18 replies to this topic

[lightleak]

Hello everybody,

after reading lots of posts and looking at your fantastic homemade slingshots I brought home two forks a few days ago. Being new to making naturals I did about everything wrong and both of the forks have fine cracks now.

I decided to go out again today "hunting" for more forks. This time I cut them with lots of extra length (20-30cm). I also sealed the ends with superglue and now keep the forks in the cellar for a few months.

It was a very nice day out there, the sun was setting already when I arrived. This is a beautiful oak tree with many many really nice forks in there. With a proper saw and a mule I could have brought home half a ton. There were other cut down oaks an beeches around.




My stuffed backpack and my swedish army parka - It was -16°C today.




When I was done stuffing my backpack the sun had gone down already and on my way back it was getting dark.







Here is a pic of my haul: 2 beech forks and 5 oak forks.



Here is a pic of my unfinished oak slingshot from last week - the one with the fine hair cracks... the cracks are very fine, maybe not even half a millimeter. Still too much risk to use it?




I hope my new forks will dry out evenly and I can start carving next summer!

Best regards,

l.

Edited by lightleak, 06 February 2012 - 03:49 PM.

[Bob Fionda]

A lot of antlers, you're lucky mate. Very nice your oak one.

[Jesus Freak]

Those look like they would make fine slingshots!

[lightleak]

Thanks for your comments! Do you think I should give it a try with the oak one or are even very fine hair cracks a "no go"?

[cedar hunter]

From what I can see I would try it out, just wear safety glasses. Nice finds!

[Sean]

I'm with what Harpergrace said. Also, as you sand the piece, save the sawdust and fill in the cracks with it then you
can seal it with CA glue and it will probably look quite nice.

sean

[Quercusuber]

Fantastic...Here in Portugal we have the Quercus Suber, which is from the same tree family of the oak!!! Great Forks!!!

[adeptus_minor]

Man, I wish there were some decent forks to be found around here. Good finds there!

[lightleak]

Hello cedar hunter and sean, thanks for the good ideas.

When I walk through the forest now I automatically start scanning every piece of wood for possible slingshot making... I guess I am infected by the virus!

Best regards,

l.

[cedar hunter]

It's a good virus and very addicting. Looking forward to seeing those forks finished!

[bullseyeben!]

Man i wish i had quality tree forks like that in such abundance!
Great job

[Jaxter]

Great job

[Dayhiker]

lightleak, that oak fork you carved is a great one. Do not worry about the cracks. Boil it in heavily salted water for 30 minutes. Let it dry for a day or two. Then sand it and give it some linseed oil or danish oil and you will have yourself a top-shelf catty. If you want to fill the cracks, then do as you said with superglue and sawdust.

Again: that is a real nice fork you carved. The shape is spot on. And don't worry about the strength -- it is definitely strong enough.

[The Gopher]

Just what everyone else said...superglue will be yoru best friend if you make a lot of naturals. and if you ever get a crack that is too big for superglue to fill use epoxy. You can also mix a bit of fine sawdust with epoxy to give it more of a wood look. I prefer the eposy that takes an hour to set more than 5 minute epoxy, but 5 minute is so darn convienent.

Those forks you got are great looking, i just recieved a beech form from DH and am working on it know. It is the first time i have worked with beech and was suprised hwo easily is carved, what a lovely wood!

[SlingGal]

Great forks and great pics!

-Restita

[lightleak]

Thanks for all the comments!

Dayhiker, this gives me hope - I will definitely try that and carefully use it. It feels very strong, I think you will be right and it is strong enough to be used.

Best regards to all,

l.

[NaturalFork]

I really like the oak one you have in the works (your avatar pic). That looks like it would be a great shooter.

[lightleak]

Thanks NaturalFork,

in two weeks I will sand it to a matte finish and remove all the sharp corners and hopefully attach the first homemade TB gold flatbands.

By the way, I have recently bought my first 2.5 meters of TB, a roll cutter, a dust mask, a boilie roller for making my own clay ammo, ballistic protection glasses and some other stuff. I guess I am hooked. I feel like a big kid. Feels good!

Best regards,

l.

[cheese]

good forks and slingshot