Swing Arm Alternatives

[phrunt]

I've never been overly impressed with the swing arm design of the GPZ 7000, it does its job of course but the rubber part on it is always doomed for failure.  I've never really used my swing arm but JW who I often detect with always uses his, he's a real coil control person and I'm wilder and crazier however I've decided with gold getting very hard to get I need to up my game. 

I've seen JW break his swing arm I think 3 times it is now since I've known him and I can't be bothered with that and trying to deal with warranty and the costs associated with sending it in all the time.   I figured I'd have a go at making my own for my 6000 and use that as a starting point, the idea to do so came out of nowhere, I was going through stuff in my garage having a clean out and found some old alloy pipes that looked like they were off a tent and had just the bits I needed to give it a go, I wanted to do it all out of junk I was getting rid of.

So, I dismantled the pipes, drilled out the rivets holding the plastic bits I wanted on and salvaged what I needed.

 I also had some old ski poles I was throwing out which gave me an idea to use as a handle, they're made of super light fiberglass too so added no real weight to it.  I used old electrical conduit PVC pipe for the main shaft of it.  I might make a carbon fibre version next with a black ski pole handle 🙂

My bits and pieces.  The black connectors were off the tent poles, the PVC pipe and my ski pole that I've cut to size.  I wanted a bit of the fiberglass up inside the PVC for strength and for more grip when gluing.  Oddly the ski pole was quite a tight fit inside the PVC so it worked out perfectly, just some good epoxy and they're now stuck together for life.  I removed the strap out of the ski pole handle.

Just a little Velcro strap to hold it up next to the detector when not in use, doesn't really need it as it stays there by itself pretty well.

I used a nylon nut and bolt to hold it on, I might get a bigger tougher one if that one causes a problem.  I had to heat the PVC pipe to get it over the little black connector as it was too tight of a fit, once heated I was able to squeeze it in with some epoxy on it, very tight fit though.

and my ski pole handle, worked out nice, comfortable to hold too.

So, I'm open to ideas, has anyone made one? Made a better design? This was just a quick 15-minute job and I have lots of the parts left to make up more so I can adjust my design, I've a few more ski poles laying around that are old junkers too that I can rip handles off if I rebuild it differently.  I'm going to make one up for my GPX 5000 too once I'm completely happy with it'.

 

[phrunt]

Velcro was too time consuming so I thought of an upgrade for that and after some hunting in my junk collection I found what I needed.

Just pushes into the rubber clamps in seconds, easy to get in and out and a perfect fit.  

This is the gadget here if anyone wants to get one, they're very cheap.

[Doc]

11 hours ago, phrunt said:

Velcro was too time consuming so I thought of an upgrade for that and after some hunting in my junk collection I found what I needed.

Just pushes into the rubber clamps in seconds, easy to get in and out and a perfect fit.  

This is the gadget here if anyone wants to get one, they're very cheap.

Hey Phrunt I like that gadget.  The semi-rigid rubber will probably take a lot of abuse.  It would work perfect on my SAGA, Swing Assist Guide Arm.  Do you have access to a lower rod for a GPX machine?  That is what I use on my SAGA Swing Arm and it is the most expensive item to ship because it's so long.  So I could send you all the other parts minus the rod, and also an Ultra Swingy Thingy with a new Qwipple bungee.  If you pay for the shipping I will send you the goodies No Charge.  Just because I'd like to see you use them and comment on them.  It would give me some good exposure over in New Zealand.  Let me know.  

Warm regards, 

Doc

[phrunt]

7 hours ago, Doc said:

Hey Phrunt I like that gadget.  The semi-rigid rubber will probably take a lot of abuse.  It would work perfect on my SAGA, Swing Assist Guide Arm.  Do you have access to a lower rod for a GPX machine?  That is what I use on my SAGA Swing Arm and it is the most expensive item to ship because it's so long.  So I could send you all the other parts minus the rod, and also an Ultra Swingy Thingy with a new Qwipple bungee.  If you pay for the shipping I will send you the goodies No Charge.  Just because I'd like to see you use them and comment on them.  It would give me some good exposure over in New Zealand.  Let me know.  

Warm regards, 

Doc

That's very kind of you Doc, that would be fantastic, yes, I have a spare GPX 5000 lower shaft.

The little rubber clip thing seems great quality and so quick and easy to use.  It might be worth looking into if you don't already have something better.  I believe they made it so you can attach a pinpointer or torch to your shaft but it works great for a swing arm.

 

[dig4gold]

On 10/19/2023 at 10:52 AM, phrunt said:

I've never been overly impressed with the swing arm design of the GPZ 7000, it does its job of course but the rubber part on it is always doomed for failure.  I've never really used my swing arm but JW who I often detect with always uses his, he's a real coil control person and I'm wilder and crazier however I've decided with gold getting very hard to get I need to up my game. 

I've seen JW break his swing arm I think 3 times it is now since I've known him and I can't be bothered with that and trying to deal with warranty and the costs associated with sending it in all the time.   I figured I'd have a go at making my own for my 6000 and use that as a starting point, the idea to do so came out of nowhere, I was going through stuff in my garage having a clean out and found some old alloy pipes that looked like they were off a tent and had just the bits I needed to give it a go, I wanted to do it all out of junk I was getting rid of.

So, I dismantled the pipes, drilled out the rivets holding the plastic bits I wanted on and salvaged what I needed.

