Spear Band Tying

[100days-a-year]

I still use wood,the last one sunk with my boat and I hope to recover it and keep using it til I feel it's not possible to fix anymore.
It takes a pretty secure knot to hold a 3/4" / 20mm band at 300+% stretch.I use kevlar or some other type of polyamide to tie my wishbone in.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

@MAKO Spearguns That is a good point about the rubber. Rubber is attacked by the ozone in the air. If it is not stretched out, the attack stops at a certain depth when a protective layer builds up. Where the band stretches over the wishbone, however, the attack allows cracks to form that propagate because the protective layer splits open. Since I have 3 pins, the longer bands get cut down to the next pin when they get too bad. I use armorall spray and seal the raw rubber in airtight containers after ziplock bagging them.
Looking at your website there seems to be a wide variety of quality components. Since my gun is homemade it would be mostly the fittings I am interested in.
Thus am still looking for suggestions on the gunline diameter/material. I hear that dyneema is hard to cut, which might help with toothy critters and steel rig legs but I have dive shears that should work. I have a big spool of mono that has sat around for years, just can't bring myself to use it. Also had a look at string trimmer line but mine is triangular with sharp edges.

We stock 3 and 400 lb monofilament line for a shooting line. Dynema line (which we also stock) is more abrasion resistant, but can tangle more easily and is harder to cut. We also stock SS cable which is not something a diver would want to get tangled up in.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

@MAKO Spearguns

It looks like there a problem with the image in your signature line. Here is what I see:
View attachment 477461

Is the image there now? I used a different link. thanks for the help!

 

[Sam Miller III]

@JamesBon92007

"I used to taper my surgical rubber tubing at the ends,...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The technique of tapering the ends of a sling was developed by a worker employed by Joe La Monica

.in early mid 1960s when he introduced the Voit gun which became Voit, Mares and finally the JBL gun​

What was your technique for grinding and tapering the rubber slings ? Every one in SoCal seemed to have a different technique of tapering.

SDM

 

[JamesBon92007]

@JamesBon92007

"I used to taper my surgical rubber tubing at the ends,...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The technique of tapering the ends of a sling was developed by a worker employed by Joe La Monica

.in early mid 1960s when he introduced the Voit gun which became Voit, Mares and finally the JBL gun​

What was your technique for grinding and tapering the rubber slings ? Every one in SoCal seemed to have a different technique of tapering.

SDM

I just shaped them on a bench grinder. It seems that the black rubber was easier to grind than the amber-colored rubber. It also seems like the black rubber doesn't rot as quickly but when I was using 1/2" bands black was readily available but with 5/8" I can only find amber.

I re-did my first band when I was a teenager and at first look I would have said it was impossible to get those little stainless steel rings back on the rubber in the right place, but I managed to do it, but that was with 1/2" rubber. It's all in the stretching technique If I was to go out in my garage right now I don't think I'd remember how to do it and would have to figure it out all over again.

 

[Sam Miller III]

@JamesBon92007

Interesting!
My tribe suck a old dedicated screw driver into the rubber and tapered also on a beach grinder.

On occasion if in Orange and Joe's set up was avaliavel we also used his "machine" (for sake of a better descriptor)

For the non commercial 5/8s we often used Charlie Sturgils set up

And it happened in Orange county so long ago

SDM

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

http://www.makospearguns.com/tapering-speargun-power-band-ends-a/251.htm

Tapering the band ends.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Dano
Never ever use a nail !

One of the tribe was gridding away with a nail as a guide - just like in your tutorial and the grit or ?? caught the nail and pulled it out of the rubber and sent it flying. I would strongly recommend that safety glasses be worn

We surmise that there was too much slack in the rubber allowing the grit of the grinder to catch the nail and toss it across the room.

My suggestion is use a old screw driver - allows 2 point control rather than one point.

I would strongly urge that you no show this again due to current attitudes on litigation -- but the decision is yours and yours only

Cheers from California

Sam Miller, 111

 

[Akimbo]

I always preferred a stationary belt sander. They don't burn nearly as fast and are less inclined to grab the work and throw it across the shop.

 

[JamesBon92007]

http://www.makospearguns.com/tapering-speargun-power-band-ends-a/251.htm

Tapering the band ends.

I did find it necessary to taper the ends on the 1/2" bands in order to get the stainless ring started. With enough stretching I was able to return them to their original factory appearance. Then I bought a bigger spear gun and never succeeded in getting the rings back on. It seems like everyone I knew was using wax thread and tying the bands. I never had one slip out (ouch!) but, like I said, they tend to cut through the latex tubing quicker. Recently it occurred to me that something wider, such as a cable tie, might not cut through so quickly but I have seen too many cable ties let go.