Posts by diverdave

maybe I got a little crazy with the "push" :@:laughing:

Thanks guys!

Yeah it was a pretty good day, the gun shot very true and didn't jump. I guess the 2.5lbs of lead helped!
The fish was shallow as is pretty common for wahoo i guess (at least around Cabo) and at first I thought it was small and I wasn't too interested. This probably made the fish MORE interested in me. Like women a bit. Eventually i decided to shoot. I guess it was farther away and bigger than I thought in the clear blue open water. I let it fight my small hard float for a few minutes and it pulled it down 30-40 ft many times for a while. Eventually it tired and I pulled it up slowly hoping not to tear the fish off. Turned out to be a solid shot, the exit was low belly (see pic) but the entrance was higher up and made it solid. Estimated 40-45lbs. Good day!

Well it's not a tuna, but first trigger pull was a success!!

Looks nice man! I've been thinking a lot about the separate band holes like you did. I like the look but thought you lose effective length by moving the 2 first bands closer to the back than really needed. A slot gets all bands furthest forward. Regardless, I'm thinking of doing the 3-hole as well, but wonder your thoughts on the matter.

I like your band guides too :thumbsup2:

Thanks guys! Appreciate the advice along the way...
Taking her to Cabo in Nov and NZ in January! Hopefully it performs!

Also, if anyone needs a blank made let me know! Been working on more recently...

Well that was too much fun!!! Here is the final rigged gun in a 4-band config.

I managed to get 2lbs under the track (mostly forward)! This seems about right. I might have to fine tune with a little bit more since i tested with 4 bands. I want to make sure it still sinks with 5 bands. So far, so good!

Wow I was surprised during the first buoyancy test last night! I went out with 1.5lbs of lead thinking that would be more than enough. Not the case, gotta find more and go back to the harbor. She's a fatty for sure!!:@

interesting! I will try a sample piece next time. And the super glue doesn't break down over time in the water/sun etc? Thanks for the tip!

I did a pull test with the same rubber and same epoxy on a cross section scrap of the stock, with and without light sanding (rubber and stock) and the sanded side was noticeably stronger when i ripped it apart. Makes sense.

I put on the butt pad with the same west systems epoxy i used on the laminate. I did a sample test before and it seemed to work really well. Anyone have a preference for butt pad glue?

...

Thanks guys!

So, I just went for it and really like the angle on the top. Here are a few pics of the shaping work...

Welcome!

Yeah this is a big tank of a gun for Tuna, 2x3 inches. I already have a nice 130 and 150 with small shafts for general fishing.

Hesitation? Only that I want as much mass as possible in this gun. I have to trade mass for shape/style/hydrodynamics...

I'm thinking of something like this for the stock shape. Not crazy about removing so much off the top though.

Silentstoning, I should clarify...It's technically designed for 4x 5/8" bands on an 11/32" shaft (which is pretty standard, sea sniper does that too), but I cut the slot a bit bigger in case i want to play around with 5 bands or in case i ever want to go up to a 3/8" shaft. I've heard with enclosed track you can push the power a bit more.

Maybe after missing the BFT last week I'm taking it out on my design hahaha!

I'm curious about these small ID bands still. I heard from a guy using them that they wear much faster around the knot because the knot pushes out on the rubber more. Who knows, maybe he had some bad rubber.

Post some pics!

Thanks for the advice!!
I might try to make it deeper with some rounding curves mostly near the top of the riser to allow the bands to pull in another 1/4" maybe. Those ramps now are 1/2" deep. My concern was that i was weakening that area when you consider the track cuts down almost 0.6", then the band slot, and the riser ramps...It's all making the area weak. Maybe it's still plenty strong though, hard to tell. Planning 5x 5/8" bands, pretty high force. I'll revisit the angle too. I can always go more shallow!

Does anyone have advice on band elevator features like I attempted here? I just picked an angle that looked about right, it ended up around 18 degrees. I'm wondering what others have tried and what results they got...too steep, too shallow....

I'm hoping the bands will lay over one another and not roll off.

I really wish I had this gun ready this past weekend...Got into some schools of Blue Fin offshore and they were keeping their distance! Epic day though...

So with that, I made some major cuts on the gun, here are the pics from the weekend. Enjoy

Well I think the blank has aged long enough! I worked on the trigger mech last night with pretty good success.