My ~60" Mid Handle Enclosed Track Build

    I don't exactly know where to start but I've been building a gun, final length to be determined, based upon Steve Veros' very good gun building threads here - http://spearfishing.world/cust…/2567-bluewater-euro.html and here -http://spearfishing.world/spea…how-to-make-a-hybrid.html


    I'll try not repeat things covered in Steve's thread, but give my insights to building a speargun with virtually no woodworking experience. I've hammered nails in things before, but my closest experience to building a speargun was probably the pine-wood derby many, many years ago.
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    The tools I'm working with (mostly acquired from Craigslist or Harborfreight):
    13" Planer - CL
    Craftsman Table Saw with built in Router-CL
    Plunge Router (bought this new because the router that came with the table saw was missing the 1/2" collet and I could not find a replacement) -OSH
    Various router bits -Ebay,Lowes,HD,
    Roller Stands - HF
    72" Level - HF
    Dozen Clamps -HF
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    I made my blank out of Paduak with 6 vertical and 1 horizontal laminations each 3/8" thick. I wasted a lot wood making the lames as I got used to using the table saw. The planer was a life saver and allowed me to get all the strips the same thickness. I really wanted to try to keep all the laminations equally sized throughout the build, unfortunately I was unable to do that.


    I'll skip the gluing process because that is covered everywhere else, but offer tips that I use on my next gun build. The epoxy resin I used thickened up pretty quick I used way more than needed. The extra epoxy was squeezed out during clamping and I should have wiped the excess while I still could. Leaving the epoxy oozing from the seems just made more work planing the blank.


    The blank has taken the majority of my time so far, mainly because I had access to a micrometer. The micrometer caused me to spend too much time trying to get the blank perfectly straight and square. I was using a micrometer, feeler gauges, a square and level. My blank kept getting smaller and smaller each time I ran it through the table saw or planer.


    I tried the squaring method from Steve's thread that used a flush trim router bit and piece of laminate. Unfortunately it chattered so much when I practiced on a 2x4 that I never used it on my blank. If I could get it to work it seemed the simplest way to square and true a blank.


    I ended up using a method that Woodguy suggested on the other forum. Using two strips of electrical tape on one side of the blank when putting it through the planer to square it up. Unfortunately the electrical tape did not slide well through the planer and started bunching up as the blank went through. This rose the height of the blank progressively so the plane was uneven. This caused me to have to shave off even more wood from that side and I gave up on the idea of keeping the lam widths even. Woodguys method worked in the end, but I sprayed some table saw lube on the electrical tape to make it slide better.


    ---Thats it for now. I'll add more text here later and some pictures of where I am at in the next thread.
    -Lance

    The tape marks the cuts needed for a 60" gun. The handle is held on with double sided tape to get an idea of positioning.


    The thin lam on the right is because of my electrical tape screw up. The ruff edges are from me leaning the blank up on a concrete floor. I've got plenty of extra blank to cut off.


    Trigger pocket needs to be cleaned up.


    Steve's tube idea was fairly easy to implement and looks clean.


    looks good so far, i'm sure it will kill plenty of fish.


    nothing like the first time you pull the trigger on a gun you made and there is a fish at the other end of the line, pure joy.

    steve veros


    in loving memory of paolo

    Spent some time after work on my today. I think the hardest part of a gun build is just building up the courage to start cutting into the wood. I spend most of my time thinking about what to do and testing out stuff on 2x4's.


    Today I cut band holes, recessed and area for the handle, recessed withing that area to make the handle flush, and drilled the wholes for the trigger pins. I used the mill at work for all of this. First let me explain that while I have a mill at work, its basically used as a drill press, so its not as precise as it should be, but as good a drill press.


    For the band holes I first used a 1/2" router bit. The holes seemed to small for 5/8" bands, I could barely pull them through. I ended up re-drilling them with a 5/8" drill bit, and i'm sure with the addition of epoxy the bands will still be tight.


    For the non-wood worker (like me) be sure to clamp a piece of wood to the back of your blank to prevent blow-out. I first drilled holes on a scrap piece of my blank and found that drilling on a mill caused bad blow-out of the wood without a backing of scrap.


    For large portion of recessed handle I used the 1/2" straight router bit again and made repetitive cuts from the side a-la etch a sketch. Again I practiced on a piece of scrap to make sure it would work. One thing I found was to make sure you are pushing the wood against the direction of the spinning bit. If you do not you are likely to splinter the wood. I think this is more prevalent with a mill because of its slow speed.


    I then used a 1/4" router bit to make another recessed area so the handle would sit flush.


