Sandy Shafts

[EVIE/BEE]

Now i understand.. try schedule 80 pvc.
Super strong will do the job.

https://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/resource-center/schedule-40-vs-schedule-80-pvc/

 

[IBGold]

Excel Composites in Melbourne sell carbon fibre fibreglass composite shaft in 2. meter length's in the correct sizes you require it is what I use for my own shafts.

Regards, Ian.

 

[pinfire opals]

What were the shafts the 2 Vic boys were using this year on AGH, looks like they can handle a large coil.

 

[Deepseeker]

I gave the Sandy Shaft upper and lower combination a trial run near Kingower yesterday- :Y: :Y: :Y: :Y:

No twisting, flopping, flexing or fighting with the Minelab toy-like shaft twist lock. Sandy Shafts are one purpose built piece of equipment, and the shaft locking system is precision machined and chalk and cheese compared to Minelab's effort. Not cheap, but then not much worthwhile and quality is......

One other thing of note is that I no longer have an 8mm stainless steel bolt through the upper shaft to hold the two shafts together. Neither do I have an aluminium upper shaft anymore, plus I have also replaced the stainless steel screw and nut on the bungy clamp with a coil lug plastic srew and nut. Now I'm not sure how much of the sensitivity improvement is the absence of stainless steel bolts/screws/nuts, aluminium upper shaft, or the carbon composite sandy shafts and the fact that I can dangle my 25" DDX coil a couple of inches further away from me and the control box, on a longer shaft combo with still zero twisting and movement, or indeed a combination of all these things?

But, I will say this unequivocally- I have an enormous increase of sensitivity as a final result of this act of jettisoning Minelabs feeble offerings.
A few times when retrieving a small target (and remember, I had already pinged a 1.5 grammer with the 25" DD-x before the minelab shaft dummy spit), I kept getting a signal on the weekend as I moved my arm with the scoop from the hole to my coil to check/discard the soil. It drove me nuts! I checked to see if something metal was stuck in the scoop- Nope. Checked around my shirt sleeves/cuffs to see if something was caught up- Nope. Tried it without my gloves on- Nope- AAAAARGGHH!.

Then I realized- it was as I turned my head left to right, right to left- from the hole to the coil, and then from the coil to the hole. The Only things that I have out front are the fillings in my teeth and the glasses on my face. Of course, it was the glasses (damned lucky actually, as I didn't fancy getting all of my teeth pulled for the sake of a cleaner signal!).

That has never happened before. I have to check the scoop at complete arms length with my head back as far as I can. That's incontrovertible proof for me. The new shaft set-up is an all out winner :Y:

Thanks again everyone who contributed above,
With special thanks to Mbasko and OzzieAU for sharing their experiences with the product :Y: :clap:

 

[ProspectorPete]

Hey Deepseeker, that's great you've solved the problem of the sloppy shaft.
Now you have the new issue of having to lean right back at arms length with the scoop while finding the target, I had a similar issue when I used to detect with dual speakers and they would cause bad feedback when the target in the scoop passed over the coil, I came up with this easy fix, it's just a 400mm length of 32mm PVC over the scoop handle and fixed with liquid nails.
Works a treat and thought it may help solve your new issue.

 

[Deepseeker]

Thanks ProspectorPete, that is one brilliant idea! I'll do that too.

-Cheers! :Y:

 

[Deepseeker]

Looks like I've had to revive this thread again.......

The Sandy Shaft upper/lower combo that I eventually bought for the 5000 after the saga above, is a fantastic set-up. I've since bought an 80cm Detech Concentric coil from Stinky Pete, and so thinking I'll just buy another upper/lower Sandy set to mount onto the Detech Concentric (thus just swapping the control box over when I change coils), I jumped back online to purchase again. The only thing is, nobody seems to have them listed anymore! All the various prospecting equipment suppliers that I have checked online, either have removed all reference to them or have them listed as "Out of Stock".

I'm not interested in the coiltek shafts, as although better than Minelabs shafts they are still nowhere near being in the same league as the Sandy Shafts and their compression fitting shaft lock.

Does anybody know of anywhere that still has some in stock? I've tried Reeds, Townsville Prospecting World, Lucky Strike, & Miners Den but still no joy.

 

[PeterInSa]

Re( I kept getting a signal on the weekend as I moved my arm with the scoop from the hole to my coil to check/discard the soil.............

Then I realized- it was as I turned my head left to right, right to left- from the hole to the coil, and then from the coil to the hole. The Only things that I have out front are the fillings in my teeth and the glasses on my face. )

With the Z I endeavour to use Plastic Framed Sun Glasses.

 

[OzzieAu]

Have you tried Nenad.... PhaseTech. I got an upper shaft from him awhile back.

 

[PhaseTech]

QldSandy stopped doing them a while ago. I sold my last one recently.

 

[thefitter]

QldSandy stopped doing them a while ago. I sold my last one recently.

Whats a good alternative mate

 

[Deepseeker]

QldSandy stopped doing them a while ago. I sold my last one recently.

Thanks Nenad, that's so sad to hear. I believe the gland nuts were machined in NZ and the rest made here in Oz (or Vice Versa). I've got an 80cm Concentric landing soon, and I was hoping to just swap the 5000 control box over between the 25" DDX and the Detech 80cm, leaving the shafts and coils as a complete set.