@#$#! I overheated my Shapelock handle while I was reading! That will have to be another thread . . .
True, my style of scuba hunting is a little tough on gear. Not having much freediving experience, I didn't know if the same would be true. When you say a "lined" 5 mil, what kind of lining are you talking about?
Jeff, I agree with Pargo that open cell is a pain in the butt and not worth having a fragile suit that is hard to get into, unless you are trying to get away with a thin suit and you are very easy on your gear (which you are not). Your water temps really are too cold for a 3mm. A lined 5mm suit would be what I'd get if I were in your shoes. I agree with seeweed that a custom is probably the way to go.
You were cold wearing what type of suit? Anybody actually have a Diveskin suit that can comment on it?
Ok, maybe I jumped to the open cell a little prematurely in my mind. For much of our spring and fall diving, water temps are in the 62-68°F range. I can do that for a little while in my 3 mil farmer john closed cell scuba suit, but only because the dives are short and I am constantly moving. I figured for freediving, with longer times in the water and much more time being still, I would either need open cell or a thicker suit. I've never actually worn an open cell suit, just tried one on.
I can see where open cell on the outside would be a little fragile. I thought most of the suits were open cell on the inside, with nylon or something else on the outside?
Unfortunately, I don't really have a convenient LDS where I can look these over and try them on the way I would like to.
I'm looking for my first freediving suit. At 5'-4" and around 155 lbs, "off the rack" probably won't fit perfectly, but the main problem is likely to be that the sleeves and pants are a few inches too long. I'm leaning towards a 3.5 mil open cell suit, and was wondering. Can I cut the sleeves and pants offa little if need be, or are the ends reinforced with extra thickness or stitching to help the suit last longer? If I do cut them, what might be needed to keep sticthing from unravelling, etc?
I doubt that it would need aging, because his stocks never move much. It just seems a shame to waste so much. Maybe shoot him a PM and see if he has anything closer to your needed size?
Dan - I just got my half of the blank you are refering to, and it looks great. Remember that he built those two blanks (actually one longer blank, cut in half) based on my specs for a hybrid, so they are pretty stout at about 2-1/2" wide by 2-3/8" tall.
I guess the roller gun unnecessarily complicates the comparison, but I think a short gun, with just a single stout band, is exactly the right application for that design.
I'll be watching this with interest. I have no experience with pneumatics, but a lot of guys use them over here to hunt catfish in murky water, where the fish are generally hiding inside submerged logs or stumps. So they need power, but don't really care about range, accuracy, or noise. I always wondered how a short band gun would compare.
Welcome Steve, and thanks for providing a little bit of explanation of the construction. Are the shells hollow throughout? The nesting spirals on your website boggle my mind. I have no idea how you do it, but I'm in awe.
By the way, Steve, I first found the link to your site on a post at the Practical Machinist forum, if that helps you in any way.
Thanks, I'll be looking for it. I'm running a little behind schedule getting the other parts moving, but hope to get back on the gun soon. Send me a Paypal request for whatever I owe you.
Beautiful artwork. I don't understand are you implying that it's made only using a table saw?
I was, but I think I was in error. On his website somewhere, are some pictures of complicated wooden gears that he made, using only a tablesaw, and maybe a scroll saw. I carried that thought over in my mind, but I looked later, and he doesn't say exactly how he makes the shells or spirals.
Unbelievable wooden shells. It is most obvious in the first pic, but they all appear to be pieced together from a BUNCH of sections. He's got some other pretty cool spiral artwork on his website.
I am targetting 1-3/8" diameter for the tube, but that could turn out a little over or a little under size. I'll have to play with some scraps to see how closely the hole from a Forstner bit cuts to the nameplate dimension. I am guessing that I will probably need to start with the closest, smaller size of Forstner bit, and creep up on the final dimension with the flycutter.
Looks great! I can't wait to get started.
I have a piece of 7/16" fine threaded rod to make a drawbar. I just need to grab a few nuts at the hardware store, and then the horizontal milling head is good to go.
I've started working on the delrin handle, and hope to get started on the carbon fiber tube this week. I still need to order a couple of cutters to make the various angles for the wood and track sections. I'll also need to get a Forstner bit to drill the hole for the tube, but I'm waiting until I have the tube done to decide on which size to get. I'll have to make an extension, as well, unless I can find an extra long shank bit.
I've built it several times in my head already . . .
I now use medium DiveR blades and love them. They are longer than most freedive fins and I found a curious thing after using them a couple times. When diving deep (80 feet is deep for me) I can make a couple regular kicks to get started up and then I can do very small amplitude, low effort, kicks and keep moving up quickly through the water column. It's like the fins develop a sin wave along their length propelling me forward with VERY little effort. They work will for surface swimming too and since the blades are fiberglass, not carbon, I don't have to baby them around the rig legs. ,
We generally split up our fillets about evenly amongst everyone who goes, including the boat driver. So except for bragging rights, it wouldn't matter who's fish it was.
Core - I sent you a few pics to keep you interested.
Best bet is to let me make the first drop on each spot. I'll come back and tell you if there are any fish . . . <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">
Whatcha' waiting for?
I don't have any that would qualify yet, and the season is closed until April 1st. But soon.
Hmmm. No gags on the board yet . . .
