Sandy Shafts

Prospecting Australia

Help Support Prospecting Australia:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Aug 13, 2018
Messages
2,060
Reaction score
4,342
Ok, so I've done a search on the forum and the net looking for info regarding shaft materials for a metal detector.

Some background- After spitting venom for some time about the quality of Minelabs components (I've long said that I want their control box and would rather make up the rest of my detector from aftermarket parts and accessories), I've decided/realized that perhaps I've been a little too harsh on Minelab....

Reason being, I run big coils. I started off for a while using an 18" Commander DD, then I bought myself a 21" x 17" Detech SEF (which I still own), added to the collection with a 20" NF Mono Advantage, but for quite some time now I've been running a NF 25" DDX, and I understand that in all fairness to Minelab, the stock standard shafts and associated parts and materials were never designed to run such big heavy coils constantly.

First I broke a shaft lock and had to replace it with one I bought from Nenad. Then I broke that one so bought myself a whole new Minelab upper shaft and a Coiltek Carbon Fiber lower shaft. Not long after, the lower shaft split completely in a straight line from one end to the other which caused the DDX to flop around on the end and drive me nuts.

So........ I bought another Minelab lower shaft to replace it, only to then have the shaft lock on the upper go again ]:D

So, then I locked the shaft lock as best I could, and filled the bloody thing up with Supa-Glue, AND drilled an 8mm hole right through the guts of the shaft just above it, where the lower shaft passes inside the upper shaft, tapped an 8mm thread in the hole and inserted an M8 stainless steel screw through the whole bloody lot with a stainless steel Nyloc nut locking the whole thing together!!!! Sure, no longer height adjustable, but it's set to my height and is perfect for 'lil ol' 5' 6" me.

Thinking that I had outsmarted Minelab, Coiltek, Nugget Finder, and all of the Detecting gods in total, I then enjoyed some months of trouble-free detecting with my whopping great coil, and I must say I finally got to experience the pleasures of a stiff shaft, including I might add, finding my first 1.5g nugget :perfect:

Then...............Last week what happens? The eye insert of the bottom shaft (the stem that is glued into the bottom end of the lower shaft and has an eye that pushes in between the coil lugs for the coil to pivot on) decides to fall out of the end of the lower shaft

1601709251_1581901842_suicideemoji.jpg


I've supa glued the offending part back into the lower shaft today, which will get me by, but I'm sick to death of this stupid game, and I don't like the idea of continually adding more and more metal in the way of screws and nuts into the shaft equation so close to a large sensitive DDX coil. Has anybody else who runs a GPX with big heavy coils had any experience with Sandy Shafts and their compression fitting style shaft lock in a combined upper and lower set-up? Are they any better than Genuine Minelab shafts?

Thanks in Advance,
Deepseeker
 
I converted over to a Sandy Shaft set up a few months ago.
The lock nut on the Minelab upper still does up, to a point then loosens like it's stripped, but anything bigger than a 14" coil felt like it was flopping around all the time.
Always wanted to try out the Sandy Shaft so took the plunge.
The lock nut set up on the Sandy Shaft definitely feels a lot sturdier than the Minelab shaft lock nut & tightens with less force. It doesn't feel like it will fail/strip like the Minelab one.
It's early days for me yet really but I'm also finally experiencing the "pleasures of a stiff shaft" :eek: :argh:
My Coiltek lower shafts also fit into the Sandy upper nicely too - a little bit tight if anything but I'm using a couple of them without issue.
 
Thanks guys. I read your replies so took the plunge. Nenad only had the Lower Shaft listed, so I did a google search and found both the Upper and Lower available from Townsville Prospecting World, and ordered both express post. Hopefully that will be the end of the saga!

Thanks again guys,

-D.S
 
Anniegee said:
Very amusing accounts by you fellas discussing your shaft/coil/nut problems. Ask most of us women and we'll tell you "size doesn't matter"...but using super glue on a broken shaft...well that's another thing altogether...sorry, couldn't help chipping in :lol: :lol: :lol:
Was about to say a whole bunch of stuff but better just shut up instead :lol:
 
There is a heap of funny stuff i could write , but that won`t help your problem .

