If it is that vulnerable, then how will I cut the radius on the corners, and the groove for the track, etc.?
Also, plaster tends to be a little porous on the surface, doesn't it? If it is, then the epoxy will soak in and there is no way you will extract it from a tube 60" long.
I think the core has to be made of something that can either be dissolved, or melted, or chemically removed.
Do you know of a plaster that is water soluable after it is set? I doubt that you would ever get a hardened plaster core out of a gun length barrel section. Now if it could be dissolved out with warm water or something, then you definately have my attention!
Very cool. I've only been casually interested in carbon fiber hybrids, but this experiment has got me pumped! How did you end up melting the wax out?
For barrel sections up to about 36" long, you need a crappy old barbeque grill. I have one you can use.
Would you use a delrin muzzle, and if so, how would you make the shape that fits inside the barrel?
Think simpler. Fill the last 1-1/2" of the barrel with epoxy, poured around the largest cylindrical "dummy" piece that will fit inside the barrel. In this case, about 7/8" in diameter. When the epoxy is cured, remove the dummy piece, which leaves you a perfectly round bore inside the epoxy filled end of the CF tube. Now, it's a simple matter of turning the male end of the muzzle to fit inside the round female bore. Much easier than trying to accurately fit the inside of the CF shape.
How would you envision the transition between the cf and the wood of the stock?
Part of what could make this so nice for a hybrid is that there is no need for a transition. You could run the tube all the way to the butt of the gun. Use the CF for what it's best at - strength in a small package. Now the wood exists only to add mass, attach the handle, etc. There is no loss of strength where you join the CF to the wood as in a normal hybrid.
I wonder how a wooden muzzle matching the wood on the handle would work? It could be epoxied into the end rather than pinned like the delrin is. I realize most guys would probably prefer the look of the delrin, but teak might look pretty good as well.
I wouldn't make a bolt-on muzzle from wood. But you could certainly plug the last 3-4" of the barrel with wood during the layup, and then cut the band slot / holes through the CF and wood as Chad does on some of his guns. The strength of the CF allows smaller shapes, or higher band holes, while the wood inside simply provides a smooth inside surface and plugs the end of the barrel.
Very neat. I'm having trouble visualizing how this tube would work with a euro handle. I'll understand better what you're planning to do when I see the finished product.
The gun design is still evolving in my head while I experiment with the processes. I only post the pics to taunt Hau . . . <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">
Well, I've made a little more progress. I finally gave up on trying to mold the wax to the final shape. For this one, I just cast a rectangular brick in an open top mold. Once cool, I just cut of the top 1/4" where the shrinkage voids were.
I've learned that it is much easier to see the surface of the wax, and identify any imperfections, if the wax is colored by adding some candle wax to the paraffin. I also learned that it is easy to fix minor chips by dripping melted candle wax in the chip, and then smoothing with a knife.
I've learned that wrapping with tape is easier, and squeezes out the excess resin better, than the heat shrink tubing approach. Don't use scotch tape like the pic, though. It is impossible to remove from the cured epoxy. But electrical tape, wrapped with the sticky side OUT, works great. It leaves some tiny spiral lines in the epoxy, but these are easily sanded off.
My prototype barrel section is 1-7/16" wide, by 1-5/8" tall. I kept the bottom relatively flat to mount reels and handles and such, and rounded the top more. Wall thickness is about 0.100", achieved with an inner biaxial sleeve, three wraps of uni fabric, and one outer biaxial sleeve.
My intent here is that a barrel of similar dimensions could strong enough to be used for everything from a rear handle or rear handle plus, to mid sized hybrids, to larger blue water guns, all with consistant sight picture and aiming. It would be super easy to make a hybrid, because the openning in the wood can be rectangular and open at the top, so much easier to cut.
I don't know if all that will ultimately work out, but my next step is to make a full length piece for a 52-54" rear handle plus gun. The reel / handle / trigger section will be layed up around a core of teak, while the forward half of the barrel will be hollow. I'll add ballast up front to get the trim just right. Stay tuned.
