The Deeperblue.net Gun Building Extravaganza

[Pastor]

Teak with a twin stripe of Purpleheart either side of the track?

[marginatus]

Originally Posted by Newbie_spearo

Would it be at all possible to make a wooden gun a rail gun? What I mean is not to have a metal rail put into the wood but to actually shape a rail out of the wood? I'm guessing that would be a pretty tricky thing to do but I'm betting no one has one of them hanging on the wall?

that's a very common feature in wood guns...

[azapa]

question here:

The "U" is the most often seen guide shape, it is always wider than the spear, I would guess about 4mm radius, to accomodate up to 7.5mm dia spears. There is a lot of contact spear to guide.

What would happen if you used a "V" section? The contact and therefore friction would be very much lowered. Also, spear diameter changes would be easier to accommodate.

I invisage a stainless V (angle) epoxied into a nice piece of wood. I'm sure its been talked of before. Pros and Cons please..

[Pastor]

A "U" section with a very slightly larger radius than the shaft will actually give less friction because it will trap a larger surface area of water in close proximity to the track. A "V" will allow water to move aside and allow the shaft to contact the 2 points of the "V".

[TOOmas]

lol, i want to know why people are talking about "hanging it on the wall"... i hope whoever wins it puts it to as much use as possible. i really like the idea of two different woods, especially with the twin stripes along the track.

[Newbie_spearo]

What about anouncing the winner before the completion of the gun and allowing them to have some sort of customization somewhere? Whether it be an engraving type thing or paint job to make it really personal?

I'm curious, how do we enter to win this gun? will it be forum based or on the deeperblue site? Just wnat to make sure I get in early that's all.

[Pastor]

We haven't decided yet on the competition format but it will either forum or email based, totally free of charge and with as much chance of winning on the last day as the first. I can't tell you anymore than that because I don't know

[Newbie_spearo]

Ok, thanks Pastor.

My next question is this; Can we enter more than once to improve our chances? I am one of those people who will enter a competition every day till it closes if it will increase my chances of winning.

[foxfish]

Newbie We haven't decided yet on the competition format but it will either forum or email based, totally free of charge and with as much chance of winning on the last day as the first. I can't tell you anymore than that because I don't know.

[foxfish]

So has anyone else have any input on the wood question?
Certain woods will need to be cut & left to stand for a few weeks so we need to get this one sorted.
Ipe seems to be the new teak - Ipe Lumber- ipe wood's properties, toxicity, hardness etc.
but teak is the most traditional wood used in gun building. I think this stems from the early days when modern glues were not available & because of the high oil content of teak it was believed this would make the most suitable wood to repel sea water. However now we have penetrating epoxies & two pack varnish that stop the ingress of water into any wood. In fact teak is one of the least suitable woods for a multilaminate project!
As the gun is planed to be something special I dont favor teak as a single wood component but this is not my decision it is a joint membership decision.

[strangelove]

Fox

Ipe is a beautiful wood, however that thing is heavy I am not even sure if floats ! There is one type of Brazilian wood called peroba, that one sinks for sure.
Are you aware of any other guns made using ipe ?

[foxfish]

Yes there are quite a few builders using Ipe suitable hardwoods? I would prefer to use a less oily wood.

[strangelove]

Thanks

It is good to know, my brother in law has his house floor all in Ipe, the last time I've visit him I've notice some of the board were warp. Could be just a bad batch that I not age properlly.

The barrel on that gun looks really nice, a very tight grain wood.

[Groupermadness]

Not being a very woody savvy person myself i can only go from the looks, what about Cherry? Walnut? Olive? OAK? but please no MDF,.

[Pastor]

I would think (this is just me now) that Cherry and Oak would be to pale in colour? Olive nice figuring but difficult to find with a straight grain. American Black Walnut might be very nice, I wouldn't have thought of it. Could be used effectively with contrasting lighter timber such as Cherry or Maple.