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Discussion of diving methods and equipment available prior to the development of BCDs beyond the horse collar. This forum is dedicated to the pre-1970 diving.
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SurfLung
Master Diver
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Help From Our Friends

Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:13 am

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
- Here's a topic for discussion that I think all of us can appreciate. I'm thinking of all the many times our friends on the Vintage Double Hose forum have answered the call for help when one of us was trying to solve a problem. I've benefited from this literally more times than I can remember. I'm thinking it might be fun if each of us listed a few "Helps" we got from our friends on this forum...
1. Saving my first set of Twin 42 tanks. A hydro test facility had rejected them and stenciled "FAIL" on the sides. When I reported this on VDH, I got technical advice from Luis, practical advice from others. And the gist of it was that for steel tanks to fail was rare... Much less two of them. So I found a different Hydro tester and those tanks passed "re-qualification" (Hydrotest) by a wide margin.
2. Remember my beautiful Made In France DA AquaMaster with the bent horn. I couldn't figure how to straighten it without dimpling the can somewhere else. And out of the blue came SwimJim Bach with a can stretcher... Plus a video showing me how to make one myself and use it. Needless to say, it worked slick as a whistle and I've had a beautiful regulator to dive and hang on my wall ever since.
3. Awhile back I got real interested in making all of my reserve valves functional. It was fun learning how they work but some I could not make work because the seats were corroded or otherwise degraded too much to seal properly. So, Tom Madere the Captain offered to sell me some brand new old stock seats for a ridiculously low price. I was so happy, I sent him a few bucks more than he asked for. So when the package comes in, he put some extra stuff in there and said, "Since you sent me Lagniappe, I'm sending you Lagniappe." Lagniappe is a Louisiana custom of adding some free stuff to a deal... Like 13 donuts in a baker's dozen. So I got all of my reserve valves working and improved my knowledge of southern culture, too!

I've got lots more stories like these, how about the rest of you readers of the VDH forum? Can you share one or two stories here?
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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Vancetp
Master Diver
Posts: 401
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:26 pm
First Name: Phillip
Location: Belmont CA

Re: Help From Our Friends

Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:57 pm

I'd love to see the can stretcher....

But, yes, as to advice and encouragement, this forum is great!

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Herman
VDH Moderator
Posts: 1315
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:45 pm
Location: Raleigh NC

Re: Help From Our Friends

Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:26 am

I have gotten a lot of advise and parts from many on this board. More importantly, I have made friends all over this country because of this board.
Herman

swimjim
Master Diver
Posts: 1694
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:28 am
First Name: Jim
Location: Belgium WI

Re: Help From Our Friends

Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:28 am

Vancetp wrote:
Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:57 pm
I'd love to see the can stretcher....

But, yes, as to advice and encouragement, this forum is great!
https://vimeo.com/55484797

swimjim
Master Diver
Posts: 1694
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:28 am
First Name: Jim
Location: Belgium WI

Re: Help From Our Friends

Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:13 pm

I have been helped by many in this community. I don't necessarily want to name names because I don't want to miss anybody. That being said, especially in my early days, Bryan was and still is a huge help. Herman, Bill Tucker and Eben have also got me out of tough spots or developed things to bring back regs to life. Then there was Jerry Mossman with the DivAir diaphragm project. I had made a diaphragm and got my DivAir functioning. Jerry made a silicone one that has been in service for 12 years and still works like a champ.
I have done my best to contribute. The can stretcher was a thing that came into my head and I built it, video'd the build and sent it off to Eben. The thing even worked! Lol. When Bill, Antique Diver, was building his dilluter lung, I came up with a suggestion he said, "Well why didn't I think of that?"
It's a great community which I have been associated with for 14 years. I am proud to be a member. I was never a good student in school. A Biology text book could put me to sleep in thirty seconds. Math was never my strong suit either. But for some reason..... probably because I love diving.... I can delve into ancient manuals and read threads and pull the info out and make my regs both Vintage and modern work awesome.
To those that are new.. Read, read and read some more. Buy a DAAM or a Mistral and rebuild it. Take your time. Tweak it, hot rod it, enjoy the journey. It will be worth every minute!

