Hi Richard,

Your method seems like a lot of work for the end
result but since I came up with a better, way I think
the hockey puck deal was lame, and it was my idea so
please don't take offense, as none is intended.

I wrote the articles on making them, so from my
experience I would say if you don't want to remove the
hardware just tie the spring on with cave line.  If
diving with them that way doesn't convince you that
they're the best thing since sliced bread, then take
them off and forget about them.

Once you are willing to remove the hardware but want a
quick and dirty method of attachment use a SS D-ring.

If you want it to look "purdy" use delrin blocks
machined with a table mounted router.

For in depth instruction on how to make them and all
about them see Mark Zurl's web site 

http://www.deeperstuff.com/

The reason that 11" springs are specified in most
instructions (mine at least) is that they are readily
available from McMaster-Carr. With 11" springs and
Turtle fins I had to cut about 2" off the spring to
get the right fit. When I switched to ScubaPro Jet
Fins I had to use the whole 11" and I have a 9 & 1/2
foot.  Others with bigger feet will need more spring
length.  By going directly to a spring manufacturer
you can get any length you want but there may be
(probably will be) minimum quantities involved.

Dave Dalton
 
--- "Richards, Simon" <richardss@nm*.co*> wrote:
> 
> I have been playing around trying to make my own
> spring straps for a while,
> and I have been trying a slightly different method
> of attaching the springs
> to the fins.  I would appreciate people's views on
> this.
> 
> What I have done is this:
> 
> (1) hook the springs directly onto the existing
> attachment hardware on the
> fins, and bent the hook end of the spring back
> inside the spring so that it
> won't come off;  this makes the mechanical
> connection, and so all that now
> needs to be done is cover up the connection to
> prevent any entanglement risk
> 
> (2) take about 2 to 3 inches of the 1/2 inch inside
> diameter tubing (which
> you need some of anyway for the spring heel covers),
> and cut it in half
> lengthways
> 
> (3) push it through the attachment hardware, bend it
> round, and push the two
> ends together, so that they join around the spring
> 
> (4) slip a half inch length of thin bicycle inner
> tube over the two ends to
> hold them together (actually a one inch length
> folded double on my first
> version).
> 
> I am aware that a picture tells a thousand words.  I
> don't have a website,
> but I'm happy to e-mail something.
> 
> I have done a couple of dives like this and they
> seem to work fine.  There
> should really be no force at all on the rubber
> covering of the attachment,
> because it is just a covering.  My plan is to glue
> the inner tube section
> onto the rubber tube, and then put a small band of
> shrink wrap over it to
> hold it all firm.  I am toying with the idea of
> using a much longer section
> of inner tube which runs the whole length of the
> spring strap and covers the
> whole spring, hopefully preventing any possibility
> of a line being caught in
> a stretched spring.  I have played with a few
> different types of tubing, and
> found that the "santoprene" 1/8 inch wall seems to
> glue OK in this way, if
> you use "seal cement" (neoprene cement) and clean it
> up well and roughen it
> before glueing.  Alternatively a couple of tie-wraps
> or a hose clip might do
> the job of holding the tubing on (in both cases
> covered by a piece of inner
> tube or shrink wrap to prevent entanglement).  It
> has also occurred to me
> that it must be possible to find rubber end stops
> with a 1/2 inch inside
> diameter, and a cross hole could then be drilled at
> the end for the
> attachment hardware to go through, and this would be
> the simplest way of
> doing it, although it would require removal and
> replacement of the existing
> attachment hardware.
> 
> The motivation for this approach is that it saves
> any machining etc (or that
> whole business with the hockey pucks), and it has a
> smaller and smoother
> profile than some of the other attachment methods. 
> It can also be done in
> about 10 minutes without removing the original
> mounting hardware on the
> fins, and it is dirt cheap.  The idea of a longer
> covering for the whole
> spring comes frrom the EE straps (which I have a
> pair of).  By the way, I
> notice that the EE XL straps seem to use a longer
> spring than some of the
> articles recommend (12.5 inch vs 11 inch).
> 
> I would hate to be involved in "stroke see, stroke
> do", so this idea is made
> for discussion, not as a recommendation to anyone. 
> Please note that I
> haven't done any serious dives with it, I haven't
> shown it to any serious
> divers, and I am currently diving with EE straps
> which (I would guess) have
> been properly exposed and tested.
> 
> Comments appreciated.
> 
> Simon Richards
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
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