Posts by tufual

    Good day guys, this is just a quick little project i did this evening that i've actually been wanting to do for a long time. Even tho i've got a couple dive knives i've always really loved the cheap little Rapala bait knives that most of use have probably seen and i've always wanted it as a dive knife. So i just made a quick belt sheath for it and thinned the edge at the tip for easier dispatching of fish. Thought it was a nice little project so i'm sharing.





    My current setup is a RA 110 roller with a 150 cm long 7mm shaft, its powered by 14mm primeline bands @ 380%. Originally I had a 7.5mm shaft but i kept missing medium range "easy shots", I figured it was due to low shaft speed so I replaced the shaft with a 7mm and the changes were remarkable!!

    A good friend of mine started off exactly with your first setup and then switched to your new setup a while now. lol..the 7mm with 14mm primeline runs well on the ra rollors.

    Oh to be honest i didn't know they make a 7.5mm flopper....My local Rob Allen dealer says that's how RA makes them. I would much prefer to use a 7.5mm flopper instead of them being notched. Really happy to know that's an option.

    Thanks Dan..Thats the same issue i have faced that stops me...but it does make custom shafts lengths difficult with RA shafts as much as i love them, especially with the 7.5mm as they have flat spots ground in for the flopper.

    Nice account Dan! Good job on your rigging and Mono...RA shafts are tough! I know you must have put some strength into that for it to break...Have you tried drilling a new flopper hole to save the shaft (maybe for a shorter gun)...I recently cut down a JBL 9/32 shaft and drilled a new hole...would love to know if you ever successfully drilled an RA shaft.

    A couple months back i bought a simple five prong pole spear locally. Nothing fancy, just a simple pole spear (it was imported buy a local guy under the name "Vudu Spearfishing" but it look chinese). I added a diy grip kit from marine heat shrink and o-rings then placed o-ring between each joint (made a metallic noise when firing) and i upgraded the band. The only thing i wanted to change further was a flopper tip so i can go after grouper and snapper so i did that today. I couldn't just buy a tip as its an odd 5/16 thread (or at least that's the closest i found) So i bought a small bolt , made a small flopper from stainless steel sheet metal and used an off cut from a long spear i had cut down to fit the 103cm speargun i built recently (i would have made the tip longer if the off cut was longer). Also drilled a new flopper hole closer to the tip and installed it. The hardest part of this build is tig welding the stainless bolt and spear shaft together. Wish i took pics while i was making it but all i have is of the finished product.

    I am incredibly sorry to hear he has passed. This is a great loss to the entire sport but i am especially sorry to hear you lost your friend Don. All my condolences to you :(.

    Hey Pete. Yep was thinking about that but wasn't feeling to drill it to be honest. Dan i haven't tried it yet. Will dive wednesday and let you know how it goes. Yep its no fault of the gun, really can't complain about it , just figured i'd try to reduce it and see how it goes.

    Did a minor modification to my RA Tuna 110 today. This speargun works great and i have no major complaints. One of the minor issues i have with it however is the collection of salt water it stores after each dive. The RA barrel has barrel plugs which seals well but there is some space between the respective barrel plugs and the muzzle and handle as well as the empty spaces built into the plastic components. These spaces are probably just for materials / weight savings. The issue however is the trapping of salt water, i would wash the entire speargun THOROUGHLY with fresh water but as i hang the speargun for storage it would VERY slowly drip water for days, salt crystals would also form around the seams of aluminium and plastic which would promote corrosion especially on one spot of the shaft, if the shaft was stored on the barrel (not something i do often). So i took apart the speargun and cleaned it thoroughly and filled the spaces with candle wax. I just held a lit candle upside down to fill the gaps (keep in mind to take measurements to ensure you don't over fill the gaps and thereby hindering assembly). This would also need to be done differently if you use a ballasting weight. Overall i added about 50g of wax, which isn't much weight at all. I also added a small amount of anti seize paste on the screws that thread into aluminum as they're dissimilar metals.

    Great synopsis Pete! The allure of cheap foreign manufacturing has destroyed many companies and even industries. That's why i think customer education is key, the purchasing power of the consumer is still king, granted it is not absolute as some suppliers leave you no practical choice as a consumer. This is why i like this forum, it can give those who are otherwise not exposed the information they need before spending hard earned money and especially towards their safety.

    Thanks Dan...I hasn't really warped. Its the accuracy of my tools . The )0.75mm deviation was there as i cut the track and you can't really see it, its only seen when i use a tight string and a caliper to measure but i was wondering if that's an allowable tolerance. I checked my RA Tuna 110 and it has about 0.5mm deviation in the horizontal and 1.5mm on the vertical and it shoots great. I haven't been able to test mine with the lockdown in effect but will try as soon as its lifted. But i think i'll change up my set up a bit in the future to see if i can get that variation reduced.

    Good day guys. I've got a question. I was examining my recent gun builds and from my measurements i seem to have about 0.75mm of deviation on my tracks . Is this considered normal? When do you consider a stock or track wrapped? Also what level of tolerance has been experienced on manufactures spearguns?