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All About Guns What's your weapon of choice, and why? Discuss the beloved speargun here! |
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06-16-2016, 04:51 PM | #31 |
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Location: Thailand
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Latest designs and 3D prints for the smaller more desirable caving/gully/white water gun which I originally started this project for...
Broken down into more manageable components for quicker printing eliminating expensive 3rd party products including barrel and trigger guard... important to note here that my printer limits me to roughly 200mm in length so the aim was always to be able to print the entire gun rather than having to buy a barrel. These five components now also add overall strength with the integration of the butt, handle and trigger guard. This design also lends itself to my ultimate goal of casting it in aluminium from a lost 3d printed PLA cast. Optimum length for this small caving/gully/white water gun which is more appropriate for UK conditions and my own personal hunting style/mode is just over half a meter... I've also managed to halve my printing time which has been prolific to say the least. This is the small 'invert' gun I have been working towards since I started this project a few years back... the concept being that it can be used on its own or better still as a second gun/back up working in conjunction with your regular weapon... I'm currently designing a leg/belt holster for this 50cm model. Last edited by artiz; 06-19-2016 at 12:53 AM. |
06-18-2016, 03:07 AM | #32 |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
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06-18-2016, 03:23 AM | #33 |
Pacific Spearo
Join Date: Jul 2007
Age: 62
Posts: 3,358
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
If that gun only shoots half as good as it looks then it is successful. With all the time and effort you put into it, no matter what you win the most awesome spearboard post this year.
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06-18-2016, 05:00 AM | #34 |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Bless you friend... you've made my day... it can take out a small cardboard box at 7m in my hallway so I'm hopeful it doesn't just look nice!
Last edited by artiz; 06-18-2016 at 06:10 AM. |
06-18-2016, 03:30 PM | #35 |
Max
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Oregon
Age: 68
Posts: 6,272
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
All of this technical talk is way over my head, but I am impressed beyond words with what you are doing and what you have accomplished. You are on the cutting edge of next generation speargun design/manufacturing. I wish you well!
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06-18-2016, 06:59 PM | #36 | |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Quote:
You also clearly highlight that I haven't actually explained the project properly or put it into context either... so here goes whilst knowing that I risk boring the pants off most of you.... if I haven't already. Firstly... I'm not into 'gurt' big long guns and I'm also not into spearing 'gurt' big fish... I see spearfishing as a way of life and definitely not a sport.. that awesome & sacred ocean has fed me and my family for more than 40 years so I take no more than I need to eat. Along the way I mostly avoid anything bigger than average... mainly cos they'll be female and future spawner's... besides I want to eat her plentiful offspring next season... ethical preach out and done. Over the years I've developed a taste for certain species and tend to stick to them which along with my age/fitness and the normal conditions of where I geographically hunt has made finding a gun which fulfills all of my somewhat exacting requirements a frustrating search... I currently have 10 guns and loads more over the years... all pretty good but none quite 'IT'. My first weapon, a small French aluminium roller gun (depicted here on page 1)... still probably laying in 40 meters of water has never been bettered... nostalgia yes... but still can't get it out of my head... I could even spear 1lb mackerel with it! I've been working in design/IT for the last 20 years so was well placed to take advantage of the advent of accessible CAD and now 3D printing but only able to afford both in the last couple of years... at last... perhaps I can now better that first gun... a lifelong obsession?... you bet!... and all this just in time for my retirement to that little wooden house 50 meters from my favourite mark... heaven on Earth! Contemporary speargun design has not exactly been meteoric over the years but the 'inversion' principle is the development I have been waiting for... more power = shorter gun... right up my street, as they say. By finally taking the point of band stress from the front of the gun (roller guns included) also eliminates that incredibly irritating front end 'euro style' recoil or kick which has always bothered me. So what does the 'inversion principle' actually mean other than just the basics above... time for a graphic... Simply replace the large black weight in the graphic above with a speargun band/rubber and it now = force rather than dead weight... but more importantly for a speargun it now = more power for less pull. It does however change the equation (ie. F2=50N) but who needs maths... I can now experiment not only with the length of loading 'pull' but also with the length and diameter of my bands to suit the length of my shortened 50 cm version... and all this whilst still maintaining the power of an average 70-80cm euro gun with a probable range of 3-4 meters... accuracy may also improve due to the lack of recoil and smoother launch of the spear... also means using much less expensive rubber too... win-win. Using exemplar guns like the Roisub Michelangelo the rigging possibilities of inverted spearguns are pretty much endless... (for wooden guns, plastic/metal machined, custom build or indeed 3d printed guns) rubbers on top/below, double/triple rubbers etc etc... it can obviously get technical but only if you let it/want it to be... reliable anchor points and 2 little pulley block's and the 'world is your oyster' regarding experimentation to suit your particular creation. Anyway enough now... I can see your eyes glazing over from here... suffice to say I hope this helps put my efforts into some kind of context whilst NOT being too technical. Last edited by artiz; 06-20-2016 at 01:02 AM. |
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06-18-2016, 07:31 PM | #37 |
Max
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Oregon
Age: 68
Posts: 6,272
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Thanks for the reply - I understood it pretty well. So rather than a simple single roller gun, it sounds like you intend to have several rollers - like the multiple pulley system on the right side of your graphic in figure 4.
