South Florida Bluewater Build.

    So yeah, I definitely made the pocket a little too wide. Going to pour/paint a small black epoxy strip in each side of the mech. Should look good and work good. At least I didnt mess up the track. Dans mech will look like jewelry in a black satin box. :thumbsup2:

    Edited 2 times, last by Reefchief ().

    Looking good. That first gun will always be special, and the first fish you kill with it will be the best fish you ever tasted. :toast2: What is the exact width of the mech you're using? Thought they were pretty much all .5" now.

    "I may not end up tapering the gun and recessing the handle as I expected. With the blanks 2.5 x 1.25 profile I am not sure I will have as much height to work with as I originally planned."- ReefChief


    Raising the handle will help reduce muzzle flip more than almost anything else you can do to a gun (except maybe adding more mass at the muzzle), and with the handle that far back, won't really weaken the gun, so I would recomment raising the handle, even if it's not as much as you were hoping for. It's more effort, but you won't regret it.


    Im not sure from your statement whether you were going to recess the handle frame into the bottom of the blank, but it isn't just about aesthetics, however, since it allows the frame to transmit load directly to the wood instead of depending on 4 - #8 screws to carry all of the load from the recoil. The screws should just hold the handle in place. A nice fitting recess, especially on the front of the frame (try to stay focussed here :laughing:) will transfer the load from the gun to the handle the way it should, and not depend entirely on the screws. On a long, fairly powerful gun like this, I wouldn't consider not doing it.

    The mech ends up measuring just a bit over .5. So I had to widen my hole a little bit. I was using the chisel and slipped and cut a small chunk out of the side. I ended up needing to take 1/32 off of both sides near the top to keep the pockets top nice and square.


    Yes I definitely plan to route a recess. The handle will be recessed in that it will be routed into the body of the gun to share the load as you mentioned.


    I was talking about as you said raising the handle. In the end Ill probably not raise the handle after all. With the wider shorter blank I like it not raised. And I really like how much of the line release and trigger sticks out of the gun as is.


    Thanks for the tips and suggestions guys.

    As you can see in the pic above, the mech should measure exactly 0.5" right through. Mark, please bring me your mech, I want to measure it and make sure the casing is square. It's possible that the bottom of the casing is slightly flared out/wasn't bent perfectly, in this case a smack with a hammer will get it square.

    Dan pointed out to me. The mech just needed to be squared a little bit more. I could have saved myself the trouble if I had just bent it a smidgen to .50. A few smacks with a hammer and thats it.


    I guess I was just too excited to flex my chisel skills :rolleyes1:

    Did some more work tonight. Finished cutting the line release and trigger slots, cut the track 1/32 deeper so the spear and mech mate perfectly. And created a wooden template so I can use a router to quickly form both handle sides. Im going to use the end of the gun I cut off so the handles are going to have a cool vertical lamination.


    Me three! :D Dan you were right that the pocket you need to cut for the BLR is quite a bit trickier then the TLR, since the line release actually goes infront of the pocket when it swings up . Same with the trigger, not being a reverse mech the slot had to extend past the pocket. That said I think I did a decent job with the dremel.


    Im really excited for how clean the wraps are going to look because of the bottom line release. And how my breakaway will be ambidextrous.


    Quote from Marco

    It is coming out nice. Won't you recess the handle?


    Yes thats coming next. Going to use the router to recess the handle flush with the wood. Planning to make quick fences on all sides to act as guides for the routing.

    Quote from Reefchief

    Dan pointed out to me. The mech just needed to be squared a little bit more. I could have saved myself the trouble if I had just bent it a smidgen to .50. A few smacks with a hammer and thats it.


    I guess I was just too excited to flex my chisel skills :rolleyes1:


    I like the unintended shout out to the little smidgen.

    i like to spear fish

    Lol I didn't even realize.


    Decided I'm going to do a poured epoxy track. I plan to cut a square Half inch hole, overpour black epoxy, recut the track, and then clean the face with a flat bit.


    Does anyone know if i can use a normal ball mill to cut epoxy? It won't be enclosed its .25 deep so I can make multiple passes.

    You can use a regular ball mill. The epoxy isn't that different from wood when working with it. I would use a slower speed and make sure the bit doesn't clog. Try a 12" pass then clear the bit and repeat.

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