Speardiver small ID bands are "da-bomb".
I have not tried it yet, but what is the deal about the SPEARDIVER rubber? is it a better formula? As far as I know there are only 2 places in the USA where rubber is made. So it's magic is in the extra rubber the small ID creates. I'd imagine in a long band that is quite a bit more Rubber
It seems like 2 x 5/8" on a 57" will get you plenty of power to send a 9/32" shaft about as far as it's going to go. Maybe check your rubber length calculations and get good rubber, and use shorter wishbones if possible.
I will wear one when I have the $$ also.
Nothing to do with diving, but I blacked out on dry land and it opened my eyes.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in bed having some toast and a glass of water. I had some water go down the wrong pipe and I choked. While running into the bathroom from my bedroom I blacked out cold and my face hit the bathroom floor. I woke up in a few seconds on my own with my wife screaming "wake up wake up" I figure if I can black out while eating toast, I can black out in the sea.
But how will you ever load it with all the bands flopping around? And you have lost so much power by not having the rubber go through a band slot. Why not just make it a roller also!!!!!;)
It looks great Mike. I am sure the user will love it!!!!! 
Mike, no dowels.
I did rough up and created some divots in the faces before I laminated on.
Dan,
Surform tools are great for fast removal. Stanley makes them, Home Depot or Ace. The trick is to know when to stops and switch to a tool that removes less before it's too late. The are like cheese graders.... don't get carried away, it's easy to go too far. ROUGH MATERIAL REMOVAL ONLY. I have been using these since college wood shop.
One thing I like them on is end grain.
this one is a favorite:
and this one
but with the half round. here is where I used the half round(it's more convex not half round) on the end grain to get a shape I wanted.
i like seeing how you used the wood rasp
When I shape wood I use whatever tool is best or available for what I want to accomplish. These are called Surform tools. I have short ones, long ones, convex ones, full round and flat. Surform - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I use just about my full box of tools when shaping wood. Spokeshaves, block planes, Surforms, 60 grit sand paper, disc sanders and belt sanders. whatever works
Some girl in FL just won this gun we built. Gonna be sad to ship it out.
50" tip to butt
Neptonics Reef Mech
2 x 5/8" bands
5/16" shaft
Sturgill AR mid-handle
all Teak, Oil finish
Another point you missed is that at a given length a one band roller will not shoot any better than the same length gun with two bands. Therein lies the hype.
I have not got to fire a roller yet. But as a design challenge they are fascinating devices.
In my humble opinion, a multi band roller is kind of silly. BUT, a single band, very short gun has a great potential to be the perfect weapon for many. Halibut gun, in the surfline, at night, poor viz. Really nice to have a short ass gun with only one band to load.....
Now, converting a cheap pipe gun with a roller muzzle add on, that seems like a bad idea. I don't know why anyone would do that.
I can't wait to get a roller. Fad, Hype, propaganda... whatever. It looks fun.
Glad you are liking it. I'd love to shoot one. I got to talk to Chris in detail about these guns at Fred Hall. He was so kind to share his thought process of the design. You will notice the butt is injection molded plastic, which means he plans to sell a ton of them. And I like his use of hand formed sheet metal with the wood barrel.
I don't agree on the handle shape though, I'd have to remove some of the sharp corners and flat faces.
Enjoy!
I got to speak with Jason, owner of Impaler on the phone the other day. The guy has lots of fish under his belt and is super passionate about spearfishing. He dives alot!!! and has been through lots of gear. I'd love to fire one of his guns.
I was up a 6:00 hiding Easter eggs for the neighborhood. Then up to Long Beach for mom and dads brunch and egg hunt. Then fountain valley for in laws dinner and another egg hunt. What a load of candy. Happy Easter all
you call that a knot? Now here's a knot.
Asian Long-Line Net
Display MoreDefinitely on that Don. A week after I solidified the plans the blank was on my doorstep. Had it not been for woodguy id probably be staring at a blank hanging to dry not a finished gun. And the end result wouldnt even be as nice.
Went and ballasted the gun today. For it to sink slowly and evenly it takes 1.1 lbs of lead, mostly in the front of the gun.
To hold 11.25 ounces in the front I plan a slot 8 x 0.5 x 0.5
For the back I plan to hold the 5.25 ounces in a 3 x 5/8 hole. drilled in the back center.
That seems about right. the 55's and 57's we have build are around 16 ounces of lead. I do have some younger wood in my stockpile though.
Anyone ever get to use one of the Kingfisher spearguns? They have some innovative features, and I have an opportunity to get a pair of them.
Just wondering how they look in person, how they operate and how the good execution is.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kingfisher-spearguns/161131650579172?id=161131650579172&sk=info
I have some really exciting variations on this plate in the works. This one was a compromise=1 PART, EASY TO CNC, AND EASY TO INSTALL. It will perform its job well, then the fun will begin.
Display Moresomeone there knows his way around the shop, very nice work.
after making all sorts of different guns i come back to the most basic things like balance, shape and simplicity. the band alignment thing gets people to do all sort of things, yours is very unique, but you give up power with any design that cuts length off the bands. think about it, a 110cm gun is more powerful than a 100cm, by cutting the bands in order to put them on a muzzle so they're aligned with the shaft you lose several inches of rubber that you would normally have if they were going through a regular band slot. sure with five bands you have some power to spare but.... imho, a better choice would have been a simple band elevator and a band slot.
the other observation i have is the amount of wood above the handle, a friends sea-sniper cracked in that area on the last trip i went on.
no nitpicking, just constructive criticism based on my little experience.
again, very nice work and it's great to see something new.
Steve, Thanks so much. That means a great deal coming from you.
Slot + Band Elevator:
You know, this is a subject I have been pondering for some time. And with a wood gun, it is really really silly to argue against a typical band slot. The slot is king, no doubt. I will use the slot in every single gun up to 4 bands. But 5-6 bands.... any gun I have seen in this range with a slot is just a big messy pile of rubber all fighting for the same space.
Power, has anyone made power measurements on a barrel with a band elevator compared to one with no elevator? Wild guess..... power is lost with an elevator introduced. Doesn't the elevator make friction on the bands, and reduce stretch? The way to make an elevator would be to have a rolling member on the elevator. But how wants to load up a rolling member in slat water with 5-6 bands? I don't.
"the other observation i have is the amount of wood above the handle, a friends sea-sniper cracked in that area on the last trip i went on." Well that is scary. Did it come apart or just crack? I've got a much larger cross section in that area than a Sea Sniper. I'll study that some more.
Thanks Steve!!!!!!
Don,
Given the time crunch, it wasn't a very through test. It would not be a great idea to be at full load in the surf line. But I did get 3 bands on and it fired level with "zero" recoil. I could have fired one handed no issue at 3 bands.I would not be surprised if the test pilot reports back favorably at full power.
Well done. It amazes me how poor the dive socks are from the big players.
Innovation and quality go a long way in my book. Good luck with those.
Awesome idea!!! You guys have really pushed the boundaries out
Any pics of it loaded
Not yet, but it looked sweet. If I had one change to make I would tuck the outer(5th) band in more between the two rows. The order in loading is specific, and took some figuring out.
