Posts by Peripatetic

After months of waiting I finally ordered the parts to assemble a new 100cm euro gun. I glued up a stock several months ago, but had a router accident (with the stock) while doing the final roundover, so I left it hanging.

The stock makes a dip where the mech sits as the router bit dropped in to the mech mortise and took off two much wood. The mech will sit a little high, but I should still have enough material for the line release mortise. I will shoot it as is for a while, but may glue up a new stock and re-use the parts.

Pictures will follow

I have had a few months to hunt with the gun now. Originally I started with the bands at 300% stretch, but have shortened them till I now have 350%. With three bands and a double wrap the shaft now pulls the breakaway every time, so I will either be using two bands, or adding a wrap.

The gun (115cm) seems to be better suited to light blue water than it is to reef hunting. With that much power it could bang up a shaft pretty easily, and shafts are expensive and hard to get in Mexico.

My next gun will be a 100cm, two band gun for reef use.

Nice way to start off. That's a good first wahoo

Here are a few shots of the laminated blank. The grain of the Tzalam really pops with a few coats of epoxy

The blank has been hanging for almost two weeks now and is still dead straight. I will pick up the parts on a ski trip to Colorado in a couple of weeks and get this thing done!:thumbsup2:

Welcome

I lived in Wyoming for 20 years and did a fair bit of spearfishing during those cold winters. The cold just makes warm water, and travel, more inviting.

Scott

The results of my first build with this combination of Tzalam and Satine were very satisfactory: I ended up with a well balanced gun with no ballasting, which shoots like a laser. Since I had some more of this wood laying around I glued up another blank. I also have a couple of unused 5/16" shafts from an AB Biller gun which started to accidentally discharge every couple of minutes. Biller eventually replaced the faulty trigger mech. but now I don't trust the gun, so I will use the shafts in a new gun.

This time I started out by by cutting 7/8" x 1 1/2" inch rips of Tzalam, which I then ripped in half, then planed to 5/16" x 1 1/2". I glued 7 strips with West Systems epoxy, and added a 1/2" top sheet of Satine. After cleaning up the blank it had a 1/32" bow to it, so I planed it flat, then took it down to 1 15/16" X 2". The finished product will be reduced in height after the epoxy has a couple more weeks to fully cure.

My target is a 100 cm euro style gun with a shallow open track.

Bienvenidos Alex

I am very pleased with the results of my initial testing. During the last two weeks I finally got to test my new gun.

I had done no ballasting, as the ocean is several hours away, so I was happy to see that the gun sank, tip slightly down, with the shaft in, and floated without the shaft. The combination of Tzalam and Satine seems to be a perfect blend. The bands could be a little shorter, but three 5/8 bands was plenty of power for a double wrap.

Much of the trip was spent line fishing. We won largest fish in the San Juan de Alima Torneo de Pesca with a 98.5k Blue Marlin. I saw few fish on my few dives with the gun, but shot a nice Cabrilla (Tigre), and a perfect head shot on a trigger at 15'. I look forward to further testing

I've been sitting here for a couple of weeks now, just watching epoxy cure. Five more days and I can put this gun to the test.:)

Bienvenidos

Yo Tambien Marco

I am headed to the coast for ten days over Xmas break and plan to test it out.

Here are a few pics of the finished gun with Dutchman highlights

Up till now I have mostly used mid handle guns, so when I installed the anchor for my breakaway snubber I placed it on the right side of the gun (I'm rt. handed). When I rigged up the gun I immediately realized that the shooting line would foul pretty much every shot.

I removed the anchor and replaced it on the bottom of the gun where the shooting line would run clear. I cut another small piece of Tzalam and made a Dutchman which came out nice. The color is a bit off but like they say in construction " Its not a mistake; its a design feature". Now I have a nice accent on the gun instead of a boring, perfect, stock.

I'll post a few more pics later

Slightly over two months later I finally received the replacement mechanism. If this was my only gun I would have been screwed.Ironically: During the time I waited, I ordered parts for a gun build from the US, laminated a blank, and built a gun with the parts that arrived in three days. The Biller gun in question now takes a back shelf, and will only be used as a backup, or loaner gun.

Thanks

I am pretty pleased with the results and am looking forward to hunting with it.

I have been an archer my whole life, and have been building wooden bows for years, now its time to apply that to spearfishing:thumbsup2:

Four coats of epoxy and the gun is pretty much ready to go. I just need to wait for the epoxy to full cure, add a loading pad and tie up some bands

Getting close. I applied a 3rd coat of epoxy this morning. I will let it cure for a few days, then wet sad the track with 600gr paper. Should be ready to go in a week.

I am already planing my next build. I have 2-54' shafts that need a gun to drive them.

Nice fish. I wish I could get out more. Especially now that the water is starting to cool off and the pelagics are starting to show. Oh well, I have ten days at the beach starting on xmas day, until then I just have to dream

Scary stuff. Did you take on much water?