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Diy Equinox One Piece Straight Shaft


Alluminati

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Today I had a look at the shaft that my father put together for his 800. I thought it turned out very well, so I thought I would take a few pictures to share here.

We looked at a few options but ultimately thought a true one piece shaft was best and easiest.
Based on a previous conversation I had with an experienced water hunter on here, we figured it would be alright to run the carbon fiber almost all the way to the coil.

The lower fiberglass factory shaft was cut down to about 6" and secured into the inanimate carbon tube with epoxy. This, along with the lack of clamps really reduced the weight. A couple of holes for the armrest and pod completed the project. Looks like he even got the button on the end of the shaft too.

I will be doing something similar with mine, although I still think I want to try a kevlar shaft just for fun as it is basically transparent to RF.
I'm in the process of finding one with the right diameters tonight. The main thing for me is to get the 0.875" O.D. (~22mm) to fit the pod, i can modify the lower piece if need be, or print a new one.
I'll also tilt the handle a little bit towards myself.

I love this because it is light and simple.

IMG_20180916_161845245.jpg

IMG_20180916_162012334.jpg

 

IMG_20180916_161903270.jpg

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I will keep this thread updated as I make progress.

Here is the tube I am going to use. Roll Wrapped Prepreg Kevlar Round Tube ~ 0.75" ID x 48"

Please note that the kevlar tube in the link is ever so slightly small on the inside dimension to fit the Equinox lower shaft as is. I am aware of this and plan to deal with it. Don't order this particular tube unless you can sand down the lower shaft a bit. (A bit less then a mm)

The carbon fiber tube my Dad used has a thinner wall. The lower shaft fit a little loose, he used a bit of tape the center it, ultimately the epoxy fills the void nice.

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I did mine with a 36" carbon fiber tube but left the lower factory length. Also canted control box in slightly and like that even though it wasn't planed:rolleyes:  My lower fits perfect, no slop and one of pluggers clamps keeps it tight. What did he use the epoxy for, the holes?

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  • The title was changed to Diy Equinox One Piece Straight Shaft

I thought I would do a bit of prototyping while I wait for the Kevlar shaft to arrive.

This is just the lower part of the yoke, I wanted to test the fit of the grommets without printing off the whole thing.

The other night I printed off an Excalibur yoke from Thingiverse that someone designed. I printed it with this same polyethylene, I couldn't break it with my hands so it should be plenty strong without having to make it from Nylon. I think I will still make it from Nylon because I have some set aside for special projects such as this.

Test yoke 1.jpg

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My advice...... if its being used in the water, make the head a little smaller and increase the size of the rubbers being used.  Also.... use round easily obtainable rubbers.   You wont get nearly the wear on the head and coil ears.  Im betting it needs to be a bit longer where it goes into the lower shaft or it wont stay in place no matter how strong the epoxy.

Like the design...... nice and clean.   But ..... my shaft is 52" long i like a long swing for beach hunting..... there goes that price tag.   I made one as well but with CF.   You can use the ML cuff and lower and without needing the handle your costs are really reduced........ all you need is the shaft and to drill some holes.  It allows you to set the handle where you want it too.  Personal choices here i think..... some like that second coil on its own lower.... they seem to think its faster to put on....... what 2 seconds..... for what price by time they buy that second lower shaft?   Its all cost saving.   I like the ML cuff stand....... but prefer metal that you can heat and adjust to your arm.

 

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8 hours ago, Alluminati said:

I did the the stub part next that goes into the Kevlar tube. I kept the stub short for this prototype, the final version will be about 3" long I guess and have some channels for the epoxy to flow into.

Test yoke 2.jpg

PLEASE share the stl files when you are done! I would love to print one for myself!

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