Good suggestion, no downside in leaving room to install a drum later if I necessary. You're exactly right about being able to lower the drum and/or mop if needed for normal tablesaw operations.
I did some digging and came up with this video on how to taper using a jointer. Is this the technique that you use? It's much cleaner than how I was doing it before.
Wood guy, Thanks for the details on making the mop head.
I wasn't thinking about a table top version, I was thinking in terms of mounting a built-in version where the guts fit under my current table top, and the mop protrudes through. I already have a bench-dog router lift in the vicinity, but still have room for the sander. I was planning to mount the bench grinder under there as the power source. I'll just box everything in and put a dust port on the box.
From your experience, is the drum a "must have" if I already have a long be jointer?
What type of sandpaper did you use and where did you get it?
To make a mop-head for my drill press, I'm thinking that I can make a simple mandrel out of a bolt, a couple nuts and a some large fender washers.
Down the road, I'm thinking about making one that will fit under the ripfence area to the right of my tablesaw blade. I like this option since it won't take up any room in my crowded shop, and it would be easy to connect it to my dust collection system.
What about a pulley arrangement that uses a narrow belt or a round belt? How much room do you have on your saw arbor? What controls the stop on the backside?
My arbor is 5/8" diameter, by 3/4" long, with a 1-3/4" diameter flange as a back side stop. The nut is 5/16" thick, so I could only mount a pulley 7/16" thick.
Maybe I could just get a pulley with a 1/2" bore, and bore & thread it to screw onto the arbor? Then I don't need the nut.
I'm definately thinking about ways to get me one of these.
What are the disadvantages of the vertical drill press mount, if you constructed a little tabletop to sit on the drill press table?
What rpm does the mop sander turn? I'm wondering about using a Grizzly 8" 3500 rpm buffer ($79) and just making a mop end for it.
How much did it cost in sandpaper to make your mop, vs. the fairly expensive pre-made ones that Woodcraft sells ($59)?
How exactly does the pulley mount on the saw arbor? I have a farily inexpensive saw, with a short arbor, and I may not have enough room to attach a pulley.
I have a drill press that sees very little use since Jeff handed down the mill that you handed down to him. Very interested in learning about the mop sander. I need one yesterday. I can already see that it will be great for carbon fiber as well as wood.
Beautiful work on the gun.
Nice! I like the dark color. Was the wood especially dark, or is that just a zillion coats of teak oil?
You really should start a thread and post some pictures of your mop sander. Seeing this gun, I need to take a serious look at building a smaller version.
Jeff, how much did this affect the trigger pull? It seems it would have made it a tad lighter?
It's the same spring pull on a shorter lever arm, so yes, the trigger pull should be a little lighter. But I can't tell the difference. It still feels nice and crisp.
Hau - You have two options here. You can wait for the project that Chad and I continue to slowly plod along with . . .
. . . Or you can buy a mess of FRA raffle tickets and design your own dream gun!
For the next gun that I'm planning, I want the handle to be as high (in line with the shaft) as possible. I have a Neptonics Reef trigger mech, and the only thing that I don't like is that the spring which connects the sear and trigger is attached quite low on the trigger. So I "adjusted" it, and moved the spring up by about 1/4", which puts it just below the line release slot, and will in turn allow me to raise my handle by the same amount.
Drilling the hole was the toughest part. I found the trigger to be harder than most stainless shafts that I have drilled.
. . . I also "modified" my Tin Man 2 hole muzzle/spike with some files. I like the gun LOTS better now . . .
Can we see what you did Hau? Are your modifications something that I should incorporate on any future muzzles?
Needs a shark spike . . .
:blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah2::blahblah2::blahblah2:
Don,
To answer your question about a Fadal, I had to look it up to know what you were talking about. The answer is NO.
I shot a spear through a wall, through another wall and into brick once. This was with 1 band. My wife was not pleased.
