Water Rig Ready To Go For The Season :detecting:

[Willy_MN]

Finished up straight shafting the Excal II today. Shaft is home-built with tubing from DX Engineering and cuff/control guard from Babbs. Finished it off with an aluminum mountain bike bar end and stainless fasteners. It turned out great and what an improvement in balance and comfort.....can't wait to try it out in the water. I also threw the headphone guts into a set of Peltor 98's and what a huge difference in cutting background noise and getting the tones to your ears! I cannot recommend this mod enough to everyone.....thanks Mr. Gold Master for this concept! As an added bonus, my new Diamond Head showed up on Friday as well -- fine piece of American-made craftsmanship right there.

As soon as we can get the ice off of these MN lakes, I am ready to roll and cannot wait to get in the water! Happy hunting to everyone.....Willy

 

[OldBeechnut]

Almost to nice to get wet!! Great Job on all the details...like the Panhead Allens...joe

 

[Terra1959]

Hey that looks great
Would mind taking a close u pic of the mountain bike grip how its attached ...please ?

I am thinking about a straight myself but dont have the $ to buy one
thanks
T59

 

[Willy_MN]

Thanks for the comments guys. It was a fun project that helped (somewhat...LOL) to combat this unbelievably long MN winter that we've had.

T59, the handle just has a collar TIG welded to it with a cap screw to tighten up on the shaft (pic below). They are reasonably priced -- ~$9 for a pair through Amazon. Also, I bought the tubing through DX Engineering. Here's their web page for the 7/8" drawn aluminum tubing. $2.75 for a 3' length. The cuff and control guard were the most expensive pieces of the build ($36.50 + shipping). You could reuse the stock Excal cuff and maybe get by without the guard. I didn't want to take any chances without the guard though as there is no other place for the machine to rest now, but on the control pods. Excluding shipping, I have just about $50 into the shaft. Good luck with it and feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

Happy hunting.....Willy

 

[pratt]

Awesome job willy vary nice.

 

[Md Epidemic]

Great job, I am working on one also hope it looks as good as yours.

Epi

 

[erikk]

U did a nice job with the build but with the unit (battery and detector) extended behind the elbow there is better balance and less drag as you swing through the water. Another suggestion would be to glue a piece of mouse pad to the cuff to cover the bolt head dimples as they will wear a hole in your arm with the constant rubbing HH

 

[NamVetLesTreasureSeeker]

Hey Willy MN, I have been detecting with EXCALS' on Straight Shafts for 11yrs. NOW!! I would RECOMMEND TO YOU the SAME THING, that
ROBERT (TECH.) at the OLD MINELAB CO. told me to do, after I sent my 1st EXCAL in for a COIL CHANGE!! Go to your local
HARDWARE STORE or LOWES/HOME DEPOT, and purchase ENOUGH (have to count & figure how many you'll need) NYLON 1/4"
PLASTIC WASHERS (white in color) and PLACE ONE on EACH END of your STAINLESS STEEL BOLTS & NUTS, and ALSO between
the UNDERNEATH PORTION of your ARMCUFF!! This is VERY IMPORTANT in that IT PREVENTS S-T-R-E-S-S FRACTURES in the
PLASTIC HOUSING of the CONTROL POD & BATTERY POD!! You DO NOT want to have STEEL TOUCHING YOUR PLASTIC HOUSING
FLARED ENDS!! Also, CHECK YOUR WINGNUTS OFTEN while detecting, because MANY TIMES some of the WING NUTS will COME
LOSE while you are detecting, and you can LOSE the WING NUT in the WATER or on the BEACH!! You may have to BUY LONGER
BOLTS, but SAVE YOURSELF HEADACHES and buy STAINLESS STEEL, also BUY SOME EXTRA WINGNUTS & 1/4" NYLON-PLASTIC
WASHERS, and KEEP them in your car, so you DO NOT LOSE a days detecting!!

Also, if you are detecting in a SALTWATER ENVIRONMENT, SEPARATE the Lower Shaft from the Upper Shaft AFTER EVERY OUTING
and THOROUGHLY WASH & RINSE the INSIDE of your STRAIGHT SHAFT!! THEN let it AIR DRY OVERNIGHT before you ATTACH the
Lower Shaft to the STRAIGHT SHAFT!! Otherwise after a period of time, Lower Rod WILL SEIZE UP from OXIDATION, and YOU WILL
have a DIFFICULT TIME separating the TWO SHAFTS!! Also, get yourself an EXTRA Lower Shaft w/MINELAB Washer INSERTS & several
1/4" NYLON PLASTIC BOLT & WINGNUT!! BEST OF LUCK from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, Les Robinson

 

[Terra1959]

Thank you Willy for your time and trouble

 

[plugger]

n/t

 

[Willy_MN]

Thanks for the comments and tips guys. I will pick up some of the nylon washers -- the screws already have split washers on them. All the hardware is stainless and I always have spare parts in the truck. Happy hunting.....Willy.