Have you looked into reinforcing the carbon fiber shafts with a hard tubing over the outside to stop or reduce any flex ? Sounds like you punish your machine a fair bit . You need to reduce the stress points from using the coil and maybe run a strong rope or string or thick fishing wire or thick bungee cord from the bottom of the shaft to the top near the head unit to help with the weight distribution.
Also , if gluing, i would use a good quality 2 part epoxy glue, not superglue . Smells lethal before it dries .but is good stuff. Some have made that lower coil pivot lug out of wood. Probably some sort of ply board. You need to re-distribute the weight in the coil and lower shaft to other areas of the detector to minimise stress on them.

Have you got pics of your broken shaft so we can see the problem ?
 
Have never had any stiff shaft problems. You bloke must really flog yours to death. Some of yez have even broken yer shaft. I can see how that could be a problem butt, errr I mean but. especially when pounding rough territory. :argh: :argh: :argh: :D :D :D
 
Thanks just starting. I've hopefully solved the problem once I have received my Sandy upper and lower shafts. I already run a bungy that is anchored just above where the upper and lower shafts join, that is hooked onto a hip stick that is attached to my harness. I use a guide arm also, which helps control the coil and stops things from flapping around and twisting to some degree, but I have been thinking for a while now that maybe two bungy's may help, or better still some type of guide arm that attaches closer to the coil on the lower shaft.

Thinking about your fishing line/rope idea though has made me think that perhaps another idea may also be to get some thick fiberglass or carbon fiber tubing and securing it to the upper and lower shafts at the bottom, midway, and at the front of the control box in some way that it kind of resembles an over and under shotgun.

The superglue is just until I receive my Sandy upper and lower shafts. There's not much left of the unit now that is genuine Minelab, other than the control box itself and also the quicktrack handle (and even that has been replaced once- if it goes again I'll replace it with a hardwood version). It's a bit like the old story of the janitor who has had the "same" old broom that he has had for nearly 30 years. He's only had to replace the head three times and the handle twice. :)

I don't think I'm overly harsh on my gear, everything gets treated well and nothing gets abused, other than I think the problem is that none of Minelabs equipment was made to have a dirty great big 25" half bundle wound/ half spiral wound coil with a solid skid plate, hanging off the end permanently.
 
Sounds like a bloke with a problem needs to make a wooden shaft for complete and utter pleasure in performance.... could end up in a split with a splinter at worst....wood deepend on how hard the going is.... but I'm betting you could get over mountain with a wooden shaft in the long run... might bend a little bit as your poking around in the bush with it.... but nothing like a plastic one(those things bounce around like rubber as soon as you put em to work)
Anyway... good luck with it :p
 
Dave law said:

I've already searched some of that stuff thanks Dave Law, problem is though it never seems to come longer than 1mtr, so once again we are back to joining two pieces. It's a shame nobody has come up with custom pieces made to length. Having said that I can already see the problem there- Starting with price, and ending in the fact the most postal services won't ship anything over 1.05 mtrs long, meaning specialty courier/freight services and yet again more cost.

I guess if I could find out the correct/best/strongest way to slide one piece of carbon fiber tube inside another and bond them together, I maybe could make my own shaft to length. I thought my Coiltek lower was made from Carbon fiber by the way, but that split as though it was a straight seamed tube. I thought good carbon fiber tubing was supposed to be seamless and not capable of doing that???

Update: I just had a look at the playwithcarbon site that Davelaw has mentioned. They also sell it in 2mtr lenghths :cool:
 
You spend thousands on a detector, i don't understand, things wear and break.

Just buy a couple of spares.
I have one on each coil, saves a lot of messing around. :rolleyes:
 
Have you asked a minelab dealer if they have a solution ? It may have been something they have come across before.
 
It's not so much about wear and breaking Evie/Bee, it's the moving around of a big DD on the end of a flimsy stick. As I said earlier, that's not Minelabs fault, the structure was never designed to take such a big solid DD. If I could end up with a unit that doesn't break or fall to pieces on every second or third day trip I'd be happy :D
 
just starting said:
Have you asked a minelab dealer if they have a solution ? It may have been something they have come across before.

I guess it's a bit like dropping a big V8 into a small 4 cylinder car and then complaining to the manufacturer about the useless front suspension and the tail shaft snapping. No, it's all good, I'm sure the Sandy shaft will be fit for purpose from what I've heard and read since yesterday.
 

Latest posts

Top