First gun build underway

    I have been wanting to build a hip loading, wooden, bluewater gun for some time now, and today my project begins. My grandpa had a piece of lumber in his workshop for years and couldn't come up with a use for it so now it's mine. He's a long time scuba diver and former dive shop owner at ocean reef, so he appreciates my diving and hunting. The donor piece was in the back of his workshop(he's been turning wood for 25+ years now as a hobby). It's a 2"x11"x78" piece of mahogany(he thinks based on the grain) that was used in the original construction of a building from 1890. He's had it for years now and couldn't come up with a project for it so it's been given to me for my gun build. Tomorrow I'll make a cut to verify it's mahogany and then begin designing/building the blank. I'll try to get some pictures as progress is made

    It's great your grandpa supports what you do. I'm looking forward to the build. It's nice that the wood has history. I'm sure it's going to be a treasured piece of gear, so I recommend to use it with a float line.

    That's a massive chunk of wood man. You could probably get 5 blanks out of that.:thumbsup2:

    Dan- I will definitely use a floatline setup, like I said today I'll be in touch regarding components and insight. And eventually a shaft of some sort.


    Nate- it's massive and heavy. It does have a small split at one end that will limit some of it's use but it's still good for 4+. I really like the way it looks right now it's faded and gray but otherwise in really good shape which I think is cool especially since it's 120 years old

    I'm really looking forward to seeing this family wood develop into a gun,don't waste a bit.:thumbsup2:


    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.

    amazing...i too am really excited by an old piece of wood. wow, that is the gayest thing i have ever typed or said. hahahaha


    seriously though I am very excited for this project and look forward to watching it grow.

    i like to spear fish

    I finally found a break in the weather today to get this timber in the planer. Let me just say that it's massive, heavy and had me exhausted after a couple passes through the planer. It is now exactly 2" thick and 11.25" wide. After planing it, getting a good look at the grain and being able to smell it I believe it is cedar. I will post a pic if anyone can comment on what it looks like to them please do tell. I can say that it is very aromatic for 121 year old wood. (ok I'm iPhone illiterate so I'll have to upload a pic when I can get to my computer)

    Quote from Dan

    I suppose many woods can be used in seawater if they're fully encapsulated. But would cedar be a good choice for a speargun stock?


    Seems like it would be overly buoyant? Cedar is low on the density scale. Probably half that of a good teak. I would nail a few filets on it and lean up towards an open fire.

    Quote from mrmike

    Thanks for posting that pic Judah. I'm leaning away from cedar after some more thought. It's very heavy so possibly cypress?


    Was it kind of gray before you milled it. I have some very very old guns made from Cypress.


    It's said the Noah's ark was made from the durable wood.


    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.

    I'm sure its not mahogany after running it through the planer today and being able to see the grain. It is way too heavy to be cedar. I just threw it on my scale and its 47-48 pounds and it's 78"x11"x2"! If its pine its more red than any pine I've ever seen. Also I don't know what common building materials were in central florida in the 1890's but I know cypress exists in that area.


    Don Paul - It was very gray before planing. I'm adding a before picture now


    Edited once, last by mrmike ().

    It looks like that first pic Don. I'm going to try to talk to my grandpa more and get him some pictures now that the grain/colors are visible.


    Either way I think it will make a very good gun, some quick math tells me that its lighter than seawater. How should I cut the lams? If I cut them right off of one side I don't get as much of the beauty of the grain. I was thinking of standing it on its side and cutting into it and then laying it down and cutting the lams off(not sure if that makes sense). Lastly I was thinking I could incorporate the 1890 into it but I wasn't sure how (1911 pistol came to mind) then I thought I could make the overall length 1890mm, 74.41". Having never made a bluewater gun I'm not sure what size I should be trying to attain. I figure this would be for mahi, kingfish, maybe wahoo and a blackfin tuna if I get lucky.

    Edited once, last by mrmike ().

    Cypress was '' the wood of choice'' for Southern spearguns in the 40's and 50's.:thumbsup2:


    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.

    mike my best advice for you is to design the gun to be exactly what you want in a gun and ignore the number 1890, then get a few 1890 coins and inlay them into the stock as ballast.


    what a cool project

    i like to spear fish

    Based on the dimensions you gave, the volume is .99 cu. ft, so at 47-48 lb. the density is 47 or 48/ .99 = 47.5-48.5 Lb. / cu. ft. Teak is 45, mahogany is 35, cyprus is 35, white pine 27, red oak 45, white oak is 47, hickory is 40-55, pecan is 47. So, it's a hardwood, and if your numbers are correct, pretty dense- a lot denser than cypress, or mahogany. It could be teak, based on the density, but the grain just doesn't look all that much like teak. The density would match oak, and it would have been used as a building material. It's hard to tell from the pics, but a local lumber yard or building contractor could tell right away if it's oak. :confused2:

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