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Vancetp
Master Diver
Posts: 401
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:26 pm
First Name: Phillip
Location: Belmont CA

Re: Help From Our Friends

Tue Apr 28, 2020 8:15 pm

SwimJim,

You're a diver.

I'm not. I'm a hotrodder.

You take these things down to depths I'd never consider. I'd do 90 fow back in the day, but now my limit is 60. Because you are an experienced diver, I wanted you to try out my Dacor 2020, since I'm never going to press that far. You don't need to be the math guy, you're the test pilot! Thanks!

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Vancetp
Master Diver
Posts: 401
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:26 pm
First Name: Phillip
Location: Belmont CA

Re: Help From Our Friends

Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:52 am

I have bought and sold parts and regulators, gotten inspiration and encouragement for projects, and received general advice from members of the VDH forum. It's great to be able to share with others all over the world who are also interested in vintage diving!

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Vintagediver
Master Diver
Posts: 269
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:28 pm
Location: Benzonia, Michigan

Re: Help From Our Friends

Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:19 pm

You know I've been looking at this thread for several days and I just don't know how to reply. There has been so much helpful advice, friendships developed, participation in different events over the years, campfires and dinners together that it's difficult to sort anything out. As previously mentioned I don't want to mention any names for fear of forgetting someone and not giving them proper recognition so I won't. I've been very thankful and proud to be part of the vintage community and very much appreciate all that I have learned from many of you. I certainly don't know as much or have the experience that many of you do; but I have loved and been thankful for every opportunity I have had to share my ideas or in some way help someone else. Diving has been very good to me and I'm sure many of you for years, and I really believe that what each of us individually and collectively have done in our vintage community has given us an opportunity to give something back to a hobby/sport that we all love dearly.

By the way: Thanks for giving this now 73 year old an opportunity to once again become that 11 year old boy setting on the floor in front of the TV set on Saturday night at 10PM watching Sea Hunt, and to live it with many good friends! :D 8)
The friendship of many has been inspired and created while together we've explored beneath the waves the wonders of God's creation.

NAVED Member #137
Member of The 2016, 2017 Sea Hunt Forever Dive Team

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SurfLung
Master Diver
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Re: Help From Our Friends

Fri May 01, 2020 10:21 am

VR1 Project Helpers
- Back in 2013 I wanted a Voit VR1 regulator. And, seeing how folks were making "faux" regulators from Mistral guts and Rob's plastic Voit cans, I thought to build a VR1 the same way... Only with metal cans. So, have you ever tried to find a Voit front can for sale? They are not to be had at any price. So, I mentioned it to SeaHunt Jerry and he says, "I got ripped off on a Voit Navy with a chewed up back can but the front can looks okay except for having holes drilled in it." So, he literally GIVEs this can to me. I offered to buy him a nice lunch and he says "forget it". I insisted he take something and he says, "Okay send me $25". Thank you Jerry.
- So next I needed a good Mistral guts and back can. These I got from Rob's Scuba Museum at a bargain price... Is there anyone else in the world that sells Mistral "guts" and cans? Thank you Rob.
- Next I needed to repair the holes in the front can. It turns out you can solder brass and when you plate it, the plating will stick to the solder. So, I got started on this as a do-it-yourself project... Got a nickel stripping kit from Brownells gunsmith supply. I think I got the top coat of chrome off with Hydrochloric acid. All set to do the soldering repair and I saw some of the repair and chrome jobs done by DAVE. So, the heck with DIY, I sent it all to DAVE and it came back looking beautiful. Thank you Dave.
- Next came diaphragm hoses and mouthpiece from Bryan and Rob, and finally the reproduction VR1 "Voit Lung" label from Allan. Thank you Bryan, Rob and Allan. I may have missed somebody but you can see I got help from at least 5 VDH friends on this one.
- This has become one of my favorite regulators. It's an easy breather, too. I dove it at each of my Sea Hunt Forever events.
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SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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