Posts by Reefchief

Quote from Dan

If run a small lighter/torch like the one you've seen me use over the fresh epoxy, it will take out a lot of bubbles.

Thanks Dan,

I will probably use a heat gun. That should work well right?

Welp, No turning back now!

Gonna tape up a wall and pour this sucker tonight. Im considering pouring the whole mech and just cutting the trigger pocket out again with the router. I followed dans advice and hit the mech with a hammer a few times and now its .50 on the money. So it makes sense to mill out a clean pocket.

Im also considering pouring it with the pocket in there as a mould. My only concern there is the saran wrap i use to cover the mech making the pocket uneven. How does one cover a box in saran wrap smoothly?

Quote from Wishihadgills

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.

Thanks Xan,

Have you poured a track before? If so any tips from your experience? Ive been doing some research and it seems to be a tricky bubbly process.

So far the tips ive read are:

Warm up the blank a little before pouring the epoxy (not the epoxy) so the teak doesnt bubble when it warms
Build a wall and overpour the track to increase hydrostatic pressure, give a place for bubbles to end up, and ensure it doesnt fall below flush as it cures

Since im not doing enclosed Im not really worried as I can just re pour and recut if bubbles appear in the track. But hopefully I can get a good pour first time.

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.

Awesome! Hollywood really welcomed you back with open arms

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.

Me three! <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x"> 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.

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.

Do you have a decent scale? Would be interesting to find out how much they weigh. You can minus the 470g's of the pocket and find out for us all

Thanks for the review. Enjoy your new fins.

I was under the impression pathos pockets were not meant to be installed without glue ever and dont have mounting hardware otherwise?

I think the problems Dan speaks of stem not from improper mating of the foot pocket with the blade, but the absolutely minimal amount of material supporting an even properly glued in blade. Due to the tiny nature of the pathos footpocket rails.

Quote from sdeisen

the weight difference your noticing is the pathos footpockets, not the blades. The pathos pockets are a great deal lighter than any others

Not only that, but a number of "carbon" blades like leaderfins arent actually cf. They are instead fiberglass with carbon veneers. This might make them heavier although I am not sure that much heavier then a full carbon blade.

Make it strapped sheath like the rob allen one.

Now I wanna make a flashlight belt pocket for my speardiver torch.

Let me illustrate. Edit incoming shortly

Like this:

little flap keeps it secured and untangly but you could probably rip it out pretty quickly. Dans powerhead pouch works like that and is great.

Another thing to consider is doing a slotted pocket. If you make the needle go all the way in except for 3/4 of an inch you can leave a slit in the neoprene and use the slit to cover and hold the end in. Also might wanna tape it on and try the suit on before you glue it up to make sure it feels good.

Dang hank. he was goin for the femoral!. Glad he didnt get you too badly. It the wetsuit repairable? If not now I guess you have a shorty summer suit lol.

And as always a beautiful box full of fish. Lovely dogs. Thanks for posting.

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

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.

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.

I figured if its a problem I could build up a thickness of graphite colored epoxy on both sides. I was planning to epoxy the mech housing anyways. Would just need a few extra coats on the side.