Interesting, as long as the line going through all those pulleys does not get too tangled up after being shot and can be reloaded without trouble. My son is a mechanical engineer with Hewlett-Packard and is working on the development of their new 3D printer. Interesting times we live in.
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06-18-2016, 07:39 PM | #38 | |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Quote:
From the getgo the biggest fear was always tangles and why I went for designing my own head/muzzle which to my surprise is working very well to date... time will tell. Also apologies... 'as if' came out wrong... I actually meant it in the context that I have a tendency to be over-technical... now removed. Last edited by artiz; 06-19-2016 at 12:03 AM. |
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06-19-2016, 01:30 AM | #39 |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
The one thing I have found consistently irritating about my particular mode of DIY operandi is as soon as I've 3D printed it... which takes forever... I can see all the improvements I want to make/should've made in the design... hohum!
This is bonding both sides and the barrel together with an amazing urethane glue I found... it sinks deep into the XT-CF20 material... mainly because they are both very similar plastic copolymers... this is a much more efficient and stronger method rather than having a separate barrel, handle, butt and trigger guard... however as you can see I still have a lot of manual work to do... still a pleasure though and the weather has been rubbish in the UK for the last few weeks anyway! Last edited by artiz; 06-19-2016 at 01:47 AM. |
06-19-2016, 02:05 AM | #40 |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
That's absolutely awesome! I love it! It's going to be really handy once the bass season opens back up! Do you ever go spearing Durdle Door or Chesil beach way?
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06-19-2016, 02:09 AM | #41 | |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Quote:
Nail on head though... it is a Bass gun... My process is moving along very nicely now... much pleased. With this new design combined with the experience of preparing my 1 meter version I've now really nailed the design/print/build time down and its looking even better with each progressive stage. It only took an hour of sanding to reach the point where I can now leave it overnight for the urethane filler to harden. The head will also be finished printing tomorrow meaning I'll have the completed gun ready in around 4 days. I'm in two minds whether to splash out on full ceramic Silicon Nitride bearings for the roller wheels... ...considering how much I've saved on a carbon barrel and SS trigger guard I'm sorely tempted but £35 ($50) seems an awful lot of money for 2 tiny little bearings... maybe/maybe not... the benefits of a 'rustless' and minimal friction bearing would definitely finish it off though... along with the tiny 16mm Harken blocks I'll be using this time... Last edited by artiz; 06-20-2016 at 01:09 AM. |
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06-22-2016, 10:30 AM | #42 |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
All 3D printed parts now bonded together and sealed... last fine sand to go... coat of urethane and its ready for final build and rigging... as prototypes go... to be able to actually test it out in the field is invaluable... how long it will last is the real unknown...
Last edited by artiz; 06-22-2016 at 10:40 AM. |
06-22-2016, 12:57 PM | #43 |
Max
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Oregon
Age: 68
Posts: 6,272
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Looks like something straight out of Star Wars! Beyond amazing!
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nec timor nec temeritas (neither fear nor foolhardiness.) |
06-22-2016, 01:13 PM | #44 |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Fully rigged gun with full ceramic roller bearing, 19.5mm bands, SS wire wishbone and 16mm block (line truck). I can't get hold of the 60cm shark fin spear which I had my eye on so have cut down an old grooved shaft which seems to work OK for now. I'm dry testing 4 line wraps which gives a distance of 4-4.5 meters... whilst still penetrating a 4" thick polystyrene target. I think it may be a bit too ambitious in the end because the head is just not really designed to take all the wrap overs. Power and accuracy is there though so I might as well keep testing for endurance anyway... and no tangles so far... I'll post up a video with a tape measure when I get time just in case I'm coming across as a complete fantasist... dry testing is obviously a long way off 'field' performance but so far so good. Update after a bit more testing/measuring properly... I was getting a bit overexcited above... as you do... range/penetration is looking more like the 3-4 meters I was actually hoping for... Last edited by artiz; 06-28-2016 at 05:24 AM. |
06-28-2016, 07:03 PM | #45 |
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Re: 3D Printed Speargun
Video as promised... I'm testing here at 4 meters with the single 19.5 mm band... apologies for quality but the light is poor in my hallway. The initial tests are pretty similar to the first 1 meter prototype where the upgrade to 2 bands really did improve the power so I'm now going to try 2 x 16mm bands... although at 2-3 meters range/penetration this would probably still be OK for a cave, under hang/gully gun hanging off my belt so still pleased with it... moving on
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