Banjo Fitting ??

[Bryan]

This is a pre-US Diveres banjo fitting. I think Sea Hunt Jerry told me it came from Mar-Vel? Does anyone have anymore information about it? If anyone can send me a photo copy or a scan of the advertisment that it appears in I would greatly appreciate it.

Neat thing about it is you can use it with modern valves and short yoke DA and Mistral regulators.....

[YankDownUnder]

Bryan,

Can we encourage Chuck to produce the future banjos this way. It would save the cost of the extended yokes, and regulators could be left unmodified. The yokes are $50 each and the supply may dry up.

Chuck's banjos are probably one of the biggest contributors to vintage diving safety we have seen. I have two, but would certainly buy another, if it could be used without changing the yoke. I have several European regulators which are impractical to convert, and a few American regulators I would not want to tamper with.

[Nemrod]

How do they differ that would allow them to be used with short yokes? I don't see that at all. I can barely get the new banjos into the USD heavy yoke with the thin Dacor valve. The new banjos are awfully thin, so these are thinner yet?

The banjos that Chuck has had machined have made such a huge difference to vintage diving. The only thing on the horizon that could possibly have such an impact would be the "Luis Nozzle."

James

[Bryan]

Here are a couple of more shots. Fitting is used with an early USD short yoke and a Sherwood 3000 psi valve.

I have used this fitting several times in Florida on charters in the keys with rental cylinders and it works fine.

All the long yokes that I had for sale are gone.

Luis's nozzle will modernize the double hose to near current standards. There are a few items still to clear up but they will be available very soon. It is an extraordinary piece of engineering. Luis outdid himself on this one!

Chucks banjos have filled a void in the market and made many many people feel safe diving with a double hose.

I plan on reproducing this version of the banjo as soon as the design is modified so it has a female end that will take a pressure gauge without an adaptor. I'm shooting for a $40.00 retail price in stainless steel.

[1969ivan1]

Holly COW! That thing is super thin! I wonder why Chucko did not copy that version the first time? I did not even know they existed? I guess he did not either?
What are you going to make these out of Bryan? I would think that stainless steel would be pretty cool, but may cost too much. I mean Chucko's already sold for 80 bucks!!! A relative bargain giving that a orig banjo would sell on the BAY for 100 bucks!

[oldmossback]

Yeah, it's thin alright!

My machinest friend, retired now, made high pressure cryoginic fittings, valves etc, for liquid fueled rocket motors.....he told me in laymans terms, all pressure fittings material strength is measured by lbs per sq inch........however, a fitting, valve, line etc, that has a small bore size that may or may not equal one sq. inch could handle higher pressures than what the metal properties are rated for, all things be given equal elsewhere....a fitting that the metal properties are rated at for example: 1000 psi/sq inch can sustain actual higher pressures if the total of the bore surface less than a sq inch, thus one can use thinner material or metal properties of less strength.

There is just not that much pressure exerted against the piece since the total surface is less than what the material is rated at..........NOTE: this is in laymans terms and not to be construed as engineering fact.......there is other critera involved as well and too complicated to go into here........

[Sea Explorer]

I believe this is the add and can be found in Dan's Collection:

http://www.vintagescubasupply.com/banjoad.jpg

It has been their for years.

-Ryan

[Bryan]

Here are a couple of better shots of the adaptor used with a short DA yoke and one with a 4000 psi USD yoke that was used on late model DA's and RAM's.

[Nemrod]

Using the heavy yoke on the Dacor valve I can get the "Chuck Broxton" banjo in there--but barely. Using Dan's modified heavy yoke I can also just get it in between.

That banjo appears bent--was that after thefact or was it made that way?

As thin as those are it would seem stainless would be needed for reliable strength.---not from the pressure but from breaking off should the hose get pulled.

James

[JES]

This banjo looks incredible! Very high speed - low drag...

Bryan, count me in when you get your first run produced.

[oldmossback]

James

I took one of Dan's yokes and removed about 1/16th inch from the inside of the top (small hole side for the knob shaft) before having it rechromed.......gave the necessary space for me on a modern valve head.

That sucker is very thick there compared to the USD yokes.....plenty of metal left.

[Bryan]

It is made in a curve shape to go around various types of valves. It looks thin but it would be darn hard to bend IMO. It is much stronger than it appears in the photos.

This is not high on my list of items I am working to reproduce for the vintage community but should be around in a few months. If all goes well I should have them for sale at Wazee and Portage Quarry.

[Nemrod]

Oldmossback, I did the same thing, used a file to cut out about 16th inch. I just painted it silver for now. Yeah, I will rechrome it when I get some other items together sometime. That Dacor yoke is built hell for stout. Maybe I need to remove a touch more because mine still only works with the Dacor valve. There is plenty of material to play with.
James

[treasureman]

count me in for the banjo when they get made

[Bryan]

Hey Gang! Please stop sending me PayPal payments for the banjo fittings. I don't think they will be done for a couple of months yet. I am still working on the details of getting them chrome plated before I send them out. They are not in production yet. I am hoping to deliver the 1st batch before the 1st of August and then have some for sale at Lake Wazee and Portage Quarry. This will work especially well for Stream Air's, Mistrals, DA Navy, DA Navy Approved and Broxton Aqua-Lungs that have the short yokes that most people don't want to trade out or ruin the originality of their regulator by installing a long yoke on.