A 3D Printed Speargun

[Brian_Krassenstein]

UK maker Artiz is a spearfishing enthusiast who knows what he needs in order to catch the big one. Because of that, he’s been working for quite some time at refining his efforts in making a 3D printing spear gun and several other components so far. The spear gun was 3D printed using ColorFabb XT-CF20 (20% carbon filament), boasting a 3D scanned handle, metal trigger mechanism, and roller muzzle. Just previous to this, Artiz 3D printed a speargun handle on an Ultimaker 3D printer. Using ABS 3D printing filament, it took 34 hours to print. The experienced 3D printing enthusiast has made numerous other iterations of his spear gun and various components as well, all of which can be seen on his YouTube channel. For more details, see 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/101982/spearfishi...gun-components

[Artiz]

UK maker Artiz is a spearfishing enthusiast who knows what he needs in order to catch the big one. Because of that, he’s been working for quite some time at refining his efforts in making a 3D printing spear gun and several other components so far. The spear gun was 3D printed using ColorFabb XT-CF20 (20% carbon filament), boasting a 3D scanned handle, metal trigger mechanism, and roller muzzle. Just previous to this, Artiz 3D printed a speargun handle on an Ultimaker 3D printer. Using ABS 3D printing filament, it took 34 hours to print. The experienced 3D printing enthusiast has made numerous other iterations of his spear gun and various components as well, all of which can be seen on his YouTube channel. For more details, see 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/101982/spearfishi...gun-components

Hi Brian... thanks for the mention here...

Well you're right I have been working on this for quite some time now. I started a couple of years ago by designing a snorkel mouthpiece which allows the user to use twin pipes... nice and convenient for popping in and out of your mouth when diving down and also for hanging round your neck when you take your mask/snorkel off briefly (whilst on the rocks) and you don't want to put it down. (Available for purchase here)

preview.jpg

Since then I've been working towards printing out my own fully operational 3D printed speargun. I finally managed to save up for my own printer late last year and have now finally printed out and field tested my first gun.

As proof of concept its been a success but it's not really strong or powerful enough for spearfishing in practical terms.

WP_20151129_19_25_44_Pro.jpg

However my latest attempt brings together much of what I have learned both from the design/print process with my Ultimaker 2 Extended and also from the latest generation of modern spearguns. I hope to be able to test my first working model of my latest design by this coming spring/summer.

Carbon Cobra Invert.jpg

https://youtu.be/dQ8beYIoFdQ

I will continue to use Colorfabb's superb XT CF-20 for all my composite parts but I have also used various commercially available components such as an 800mm carbon rail barrel from China... a Meandros trigger mechanism from Bulgaria... a stainless steel trigger guard from Greece... rubber bungees from Turkey etc etc...

Kind Regards

Artiz

[curious aardvark]

what are the four black rods the elastic is hooked onto made of ?
I think I can work out the rest, just not sure if they're heavy duty springs for added power or something else :-)

[Artiz]

They're just unfinished anchor points and part of the printed carbon (XTCF-20) gun body/muzzle... the idea behind the inverted speargun is to relocate the bungees behind the muzzle avoiding all that recoil from the front/tip of the gun...plays havoc with your aim. The pulley system makes loading far easier and allows multiple bungees for additional spear speed/power/distance. Along with all that power the anchor points will have to be strengthened with bolts which will also join the 2 halves of the gun together... which I think will need to be spliced down the middle for the complex 3D printing process ahead.

Thanks for your interest...