Introduction, Northern California Diver, OEM manufacturer

  • Hello all..... I have been diving the cold northern California coast since 1987.


    After losing my buddy's spear gun off my boat in the early 1990s, and frustration with high replacement costs I got into metal machining and model making.


    Got lots of different designs under my belt with lots of fancy CNC equipment and other tools. Still doing this type of work part time.


    Look forward to meeting new folks out there.


    Be safe Diving, and Keep your Powder dry.

  • Hey Don,


    your post got me on here, the history lesson about JBL buying out Voit. Voit dropped off the radar and was tying to figure out what happened to them. Do you recall what year that happened.


    -John (Linghunt)

  • Several years ago, I remember seeing your ebay auctions and thinking "that's a great idea to weld the clip in the top of the hoop stringer so it won't slide around!"
    A simple, but effective modification!


    Talked to few diving buddies and got commitment for 8 hoop stringers (including 3 for myself).


    Emailed you & asked if there was any price break for just buying several direct vs. one at a time off ebay.
    That was it... no haggling or lowballing... just a short simple question.


    You replied that you didn't want to deal with "my type" and would put me on your banned bidders list... :confused1:




    Having sold things on ebay & craigslist, I can empathize with the frustrations of dealing with shady/cheap buyers.
    However, I re-read my very short email to you and couldn't figure out how I managed to offend you.


    I was bummed because I really thought they were cool. :(






    Nevertheless, I admire the initiative and truly envy those of you who have the tools, knowledge, & skills to create new dive products. :thumbsup2:


  • FUZZ, sorry about that, I don't even remember the event, I have had trouble before with folks wasting my time to save a buck or two, then disappearing on me. I was probably having a bad hair day and was short with you. Once again sorry about the event and my humble apologies. What is your ebay name, I will unblock you. I have some 50 or so blocks in there.


    As far as stringers go, be happy to quote on volume and discounts. I'm out of stock currently need to make some up. I bought a Diacro bender a year or so ago and have been trying to design a fancier stringer. I've made a couple and was not really to happy with them. Need to make some hardened stops to give me a better bend radius.


    Josh has a picture of one of my stringers on his web page at Neptonic. He bought a few from me for a while, he's probably copied the design and has someone else making them for him. Been a few years now since he has asked for re-stock.


    I have some 15 folks waiting on me to come out with my new Pole spear design. Some of them would want to choke me out for the long delays. I keep getting huge CNC jobs, and Engineering contracts that pay really well making 1000s of parts and all this shuffles the dive projects to the back burner.

  • Welcome to the forum.


    I looked at the stringer, the trapped snap design makes all the sense in the world. However I wouldn't trust the snap Neptonics is using, it can open up on its own. At least it's not a safety issue as all it would mean is lost stringer and fish.

  • Welcome to the forum.


    I looked at the stringer, the trapped snap design makes all the sense in the world. However I wouldn't trust the snap Neptonics is using, it can open up on its own. At least it's not a safety issue as all it would mean is lost stringer and fish.


    We call those suicide clips. They like to grab kelp and line and such. Also keep in mind that hoop stringers open up after a certain weight of fish. 70-100lbs. Tough lesson to learn.


    Again welcome linghunt.



  • I completely understand the frustration... I've dealt with my fair share of idiots on ebay/CL as well. :crazy:
    Was just more confused than annoyed - glad we got to clear the air.


    It was early/mid 2000's and I was sharing an ebay account with my gf, so no worries on the blocking, I'm sure my current personal account isn't on the list. ;)


    I've seen a couple of your items around and nice quality work overall; looking forward to your new polespear design as well. :)



    BTW, that's a great position to be in - too much work coming in! :thumbsup2:

  • the strength of that Bronze clip is limited, they are just cost effective for most out there.


    Tensile strength of bronze or brass is about 10,000 psi with a 1/4" diameter, thats means a ~ 500 lb load before you start getting to the yield point. Calculation on a linear force, there is a curve to the clip so that works against that number.


    The ductility of the material is pretty good, it would probably bend and deform before a fracture failure.


    A 316L version is 4x more in cost.


    To get rid of the catching aspect, a locking stainless carabiner would prevent that, just more cost.


    Got me curious now, I might make a call the the Local Junior College and see if I can test a clip on their Tensile testing platform in their Metallurgy Lab, (I got an in with the instructor over there) would make a nice video loading of the Clip and see the Strength/Strain curve.


    Below is a different Clip I have used per customer request.




    Below is the standard cheap brass clip that everyone is referencing





    The Sharpe End isn't going to pull out, the S-Bend I pressing into the rod makes a solid connection, the point is angled down to not catch as easily. Anyhow, there are some pictures for ya.

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