Lower rods for the CTX...

[stephenscool]

It will likely be a money losing undertaking. A lot of people complain about the aftermarket prices... they're fairly accurately priced for the quality of the item. Takes a lot of experience and business contacts to get to that stage

 

[stephenscool]

Also you will need the exact size. .1mm bigger or smaller might not seem like much.. until it gets wet with rain or in the water

 

[sprchng]

In never stops amazing me to see the compulsion techy people have to complicate an issue.
My two home DIY rods are still working fine after 18 months and I have maybe $6 and an hour of labor in them,,,,,and a mm here or there is immaterial!!
"Simplicity is sublime" was not just a suggestion , it was a recommendation!

 

[sgoss66]

sprchng --

LOL! I hear you. I tend to "overcomplicated" things. One of my nicknames, given to me by a friend in college, was "hard-way!"

OCD has something to do with it! With that said, the cheap/easy PVC DIY options several of you have shown here are still "on the table" for me. I'd prefer something that strikes a happy medium between "inexpensive" and "looks like the original," but not sure yet if it can be done. If not, I'll opt for the "inexpensive."

But, I want to exhaust my options of building these from carbon fiber, first. If I can secure all the parts/materials needed, for $40-ish per rod, I'm making some.

stephenscool --

Have to disagree with you on the price of the rods. NO WAY should they cost that much. The more I dig into this, the more I'm finding that $20-ish will get ME (a nobody, low-volume buyer) a carbon-fiber rod, and that's buying only one or two. A big company, making a bulk order of 100 or 1000 at a time, and who knows the ins and outs of sourcing materials, etc. I bet they are getting them for $5 or so. Then, that lower piece is simply plastic, and again, sending a "plan" or "prototype" to a place that can produce/fabricate them would likely be do-able for a cost of only a few dollars a pop, at most. I bet those rods don't have more than $15 worth of materials AT MOST in them (the price the companies are paying for them). It's absolutely ridiculous that Minelab's list price on them is like $228!! I have never seen one new, advertised for less than $175. NO WAY is that reasonable, IMO. You can buy a brand-new low-end detector for the cost of ONE LOWER ROD? LOL!

Minelab doesn't seem to understand how many of these they'd sell, if they priced them appropriately. I hunt with several guys who own CTXs. I can think of 4 of us CTX guys, off the top of my head, that ALSO have extra coils for them -- so that's five, including myself. Do you know how many of us have even ONE extra rod? NONE of us. MEANWHILE, all of these same guys, plus several others I hunt with, have, or had, Explorers/E-Tracs, and we all have/had extra coils for those units. You know how many of us had extra rods for the Explorers and E-Tracs? ALL of us. Hmm...what's that tell you? Tells me, if lower rods are priced at around $50 or so (which is what lower rods for Explorers and E-Tracs USED to cost, before Minelab raised their prices across the board a few years back), then MANY people will buy them; but price them at $175, and VERY FEW will buy them. Minelab is, in my opinion, missing the boat here, but that's just me.

ANYWAY, I have been able to source the rods, at whatever custom diameter I want, for $23.88 plus shipping. And that's just my first try, first company, pricing-wise. The dilemma right now is simply that lower piece, where the coil attaches. I'm working on it. If I can source that piece, one way or another, then after that it's nothing but gluing/epoxying, and cutting the tubes to size. I'm buying a digital caliper tomorrow, so I can be sure on the outside diameter of the stock rods, before I go any further...

Steve

 

[stephenscool]

The cf rods will likely have a thin microscopic layer of polyester plastic around it. Once it gets wet it's slippery like black glass.
The rods are fairly easy to get your hands on. The lower clevis part.. not so easy. 3d printing good quality isn't cheap. You could 3d print a mold and then use that to make the molds... again not cheap. Nylon with glass won't go through a 3d printer.
I can tell you the cz21 lower clevis is almost the same size as the ctx. The cf rod section are not even near the same size.
If you really want the 3d part for the ctx send me a pm.. if you want at least a dozen.
I can't state enough how hard this project will actually be. I've made shafts for almost every detector from scratch. Everything. All parts.

This will be much harder than it seems.. Anderson has priced that way for a reason.. there's also a reason why nobody competes with them.
Pvc for $20 a mm off and a little tape is 1 thing.. having a product that looks professional and lasts is another.
Photo is of an excal shaft broken down designed for thinness.. I cant emphasize enough how hard your ctx project will be

 

[sgoss66]

stephenscool -- Nice-looking (and THIN!) Excal shaft there! Nice work!

