Zed's Technical Writings

Archive

The flip action

Posted by ZDP-189, in Techniques 28 October 2011 · 180 views

flip, shooting, method

The flip is an important part of the action of a OTF (over the fork) slingshot design.

When the band is under tension, the fork tips provide the anchor point that applies tension and also sets the aim point
When the tension is mostly released, and the projectile is mostly travelling under momentum, it carries the fork out of the way...

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User behavior polls

Posted by ZDP-189, in General Info 23 October 2011 · 204 views

length, design, draw, spending

Many of us work somewhat in isolation. If we only read the forums, a few voices tend to dominate the discussion and these tend to be at the extremes. Therefore, I launched a series of polls to get a feel for the forum's general shooting and buying habits. The polls have run for a year, so I think we have enough data to draw some conclusions. I...

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Slingshot Knuckling

Posted by ZDP-189, in Technical 11 October 2011 · 247 views

accuracy, technique, ballistics

Abstract:

Over normal target distances, using round metal balls, the effect of spin is almost negligible. Pay it no heed.

However, various factors will increase the effect of spin:
long range
high velocity
off center mass distribution
irregular shape
surface texture
large, low density...

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What defines good rubber sheet?

Posted by ZDP-189, in My Slingshots and Bands, Technical 15 August 2011 · 344 views

elastic, rubber, bands

Over the last year I have done quite a bit of band testing. In the end I decided to stick to Thera-band because it is the gold standard, being both durable and fast, but if it's not available locally, you may want to test other exercise bands and medical latex sheet.

Some materials shoot a lot better than others. However, it's easy to tell if a...

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Slingshot Guns - summary, ideas and prior art

Posted by ZDP-189, in Technical 23 January 2011 · 527 views

trigger, release, slingshot gun

A slingshot gun is an elastic-powered slingshot that uses a stock and trigger mechanism to increase power and accuracy. In this blog entry, I post some discussion, examples, patents and prior art relating to this topic. I have a fair amount of experience in this subject, following several builds over decades of obsession and it was research of...

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Attaching tubes and solids to the fork

Posted by ZDP-189, in Techniques 21 January 2011 · 318 views

attachment, solids, tubes

I was asked today to help troubleshoot a tube bandset that wore out prematurely by abrading at the left fork tip as it passes through a drilled hole. Tubes are not my area of expertise, but I have hung out on this forum so much that I can pretty much guess what the experts would say. Just in case others who are more experienced may disagree, I...

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Cutting out a board cut frame

Posted by ZDP-189, in Techniques 17 January 2011 · 533 views

frame, how-to

Introduction

A common question asked by beginners is What's the best way to cut out a board cut slingshot frame? There are many many tools and techniques that can be used to successfully cut out a board cut and that's the reason for this style's great popularity. Anyone can do it with what they have to hand. That said,...

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Thoughts on Band Chains

Posted by ZDP-189, in My Slingshots and Bands 12 January 2011 · 326 views

bands

This blog entry encapsulates my earlier forum posts on band chains (link) and some subsequent musings prompted by the recent resurgence of chained bands. It is not meant to be controversial, nor detract from others' writings in support of band chains. Band...

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How to adjust band dimensions for different sizes of ball

Posted by ZDP-189, in Technical 05 January 2011 · 262 views

flatbands, performance

A friend asked me how to adjust the width of the band to shoot bigger balls. I figure it's a common question that is worth explaining in my blog.

[quote]I've tried the Green TB 21.5cm x 7.5 x 5 set up tonight with 3/4" steel balls. It works fine.

However, I noticed it's too weak with 12mm steel.

Question: what is the better...

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How to adjust band dimensions for different colours of Thera-Band

Posted by ZDP-189, in Technical 04 January 2011 · 295 views

bands, flatbands, calculation

I was asked today why people choose different thicknesses of Thera-band and how to adjust band dimensions.

Why?

Thinner bands shoot slightly faster, especially when they shoot light projectiles, but they don't last as long as thicker bands. I generally don't like anything thinner than Silver and only sometimes Black, but the...

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