My first carbon wrapped mid handle

    I am a very fortunate bloke. I have met a lot of genuine and remarkable people in the spearing community.
    One such bloke is Daniel Mann, a fellow hobby gun builder. He makes some beautiful guns.


    I gave Daniel a call one afternoon to ask a few quick questions. An hour later and my head full of ideas and inspiration I searched the net and bought a vacuum bagging equipment and some carbon fibre.


    This is my very first project with carbon and with a few minor setbacks it has turned out OK. I struggled with getting the weave straight and the tappers were a little challenging. I have learned a lot and I am reasonably happy with this one though I have already started to wrap a longer one.






    Good on ya, nice work mate. Nothing like the high of self achievement and quality, sparked by inspiration from another craftsmen. :toast::toast:


    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.

    She looks amazing!
    Start a thread on how you did it and what you learned if you can. I am sure we would all love that read.

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

    :thumbsup2:

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

    I was not prepared for so many responses. Thank you all for your kind words.


    I have a few more ready to wrap so I will take some photos and do a bit of a how to but I must warn you, I am no expert. This gun caused me to walk away for a few nights as I made some silly mistakes and it frustrated me.


    Two lessons learnt were to drill out the mech pins after it was wrapped and to lock my garage door as my dog can open it allowing air and dust to circulate. I had to sand it back and refinish it.:nono:


    Not perfect but good enough to test with and get the next ones better (I hope).

    Quote from ladvr

    Looks great.


    Is this carbon fiber over wood? Is it adding a structural element or is it just cosmetic. Good stuff!:toast:


    The core is timber. The carbon definitely adds to the structural integrity though in this case it was not needed.


    This system will allow me (in time) to make much thinner guns. I am just testing the waters and making sure the processes I am using work to my satisfaction.

    Quote from onkelhedde

    Wow:@ Flawless finish Darren.
    Is this finish right out of the vacuum bag?
    Now you have got me started - I want a vacuum system!


    /Henrik



    G'day Henrik


    Unfortunately it is not quite flawless, there are a few small imperfections. I could sand and re-coat but I am too keen to get it wet and test it out.


    Regarding the out of bag finish, it looks like this:



    4 coats of finish epoxy and all the hollows are filled nicely If you are only planning to do a couple of guns, this is an expensive way to go. But as you would know, its not about the money, it the thrill of crafting something that you are passionate about.

    Nice work Darren. Very tidy. You are the perfectionist though so I'm sure the next will be even better haha


    I've been very tempted to buy a vac bag setup but I'm still a sucker for good looking timber with a nice finish ;)


    I think you'll be surprised how thin you can go. I "hand" wrapped a gun with 4 layers of carbon ages ago. The belly of the wood stock (if I removed the wood ridges for the shaft) worked out to be 18mm thick (including carbon)! Total height with the rails was maybe 23-24mm thru 80% of the gun. I did compensate by making the stock 50mm wide. No flex running a super tight 18mm or firm twin 14mm rubber on that thing.
    Brook

    Quote from Teaspoon shallow

    Thanks Brook.


    18mm is very thin but it does not surprise me after seeing the added strength the carbon provided.
    Have you got any photos?


    Sorry mate I didn't see this reply. I won't take away from your thread and will start a new one...

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