Homemade Wing

[Ed Palma]

I made my own Danish pastry once, and came to the conclusion that there are simply some things that should be left for professionals

Hi Lynne, I don't see you much around the DIY section too often.

At any rate, I wouldn't want a pastry chef to make a wing for me!

Funny thing is, my wife and I had this conversation while she was making cookies: She said "leave the cookies to the homemaking, and leave the wing-making to the pros." Sure, I bought a new wing, but like I said, I still have my DIY wing on my aluminum backplate

 

[TSandM]

I've actually become more and more DIY as we've acquired more and more dive gear . . . maintaining regulators is the next project.

I only posted because the OP said he'd given up the project after deciding it was too much. It reminded me of the pastry episode (set fire to my oven).

 

[carrielsal]

Where do you find used wings? I find used jacket BCs all the time, but I've been looking for a cheap wing and it seems like people tend to hang onto them.

Wings show up on the Classifieds here occasionally. I bought my Halcyon Explorer last year from another sb member.
Other forums to check would be TDS and cavediver.net.

 

[redacted]

Funny thing is, my wife and I had this conversation while she was making cookies: She said "leave the cookies to the homemaking, and leave the wing-making to the pros." Sure, I bought a new wing, but like I said, I still have my DIY wing on my aluminum backplate

Of course you had to buy a new wing. Your wife insisted! I may have to try that.

 

[Ed Palma]

Of course you had to buy a new wing. Your wife insisted! I may have to try that.

Yeah

OT:

Amazingly, I was able to convince her that "more air is always better" So I now have a slung 40cf tank.

 

[Ed Palma]

I've actually become more and more DIY as we've acquired more and more dive gear . . . maintaining regulators is the next project.

Based on your previous posts, I take it you've practically got an entire shop!

To the OP:

Try building it just to see if you can. For spare parts, you can cannibalize an old BCD (eBay has tons of crappy old BCDs) Elbow, OPV, corrugated hose, inflator - those things don't generally degrade rapidly. Cordura nylon can be bought - and as long as you've got a tough outer shell, the wing will hold.

 

[Couv]

.....maintaining regulators is the next project.

I only posted because the OP said he'd given up the project after deciding it was too much. It reminded me of the pastry episode (set fire to my oven).

Hey guys....we're bringing her to the Dark Side......Don't worry Lynne, regulators are easier than pastry, but the hard part is still the cleaning up.

c

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Why...?

 

[Couv]

Thoroughly cleaning and drying all the parts is very time consuming. First, especially if you have a nasty regulator, it takes a good 12-24 hour soak in hot soapy water. Then disassemble it entirely, separate the metal and non-metallic parts for degreasing/brushing/cleaning/vinegar & water bath for the metal parts. Even if you have an ultrasonic cleaner it is still labor intensive. Next you have to dry each little item before lubricating the appropriate parts.....Then comes the fun part where you get to put it back together and tune it up. All in all, you spend much more time on the cleaning than disassembly/reassembly/tuning.

Now if someone does a good job at SOAKING and drying their regulator after every dive trip....that's a different story.

c

 

[Packhorse]

In the last few weeks I have made my own counter lungs for my rebreather and done a major repair of a wing.

The counter lung was made with 1000 denier oxford ( cordura) glued with a polyurethane adhesive.
The wing repair involved cutting out the OPV reinforcing from the bladder and gluing in a large disc or EPDM rubber in its place ) using PU adhesive again).
IDA 71 in NZ - Page 6 - Rebreather World
http://sods.freeforums.org/bc-wing-repair-t1145.html