    For drilling the trigger pins I first used a 3/16" drill bit, then went back with a 13/64" bit. ReefGeek had posted about the 13/64" bit to allow for the epoxy coating. I'm using the Neptonics Tuna mech. and the close tolerances of the opening does scare me with a 5/16" shaft. The pinned trigger mech works now when the pins are loose, but I'm afraid it may be out of adjustment when I epoxy the gun.


    Nothing I'm doing here is new, but I'm just trying to post some of the things I've learned as a non-woodworker building a gun.


    Now for some pics.... Oh and the nose of the gun will be shortened and rounded a bit, I just trimmed it with a miter saw for now.


    -Lance




    I think with all the debates on stainless steel screws and aluminum handles, threaded inserts, etc. I am just going to go with zip ties for securing my handle ;)


    On the next gun, I think you'll want to orient your laminates to have opposing grain directions. That said, I wouldn't sweat it unless you notice warping, but Padauk is pretty stable from what I've gathered.


    **Caveat, I am certainly no woodworking or speargun building expert, but I read a lot and am in the middle of a build now. Maybe Steve Veros can affirm or correct my statement.

    Quote from JimCuda

    https://lh5.googleusercontent.…eY7a5Rc/s400/IMG_2466.JPG


    On the next gun, I think you'll want to orient your laminates to have opposing grain directions. That said, I wouldn't sweat it unless you notice warping, but Padauk is pretty stable from what I've gathered.


    **Caveat, I am certainly no woodworking or speargun building expert, but I read a lot and am in the middle of a build now. Maybe Steve Veros can affirm or correct my statement.


    What you said is pretty right on. The main point of laminations is to counteract a chunk of wood's natural tendency to move in a particular direction. By flipping the individual laminations around, the forces offset and create a stable blank. Looking at the lams, the grain is going in the same direction... which means any warping forces would still be acting in the same direction.


    Too late now & should be fine, more of a FYI thing. :)

    I did flip the lams before laminating them, but grain pattern makes it look like that are glued back the same way they were originally cut, (with the exception of one piece that came from a horizontal cut rather than a vertical cut of the original piece of would). I had to double check as well when I was lining the pieces up for glueing because the grain matched so well even though it had been flipped.


    -Lance

    Quote from Slurryseal

    I did flip the lams before laminating them, but grain pattern makes it look like that are glued back the same way they were originally cut, (with the exception of one piece that came from a horizontal cut rather than a vertical cut of the original piece of would). I had to double check as well when I was lining the pieces up for glueing because the grain matched so well even though it had been flipped.


    -Lance



    Alternating lams should be flipped and turned around end-to-end as well.
    If you just rotate the laminations 180degrees around the length axis, it'll end up the way you see it.
    If you rotate it in both ways, the grain will be opposing and more balanced.


    Think of it like a sheet of paper with a diagonal line... going from bottom left to top right. If you rotate it 180 degrees... the grain will still be going in same direction. You need to flip it over in order for the diagonal to switch to bottom right to top left.

    paduak, mahogany and some other wood don't have a very clear grain pattern like others so it can be difficult to try and figure out how to alternate pieces so there is a "chevron" like pattern when looking at the end of the stock. for that type of wood, i mark one side with a sharpie before i cut it into strips so i can see how is was originally. for wood with a clear grain like teak it should look like the pic bellow.


    l wouldn't worry about the guns warping lance, just a little fyi.

    Quote from fuzz

    Alternating lams should be flipped and turned around end-to-end as well.
    If you just rotate the laminations 180degrees around the length axis, it'll end up the way you see it.
    If you rotate it in both ways, the grain will be opposing and more balanced.


    Yep, like Harold said.
    Here's an off-cut from the end of the gun I just finished.
    (sorry for the crappy pic, but you get the idea)


    Overall the build has been easier than I though it would be. I think the hardest part is balancing your skill level and your expectations. The thing that has been slowing me down the most is trying to get everything 'perfect'.


    The micrometer has been my biggest downfall, causing me to chase 1/100" and that leads to more problems. Things started moving faster once I accepted this would hopefully be the first of more guns, and nobody is going to notice an extra 1/64", especially the fish.


    -Lance

    I don't think that I'll epoxy the next gun... I was having all of the problems others have with epoxy - fisheyes, contamination, dust, bubbles. I think many of my problems are because of the epoxy I am using - Kwik Kick by Resin Research. Not that the epoxy isn't doing what it is supposed to, its a quick setting, thick epoxy.


    I think I would have been better with an epoxy that was slower and thinner. I did add a little of the Additive F (I think its some sort of xylene based additive) to think it out and it helped a bit. Next time I'll give Phill's epoxy a try.


    One hassle is refitting everything once the gun is epoxied, definitely takes a little tweaking here and there. The final coat is by all means not perfect, but you can't say there isn't a lot of epoxy on it...


    The but pad is temporary, maybe for a season, right now I just want to get some blood on the gun.






    -Lance

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