 I also had some old ski poles I was throwing out which gave me an idea to use as a handle, they're made of super light fiberglass too so added no real weight to it.  I used old electrical conduit PVC pipe for the main shaft of it.  I might make a carbon fibre version next with a black ski pole handle 🙂

My bits and pieces.  The black connectors were off the tent poles, the PVC pipe and my ski pole that I've cut to size.  I wanted a bit of the fiberglass up inside the PVC for strength and for more grip when gluing.  Oddly the ski pole was quite a tight fit inside the PVC so it worked out perfectly, just some good epoxy and they're now stuck together for life.  I removed the strap out of the ski pole handle.

Just a little Velcro strap to hold it up next to the detector when not in use, doesn't really need it as it stays there by itself pretty well.

I used a nylon nut and bolt to hold it on, I might get a bigger tougher one if that one causes a problem.  I had to heat the PVC pipe to get it over the little black connector as it was too tight of a fit, once heated I was able to squeeze it in with some epoxy on it, very tight fit though.

and my ski pole handle, worked out nice, comfortable to hold too.

So, I'm open to ideas, has anyone made one? Made a better design? This was just a quick 15-minute job and I have lots of the parts left to make up more so I can adjust my design, I've a few more ski poles laying around that are old junkers too that I can rip handles off if I rebuild it differently.  I'm going to make one up for my GPX 5000 too once I'm completely happy with it'.

 

In your photo of the connection to the main shaft, am I reading correctly that the white pvc pipe has made in NZ on it? So we do make some stuff here. Well I'll be damned.

D4G

[phrunt]

30 minutes ago, dig4gold said:

In your photo of the connection to the main shaft, am I reading correctly that the white pvc pipe has made in NZ on it? So we do make some stuff here. Well I'll be damned.

D4G

Not any longer, the PVC is now black 🙂 but yep, made in NZ with the black fittings made in Australia.  An oddity for sure.

[phrunt]

Well, my package from Doc arrived and the shipping from USA was surprisingly fast, I must say I love his attention to detail, everything on his products is very well designed which is something somebody with my uncontrollable attention to detail is appreciated.  Instructions and information that comes with them is great.  The harness is excellent for someone like me that can't stand being strapped up like a turkey as some call it, I've complained about the harness stuff since day 1 and refused to wear one.  it's lightweight and you hardly notice it's on, it's comfortable.  The clip system for the bungee is fantastic, a single handed easy to do clip, no need for two hands or messing around trying to do it with one hand like others it just works and works easily. 

The harness holds up my pants with its clip system which is handy as for some reason my pants like to expose my plumbers crack (coin slot) when I'm digging targets, with this harness it holds my pants up so problem resolved 😛

I'm yet to use the Swing arm which is the thing I was most excited about with it being able to rotate all directions for hillside rocky detecting as I've got to sort out the pole for it, I thought I had a GPX shaft laying around but I must have given it away with my 4500 when I got rid of it so I'm going to use a carbon fibre or PVC pole as an alternative, it's damn near impossible to buy GPX shafts in NZ, I'd have to import one and it's easier to use something better like carbon fibre tube so I'll get that sorted out now that it's arrived so I've got an idea of sizing to use.  

I like that the products are purpose designed and manufactured to specification and not just off the shelf bits and pieces assembled by the seller to resemble a product like many of the Ebay options available and even the original Minelab GPX bungee system, and no 3D printing! 

I ran the harness and bungee today on my Manticore, and while it's such a light detector I personally don't need that sort of setup on it I wanted to test it out, and I'm happy with it.   The swing arm I should have up and running in a couple of days once I get to the shops for the tube. 

 Thanks @Doc, I really can't wait to use the swing arm.  

[Doc]

Glad you like it.  Remember this stuff has to be perfect because everything I design I first design it for me.  I want it to work exactly as I know it should, not just to make a quick sale.

And yes you are right people who try to invent things get off the shelf garbage made for other things and try to modify it to work for what we do.  

I don't!   I design things to be task specific.  That means a lot of money goes into molds, and having things like bungee made to my exact specification.  That means there is minimum orders required.  In the case of the bungee I had to order 3 miles of bungee.  LOL, I need to invent something else that uses bungee because I can't imagine selling three miles worth of Qwipples.

Thank you Simon,

Doc

[phrunt]

Well, I tried out my Doc version of a swing arm today the SAGA, unfortunately not for a gold detect as I didn't have that much tine so I was just using it looking for coins more as a test case than anything as It's not overly necessary for that task although I was using the CTX with 17x13" coil which it helped a bit with due to the size and weight of the coil.

The multi direction pivot of it is fantastic and how the original swing arm by Minelab should have been, easy to put it on and off detectors too so I'll just have it follow me to which ever detector I want to use it on.   I can see it being very beneficial when I detect vertical walls of soil which I quite often do.  Thanks Doc, I like it a lot, much better than my attempt and a whole lot better than the original too.

[Doc]

15 hours ago, phrunt said:

Well, I tried out my Doc version of a swing arm today the SAGA, unfortunately not for a gold detect as I didn't have that much tine so I was just using it looking for coins more as a test case than anything as It's not overly necessary for that task although I was using the CTX with 17x13" coil which it helped a bit with due to the size and weight of the coil.

The multi direction pivot of it is fantastic and how the original swing arm by Minelab should have been, easy to put it on and off detectors too so I'll just have it follow me to which ever detector I want to use it on.   I can see it being very beneficial when I detect vertical walls of soil which I quite often do.  Thanks Doc, I like it a lot, much better than my attempt and a whole lot better than the original too.

But where are the pictures.  You know what they say, if there are no pictures it really didn't happen. 😁

Doc