I have sent you a PM...

Steve

 

[Jeff In North Georgia]

I did something a little different on the ones I made.
Put the wire hole on the side of the yoke to reduce stress on the coil cable wires.
Also the hole is not as sharp as going through the carbon fiber shaft.

 

[trojdor]

Jeff in NG,

Great idea, and looks like excellent workmanship

mike

 

[david.di]

Jeff In North Georgia, your's is a really good idea .

Thanks for showing.

David Di

 

[sgoss66]

Jeff,

That is a REALLY NICE-LOOKING lower piece (yoke, clevis, whatever you want to call it). SUPERB. What I would give to find somewhere to produce that exact piece! At that point, it's just a matter of buying the tubes, doing a little epoxy/gluing, some careful craftsmanship, a few tools and supplies, and there is something viable there -- good quality, at a good price.

This is going to work...

Steve

 

[sgoss66]

Jack --

Thank you for your post!

I am currently in the process of acquiring the necessary parts to assemble one rod, as a "test" to see how it goes. I should have the parts in a couple of days, and I will then have a feel for what the process for assembly is, and whether I am pleased with the build quality. IF I can get the assembly process ironed out, of high quality, and can acquire all the necessary parts and pieces cost-effectively, then I may be able to start selling some of them. It's still in the thinking/evaluating/planning stage, but I will absolutely report back to the forum periodically -- either in this thread, or another, new thread -- reporting on what I find out, and if I can begin selling some of them. I will have more info in the next week to ten days, or so. So, please hang tight, Jack, and I'll have more info available shortly.

Thanks!

Steve

 

[sgoss66]

OR, Jack, did you just mean you would like three of the carbon-fiber tubes, NOT a completed rod?

Either way, I will be back in touch. I'm trying to see if the rods can be sourced cheaper than that $26.90 per rod...I think they can.

Steve

 

[jas415]

The huge market will be for aftermarket Equinox shafts where the coil cable is inside the shaft. In fact, the entire shaft with maybe some sort of offset where the grip is located. If the coil cable could be fed thru the shaft and exit maybe 3 to 5 inches below the handle grip, it would be a simple thing to swap out a coil. It could use the existing locking in place 'pins' near the grip also.

 

[sgoss66]

jas --

You are right, there will be a lot of demand, I'd think, for Equinox shafts. They would be very different to build, though, given that they use those locking pins, etc.

Right now, despite the challenges of building CTX shafts, they STILL seem easier to me than what the Equinox ones would be. I suspect many folks will want to COMPLETELY change the Equinox shaft -- some wanting straight shafts, etc. etc.

Steve

 

[flysar]

My $6 travel rod.
Everything fits in a pack and I carry it onboard flights.
Has worked for land and water.

https://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,2352903,2352903#msg-2352903

 

[sgoss66]

It's a really nice job, flysar, and it was my "plan B" if the carbon fiber build were to prove too difficult to work out. I'm HOPING to be able to make these CF rods relatively inexpensively, but we shall see. The only thing I worry about on a PVC build -- and why I really have pursued the CF route, is the "flex," especially when swinging the 17" coil...

Steve

 

[sprchng]

It's a really nice job, flysar, and it was my "plan B" if the carbon fiber build were to prove too difficult to work out. I'm HOPING to be able to make these CF rods relatively inexpensively, but we shall see. The only thing I worry about on a PVC build -- and why I really have pursued the CF route, is the "flex," especially when swinging the 17" coil...

Steve

Put your 17" on the stock rod and your others on the PVC. Flex is not a problem

 

[sgoss66]

I guess that's possible, sprchng. If the CF route doesn't pan out, I will try this. BUT -- I'm pretty hopeful at this point that my CF project is going to work; it's coming along nicely.

Steve

 

[stephenscool]

I guess that's possible, sprchng. If the CF route doesn't pan out, I will try this. BUT -- I'm pretty hopeful at this point that my CF project is going to work; it's coming along nicely.

Steve

First few tries might be discouraging. . If you keep at it and have the cash to invest hhopefully something turns out.
I will likely be selling shafts aswell. I have all components and will begin assembly after a business trip. Had a trial version in a thread here...
Been doing shafts for a couple years. It's a daunting task.. however, the ctx lower shaft is only 1 part that requires production

 

[sgoss66]

Yep, that lower piece, where the coil attaches, that's the one that takes some work to get designed/produced!

I have all the parts to assemble a "prototype" as we speak; I will see how it goes, and go from there.

Good luck, stephenscool. Your shaft looks real good!

Steve