.5mm shaft. The gun will have some of the latest and greatest gun gadgets, but I will share that when I get everything put together:D


    For now, I just got done putting some personal little details on the gun just to give it some character. This turned out to be a lot harder than I had anticipated, but it also came out much better than I expected.


    I used a soldering iron to burn the image into the wood.The dimensions are ~3" long by ~3/4" high. Very difficult to do as the unprotected portion of the iron is about 6" long, so I had a hard time controlling where the tip was going, especially when it came to crossing the grain in the wood.

    Dan, there are no pencil marks. the lighter colors are less burning. I acutally "shaded" the fish with the side of the iron. I think the lines you may be referring to are under the fish(?) if so these are burn marks from the iron. I will have to find some scrap teak and practice this a bit more. It was a first attempt.


    I will post some pics of it again. It looks better now that I have sanded it a bit and put a coat of oil over it.

    Hey John, I just made a similar gun!
    (ok... I got a blank from mario... then gave it to chris & watched for 2 days as he made it for me)


    62" rear-handle; full enclosed track. Cut away the rear bottom a bit to raise handle a bit.


    Shoots 3 5/8 bands & either a 60" 5/16" threaded or a 63-65" 7.5mm shaft. I got a couple of DW's new 7.5mm 63" shafts & they're awesome. Tried my best to bend em, but was woefully unsuccessful... :(:)



    I like the engraving - whatever makes it more personal is good in my book. :cool2:

    Got any pics of the gun?


    I wanted to raise the handle on mine a bit as well. but the blank was so small to begin with, that there was not room for doing any fancy shapes. It will be a simple styled gun. The only real bells and whistles is the semi-enclosed track, which was nothing more than cutting the enclosed track and then opening up the front end. The front end of the track is very deep. This gun should be "laser" accurate. I plan on using 3 15mm bands with a 68" flopper shaft. There is about 12" of overhang with that shaft length. It will have 48" of band stretch.


    I got the blank from some guy in Cali sometime last year. I can't remember his name. The blank has been sitting in my house for 8-10 months. Chad was kind enough to true the blank for me and Jeff did all the cuts with machining tools, as I got an education on the process. I will be doing all the finish work, ballast and balancing.

    Quote from John Hanson

    Got any pics of the gun?


    I wanted to raise the handle on mine a bit as well. but the blank was so small to begin with, that there was not room for doing any fancy shapes. It will be a simple styled gun. The only real bells and whistles is the semi-enclosed track, which was nothing more than cutting the enclosed track and then opening up the front end. The front end of the track is very deep. This gun should be "laser" accurate. I plan on using 3 15mm bands with a 68" flopper shaft. There is about 12" of overhang with that shaft length. It will have 48" of band stretch.


    I got the blank from some guy in Cali sometime last year. I can't remember his name. The blank has been sitting in my house for 8-10 months. Chad was kind enough to true the blank for me and Jeff did all the cuts with machining tools, as I got an education on the process. I will be doing all the finish work, ballast and balancing.





    That's the handle portion - a bit beat up from the last trip. Measured the gun - a shade over 62". 53.5" from back of band slot to front of trigger mech. DW's 63" 7.5mm shafts have 6.25" between the tip & end of barb. (I believe he may be bringing in 68" ones in this next batch) With the 63", I have 6.5" of overhang, so the barb can close... barely. :D


    I used the UHMW track because I was gonna add mini-wings or frankenbolts to have the bands lay on the top deck neatly... but now I'm thinking of just using my mori rigid wishbones. The gun packs a bit of recoil, but shoots really great to end of 2 wraps. :)


    Still a work in progress, but I'm happy with it so far.

    Ahhh, now I see how you snuck that handle up a bit;)


    My track was cut into the wood itself, so I could not raise the trigger mech up above the top of the gun. I will keep that in mind next time.


    What did you use to stain the wood? I really like that color.

    Quote from John Hanson

    Ahhh, now I see how you snuck that handle up a bit;)


    My track was cut into the wood itself, so I could not raise the trigger mech up above the top of the gun. I will keep that in mind next time.


    What did you use to stain the wood? I really like that color.


    Ya... I raised the handle, but the track is a bit raised too... negating some of that effect. :D
    My initial thought was to forgo the enclosed & just go open. Overall, I think it's a good compromise in design. Definitely shoots nice & flat.


    Not sure what the stain is - I'll ask. :)

    Other option is to drill it and add a doghouse and pins for the bands.


    But, I think changing the mech will be alot easier.

    Davie Peguero

    YES!!!!! Final pieces have arrived in the mail today:excited1:


    Heading out to get a few pieces of hardware for final assembley. Will post pics of the finished gun later tonight:thumbsup2:

    how many hours did it take to make the cuts with the machining tools? i guess im trying to figure out how long it would take someone with experience and the tools to shape and make all the cuts for a speargun stock

    Griswold worked the blank until is was straight and square before John and I started the rest. It took us about 5 hours, which included:


    Cutting the track
    Installing the trigger mech and line release
    Drilling and shaping the muzzle
    Cutting and drilling to mount the handle
    Recessing the line anchor
    Rounding over the corners


    We were stopping and discussing parts of it as we went along, so it could go a little faster on a second gun.

    wow a lot quicker than i would have thought.. yes im sure you guys would take a break or two. having experience and knowing what to do and what to look out for really does help make the process move along faster...... great work by the way.....

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member to leave a comment.

Register a new account
Sign in now