How To Video Series - Part 2 - Finding Center of a Speargun

Speargun Building - Finding the Center of the Speargun Blank

Finding center on your speargun is one of the most crucial steps in quality speargun building. It allows you cut your trigger mech pocket, spear track, pushrod track, and line anchor recess all perfectly in line. Once you have found center, remember to clamp your straight edge down securely and not to move it again until you have finished setting your router fence or marking out your center line. 

The basic process of determining the center is not overly difficult.  Use some type of micrometer to determine the overall width of the speargun blank.  Check the width in multiple locations to ensure the blank is square. If you are getting different width measurements you will need to continue to work on your blank to get it square.

A perfectly square blank is critical to making a quality speargun. If the blank is off, every cut made on the router will be a little off. Always try to aim for perfection. You may not accomplish it, but its better to be close to perfect than way far away.

After the blank is square, you can use your micrometer to make sure you know the blank width.  Half of the total width is your speargun blank's center.  From there you can identify how far back you need to set the router table fence. The speargun building process goes smoother when the fence is set up properly and locked down well.  At that point, you can use the router bits for your center line cuts.

Setting up your router fence either requires a proper straight edge or a quality fence which some router table come with. For more information on how to set up a router fence look here.