tiger wood is my favorite wood for spearguns...my first gun build was all tigerwood and its still my alltime favorite/go to gun. perfect density and balance with no balasting! A good epoxy/clear coat finish and the wood only looks better with age and light exposure.
good choice my friend
anyone ever checked out a legacy ornamental mill in person? Looks like it might be a useful gun building tool with the long bed and multiple axis cutting enclosed tracks and such might become much easier than using a milling machine with a 30'' travel. Never seen one in person though.
I have a lot of hawaiian sling experience and I generally stick with the 5/16 shaft and band size really doesn't matter as long as u can pull it straight back. Looking at ur pics and shaft whip I would guess ur bending the shaft in the shooter when pulled back across ur chest. This will cause lots of shaft whip. But from experience I suggest 5/16 shaft with a flopper 1 inch from tip. Ive seen plenty of great penetrating shots with Bahamians using the worst looking bands and dullest points imaginable. Usually no floppers
even better to warm the piece to be coated rather than the epoxy itself as it cures much quicker if you heat the epoxy. put your gun in a small room/closet etc with a space heater or something. youd be amazed how well the epoxy flows onto something warm. As for the clear over the epoxy your on the right track with the ppg clear. it does much better than a wood grade urathane or polyurathane as they just dont get hard enough to protect against scratching etc..
finally got to go diving this weekend and test the new gun on some fish. it did great as you can see....
also a picture of my baby trinity who will be freediving in the near future. Future world champion.
The gun is more accurate and quite and deadly than i ever imagined. with 2 x 16mm bands its does great all the way to full range about 33ft. The only thing i feel or hear when firing is the trigger mech click open.
or take tin man up on his offer for a new black muzzle and have the outer tollerance opened up. but hot water is definatly good for washing anything that touches salt water.
cant beat salt water but man it can screw up man made shit.
maybe a hot water soak, but after salt crystalizes it takes more than just cold or mild warm water to break it down. this is why it is really pointless to flush your boat motor after it has cooled down. Jeff may have allready fixed problem when he adjusted tollerances towards outside portion of delrin muzzle. only real way to keep salt out is to use some sort or sealer/grease, especially on a porous material like delrin.
ALSO: the portion of the delrin which spike is installed is the most porous part of the stock which was used. its called centerline porosity and its a huge problem with some polymer acetals like delrin
ALSO: Clears are more porous than blacks because the fillers used to dye the material bond to the polymers filling voids during the cooling process.
im on with don paul about salt crystal build up causing stress at the joint. I am a marine mechanic by trade and i know what kind of stress a little salt buildup can put on something. saltwater has an incredible tendency for getting into the tighest of areas and causing issues. just got done torching a few water pump bolts to remove due to salt.
im definately not a slip tip guy either as i have lost a few soft flesh fish(aka COBIA) due to the small diameter of the slip tip line cutting thru the fish. I always shoot a 7.5mm large flopper shaft now on any fish im hunting. I think the slip tip does more for keeping your shaft from getting bent, but its very rare for a fish to bend one of the spring steel shafts ive been using for a few years. In general i always try to take a quartered away shot just behind the gill plate. I use home made tube style float lines when theres no current or bad structure to get hung in, and i use a reel around heavy structure, boat traffic, high current/ wind. This is just my setup though and ive never hunted kelp or west coast, but works great for what i do.
By middle of summer i hardly ever have any shaft hole in my fillets if you get my point.
End mill + Neptonics tuna = perfection in minutes
nice fish! got lots of aj's around already in NC just waiting on the Cobia to show. Should be any day now.
This gun will consistently shoot 4inch groups @600 yards if your capable of shooting it well.
for sale, 2010 .308 Remington 5R-Milspec, Perfect condition, INCLUDES: Konus Pro 8-32x52 Tactical Mildot scope, +20MOA cant solid tactical base with heavy duty rings, Tactical oversized bolt knob, Pelican case with custom cut foam, NEW 35mw laser designator 40mm with windage elevation mounts for scope. also 1500yard nikon rangefinder, Harris bipod, EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR LONG RANGE SHOOTING! this gun shoots extremely good. will hold -1/2 MOA groups consistantly. only around 150 rounds put thru gun. Barrel break is was done properly. Really hate to sell but i need the money for medical bills. Price is FIRM at $2250 for everything. this is a great deal as i have over 3400 dollars invested in this machine. will separate laser designator and rangefinder and sell gun with scope and case for 1650$. I also have a kestrel windmeter, Pro Chrono chronograph, custom bore guide and various other stuff for long range shooting if your interested in purchasing with rifle.
but man did the finish look alot deeper with just 3 coats of west before blocking and urethane
tigerwood changes contrast as it absorbs uv light. the darks get alot darker and the lights stay kind of nuetral. this gun was exposed to about 20days of normal uv before i epoxy/urathaned it and it really darkened up well. should stay about same now as i have 7-8 coats of high uv filtering varnish on it.
a few more
cant wait to get this thing in the water. Unfortunatly weather looks terrible this weekend in NC. But grouper season opens may 1st!
Also i would highly recommend building with tigerwood. this build required absolutely no ballasting and sinks level with shaft and floats without. center of gravity is just forward of handle when in 28% seawater. the wood is very waxy though and requires special treatment when laminating. but the biggest reason to build with tigerwood low $ board/ft and absolute beauty...
will post some more pics tomorrow when i figure out how to resize
this is my first gun build. Just finished it yesterday. SPECS: tigerwood 6 lams, epoxy/graphite enclosed track neptonics tuna trigger, ar15 handle, mako 7.5mm shaft 67inches
I like the 7.5 mm or 5/16 shafts you can buy in governors harbor. But they are not hardened stainless. I had a big black grouper bend one into a u shape once. I am starting to build my own guns and maybe some shafts for the hawiian sling too. You can get good quality 17-4 hardened stainless stock from mcmaster carr. I also think some cheaper spring steel shafts like mako sells could be great without tabs or notches
