flymike

Hi Guys,

After looking through this fourm for the last cople of days and reading alot of opinions on wood choice for blanks, im still undecided. I think alot of people use a certin type of timber just becouse others have.

So simple question time

What characteristics makes a GOOD choice for a laminated blank?
What characteristics makes a BAD choice for a laminated blank?

Strength?
Hardness?
Ease of machining/working?
Stiffness?
Ageing qualites?
???

I dont want to know what wood I should use at the moment.
I want to know what to look for in making a wood choice

Hope a few of you more talented builders can point me in the right direction

Also have any of you used any type of wood that didnt work? and do you know why??

After I read afew replies Im going to try and find something local/native? that may do the job

Thanks Heaps
Mike

blankwalker

wondering you dont have any answers,,

i used bongossi density 1.2 and ash 0.9 both a bit heavy
the gun became that heavy - you can t hold it onehanded! so actually it s lying in the corner waiting to get revised -getting rid of al lot of the bongos which i used mainly on the outside because it s a oily, hard wood.
i would recommend a harder wood with a density about 0.7 like teak as most of the others do
its not that prone to ditches and dulls, and it has naturall oils inside protecting ur gun
no matter which wood you take (and theres a lot...) make sure you get to know in which way it s dangerous
i made once a bokken out of palisander(rosewood) and had 2 days of scratching my .. yOu know where.. because of the dust..no fun!
once i made an ax handle out of acacia,, pulling of the bark barehanded
couldn t get away from the loo one day long!

__________________
sometimes i m asking if the freaks know that they are in the majority

flymike

Hi Blankwalker

Have been wondering about the no answer thing, but I am new I guess.

Haddent realy thought about "health issues",
If the gun came out to heavy could you mill out and maby fill with something to make it ballence better?,
Or do you think it would still be hard to track with, even being lighter.

Localy iv found a few places selling wood flooring in all kinds of thicknesses 8mm - 19mm, non in teak but Matai, Rimu, Totara all natives to New Zealand and very nice woods with very few knots and tight grains.

Also been looking at second hand flooring, Very nice aged (sum 50-100years old) 19mmx100mm lengths, thay do have nail holes 20mm in from each side, but if I trimm thoses off would still leave me with 60mm to play with. Only problem is that its for sale in bulk lots in auction starting at $1, most wave only gone for $5 but I would have to take a whole 10m2.

Im waiting to hear from a freind of a freind who has made a few guns now and works in the timber industry, just to get some advice on what worked best for him.

blankwalker

mh

the normal way is to fit in lead getting a top floating gun in a balanced position -- horizontal!

i ve seen also pictures of top-heavy guns which were balanced with cork..
if u wanna spare - fell any tree with the right density and let dry slowly

creets,,,

__________________
sometimes i m asking if the freaks know that they are in the majority

Don Paul

[QUOTE=flymike;61945]
Have been wondering about the no answer thing, but I am new I guess.

Well that is not the reason I did not respond , sometimes I wait a wee bit to let a more knowledgeable member
give expert feed back on such a complex question. Phil, Woodguy and and Steve Veros all work in this field.

Cheers, Don

__________________
''Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home''
Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.
Speardiver Gear

Don Paul

OK mate, first some questions..

1.When one is going to build a tool, craft, car or boat we need to ask: What do I want this creation to do?
In the case of a speargun...what is the target species? as a dedicated Tuna/Wahoo gun will have different requirements than something for John Dory.

2. What kind of duty cycle and abuse will it see? ...teak will take more impact abuse than Honduran Mahogany as a example.

3. Do you want to have a oil finish or seal it in a Varnish or Epoxy?

4. What tools do you have at your disposal ?

Back later....

Cheers, Don

__________________
''Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home''
Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.
Speardiver Gear

metelin

look for wood with no knots, tight grain (less than 1/8'' in width), also, look for grain that's as straight as possible from one end of the board to the other. knots and wide, wavy grain will cause the stock to bow even if you laminate. i go through dozens of boards looking for one that fits that description and if i cant find what i'm looking for i'll look at other types of wood although i try to stay between teak and genuine mahogany.

flooring material is probably too heavy and your gun will not float properly making it difficult to use and easy to loose if it sinks with the shaft out. i don't like mixing wood with different density because they contract and expend at a different rate and will eventually delaminate.

teak is expensive, mahogany is about half the price. if this is your first gun choose a wood that's cheap and practice till you are comfortable with the design and process , if you make one gun i suspect you will probably want to make more.

have fun.

__________________
steve veros

in loving memory of paolo

flymike

Well the plan is

Round 130cm kingfish gun, 7-7.5mm shaft, twin 16mm rubbers

Oil finish, I like the matt that comes out

Between me and my mates I have most things available.

Plan to have an enclosed track probably wood
will use neptonics handle frame and reef mech, been toying around with a remote trigger or reverse trigger, to get the most out of the length.
Break away line release

Im quite picky over details so ill build the best I can the first time, and if it needs improvement I hope it will be in design and not in quality.

Really I dont think Il use it much, once finished ill be to scared to damage it. But ya never know

The flooring material Im looking at is just the cover type, to go over concrete or chipboard, hence the 8mm its not very heavy but probably not very strong either, which is why Im looking at laminating.

The natural oils in teak do seam quite important in longevity. Can this be achieved artificially??, dose it also help with buoyancy??

Don Paul

You don't need a ET for a 7mm with twin 16mm bands, I would go deep open track mate. If one of those Kingies gets real friendly 3ft off the tip you wont blow the ET apart.

The Tahitians just to your North love Hibiscus wood that is well cured, I have a few gun made from it...
later need to sleep.

Cheers, Don

__________________
''Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home''
Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.
Speardiver Gear

phil herranen

I will get back to this thread in a day or two . I have a few guns I'm trying to get out .
Phil