Posts by mrmike

Blank is now hanging check back next month. Dan if you could PM or call me when you have the handle frames in I would appreciate it.

Congrats hau! I don't understand the logic behind no races during the nicest weather of the season.

I think my horizontal lam will be on the bottom, I will plane it to get the desired specs when its all glued.

WishIhadgills - found out today the table saw is inop. had to come up with an alternate means of squaring and it worked surprisingly well

Quote from LunkerBuster

man that is some beauiful wood..I hope you do a lot of shaping of this blank to reveal the awesome geometries contained within.

HAHA I would love to but honestly I'm a bit intimidated. Being my first gun build its nerve-wrecking to do anything to it. I plan on doing some shaping because I want it to be a rear handled bluewater gun. I need it to be somewhat streamlined so that I can swing it side to side to track but I prefer a gun to be taller than wide for carrying purposes while I'm swimming with it, because unfortunately I spend more time carrying my gun than I do tracking. Hopefully I can incorporate everything fairly well. AND if I screw up I've got enough wood for at least 3 more tries <img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin">

The good news is that my jig seems to have worked surprisingly well. I made a couple passes on both sides to square it up, it is now 1 7/16"w x 1 15/16"t without the top horizontal lam. Which should take it to 2 3/8"t. I'm starting to think that the top lam is unnecessary/overkill. I can't imagine swinging something that size through the water. hmmm, what does everyone think?

I'm currently experiencing a rain delay so I thought I'd update a little on my progress. As Judah posted I glued and clamped all the vertical lams the other day. Today I pulled the clamps off, pulled it away from the foil and wanted to get it squared up so I could glue the horizontal lam on before squaring it one last time before hanging it up for a month. Now armed with only a planer I've been trying to come up with a way to make something square. I started thinking about a jointer and to my understanding (its been 8 years or so since I used one in high school) is that a jointer makes cuts perpendicular to the fence. perfect for squaring something if you have a flat side. My planer has given me 2 flat sides so I had to try to come up with a way to turn my planer into a jointer so-to-speak. here is a picture of what I came up with: (again this is to get it roughly square so I can glue the horizontal lam on, if it proves too inaccurate I will go to a cabinet shop and have them square it for me after it hangs for a month)

Basically I took a piece of 1x6 and planed it flat then using steel angle i made a channel that the blank sits into. In theory no matter how un-square the top/bottom are the blank should be held square because its held tightly in place by the steel walls. I checked it as best I could with a carpenters square and it looks good (again this isn't the final squaring). When the rain subsides I will run this entire setup through the planer and, again in theory, it should plane the top surface square with the sides. I'll post more after I'm done on the results.

Also wanted to post this picture showing the end grain of the wood I'm using *I turned the lam on the left before gluing to keep the chevron pattern*

Judah I'm down to try it out this year. I occasionally see them while I'm lobstering but never stick my hands in after them.

Got the blank all glued up last night after work. West systems 105 was used, I'll let it cure for several days and then true it before hanging it up for the next month. Dan I'll be collecting parts in the meantime, do you have the handle frames with the built in trigger guards in stock?

This morning I didn't have much time but I was able to get all 5 lams planed to 7/16", I may cut a 6th to get the blank back to 2" wide but we'll see. Right now its massive looking leaning against my wall at 1 3/4" x 2 7/16" x 78". I will pick up epoxy on friday after work and hopefully get this thing glued up. Whatever this wood is I really like the grain and workability thus far.

Had to quit working on it early to go skydiving.

I have never been a member of that site(and never want to be), before I ever joined this site all I heard about SB was bad. All of you guys keep me reminded why I never joined over there and so I THANK YOU all for saving me from the headache. I can say that the only times I go there are when google searches for gun builds land me there. At which time I glance at pictures and only read specs from the OP.

Judah, I have been able to touch tarpon up here where we dove and down in key largo. I'm guessing they just don't feel any danger from people and don't really care if we get close. I have never seen the behavior you describe.

I was going to ask you where those boulders are but I guess I'll just mapquest the street. Do you see many fish there or is it just a neat bottom structure to dive?

Not that I'm any closer to knowing what type of wood I have, BUT I would recommend posting all three dimensions and weighing it. I should help limit the possibilities. I too was surprised by how straight my piece is. In a non homo way I guess I'm a fan of old wood...

I've got the saw all set up my friend should be on his way, we're going to rip some lams and then later this week hopefully I'll get them through my planer so I can get the blank glued up by this weekend. The gun I currently use has 7" shaft overhang and I'm used to it, should I keep that # or step up to 13" that seems more common. Also, how much stock do I need behind the trigger mech to make it a comfortable hip loader?

Capt. Offshore - I saw some pictures of heart pine and it looks exactly like it but I can't find any weight/density specs on it. Thank you for the kind words and good luck with your build!

As of 10:15pm I have 5 lams cut. Hopefully they will go into the planer tomorrow, the goal is for them to come out about 1/2" thick leaving me with what will be a 2"x2.5" blank.

hopeuflly the weather will cooperate today and I'll be able to rip some pieces and start gluing a blank together. Experienced gun builders: Do I need to let it hang for several weeks to see if it bows/warps?

My friend/coworker from louisiana says its not cypress. Looking at some more pictures I'm starting to think the pine guess could be accurate it just seems heavier than any pine I've ever seen. I have some oak furniture in the house I made years and years ago and it doesn't look like oak.

Internet tells me there are 74 types of hardwood native to florida...

It looks like that first pic Don. I'm going to try to talk to my grandpa more and get him some pictures now that the grain/colors are visible.

Either way I think it will make a very good gun, some quick math tells me that its lighter than seawater. How should I cut the lams? If I cut them right off of one side I don't get as much of the beauty of the grain. I was thinking of standing it on its side and cutting into it and then laying it down and cutting the lams off(not sure if that makes sense). Lastly I was thinking I could incorporate the 1890 into it but I wasn't sure how (1911 pistol came to mind) then I thought I could make the overall length 1890mm, 74.41". Having never made a bluewater gun I'm not sure what size I should be trying to attain. I figure this would be for mahi, kingfish, maybe wahoo and a blackfin tuna if I get lucky.

I'm sure its not mahogany after running it through the planer today and being able to see the grain. It is way too heavy to be cedar. I just threw it on my scale and its 47-48 pounds and it's 78"x11"x2"! If its pine its more red than any pine I've ever seen. Also I don't know what common building materials were in central florida in the 1890's but I know cypress exists in that area.

Don Paul - It was very gray before planing. I'm adding a before picture now

Thanks for posting that pic Judah. I'm leaning away from cedar after some more thought. It's very heavy so possibly cypress?

I finally found a break in the weather today to get this timber in the planer. Let me just say that it's massive, heavy and had me exhausted after a couple passes through the planer. It is now exactly 2" thick and 11.25" wide. After planing it, getting a good look at the grain and being able to smell it I believe it is cedar. I will post a pic if anyone can comment on what it looks like to them please do tell. I can say that it is very aromatic for 121 year old wood. (ok I'm iPhone illiterate so I'll have to upload a pic when I can get to my computer)

Dan is that a picture of your cowling?? I want to repaint my outboard but need some motivation.

Dan- I will definitely use a floatline setup, like I said today I'll be in touch regarding components and insight. And eventually a shaft of some sort.

Nate- it's massive and heavy. It does have a small split at one end that will limit some of it's use but it's still good for 4+. I really like the way it looks right now it's faded and gray but otherwise in really good shape which I think is cool especially since it's 120 years old