38 replies to this topic

[justplainduke]

The new Toucan came in the mail today and I was pleasantly surprised; it felt good I'm the hand and was very well made. Fit and finish are king!
The bands sucked, they were short and popped out of the retainer rings. Being a fan of rigging OTT, I installed a kicking new set of Tex Shooter field bands...Wow! Those things have a nice pull and zing 7/16 steel at a deadly speed.
Now on to the modification part:
After 100 shots the flat bands loosened up because the ring holes only allowed a little bit of grip for the bands to seat above them.
The fix: I used a little bit of Oatleys Fix-it-stick, which is basically metal putty/epoxy; I filled the holes and cleaned the residue as best as possible, 5 minutes later it was cured. I put the Tex Shooter Field bands back on and let her rip and that's all it took to make the bands secure.
After 200 rounds I'm becoming very fond of this shooter and I think I'll be using it a lot.

Putty in holes:

[justplainduke]

Update: So the total shots fired down range tonight was 300 + a few.
I like the Toucan!
My griping hand is a little sore from the low profile stainless frame, but the bands held up great. Oh and I don't know how but I took a shot to the webbing of my thumb! Ouch...need to pay more attention!
The next mod will be for just a bit more comfort, no not paracord, it tends to cause blisters.
I'll have to put some creative thought into it and get back to you all.
PS: in hindsight hardwood dowel would be a nicer touch than the metal putty. Next time

Edited by justplainduke, 28 July 2011 - 10:56 PM.

[Tirador]

That is a cool mod! I see you taking up welding in the near future if you haven't done so yet.

I did something similar to this to repair/mod my G10 slingshot, but I used JB Weld. Im sure it's almost the same stuff as the putty you used.

Can't wait to see what else you have in store for the Toucan. It's a cool looking slingshot that you are even adding more coolness to it!

[AlmostHuman]

I was tempted by the Toucan , thanks for the post Duke it's helped me make up my mind and now it's on the list ( the rapidly getting out of control list , the potentially horrendously expensive list , the " why couldn't I have just stuck to naturals , oh well it's too #@*£% late " list )

Pat

[Scooby]

AlmostHuman, on 29 July 2011 - 06:59 AM, said:

now it's on the list ( the rapidly getting out of control list , the potentially horrendously expensive list , the " why couldn't I have just stuck to naturals , oh well it's too #@*£% late " list )

I have one of these lists.. It just keeps growing! hahaha

Dankung also sell a wooden handled toucan; maybe you could create some sort of exotic wood handle Duke?

[e~shot]

Glad to know you like it. you can warp a tennis or badminton grip tape to it for much comfort.

[marcus sr]

lol ive got a list like that too ,thats a nice mod to the toucan been thinking about one of these for a while as well,still undecided as yet
marcus

[Bob Fionda]

What about to mount a wooden hand? Dankung sells a wooden toucan, what do you think about it? I was thinking to buy it.

[Bob Fionda]

Sorry I meant a wooden handle....

[justplainduke]

I almost bought the one with the wooden handle.
I decided that because I have so many other wood slingshots that I would buy something that was just plain steel..

[Bob Fionda]

Yes, I understand. I have Dankung and the same problem. So I wrapped my General Titanium with soft black leather after I took off paracord (sorry I haven't pictures of that) and it worked much better. More grip and better in my hand. I think you've got a very good catapult, I'm wondering to get one as well.

[justplainduke]

Ahhh, I bought some plasti-dip in a spray can, black.
Works like dream!




A few heavy coats of this black rubberized spray and I now have a tactical rubber finish. It grips well and feels solid. It's still not the most comfortable shooter but it's now rigged OTT and it has a great blackout grippy finish. Try it, it was only 6 bucks at home depot!

Edited by justplainduke, 30 July 2011 - 12:02 AM.

[justplainduke]

In the above last pic you'll notice that I also wrapped it in good paracord with an incorporated lanyard. I ran out of paracord so there is no fancy finish knot....next time I maintenance it I'll fix it.
Oh yea, behind it is my new cold steel kudo; it's the best 10 dollar knife that you will EVER find.

Edited by justplainduke, 30 July 2011 - 12:21 AM.

[Tirador]

I like the tactical black plastic look! Do you have a set of Saunders Black Momba bands? They would continue the super stealthy look! I want a black plastic sling shot now

[Bob Fionda]

Looks terrific!

[radray]

Duke,

You did a good job modifying the Toucan. It looks very sharp. Did the plastisol make the slingshot much heavier? Also, do you think the plastisol coating will grip the flat band enough not to need to plug the hole?

Thank you.
Raymond

[Dayhiker]

Duke, you really made a very cool looking slingshot out of that. I have a Toucan and it's going to get the same. Thanks.

[NoSugarRob]

very nice in the black !

[e~shot]

Looks very nice now

[justplainduke]

radray, on 30 July 2011 - 03:51 AM, said:

Duke,

You did a good job modifying the Toucan. It looks very sharp. Did the plastisol make the slingshot much heavier? Also, do you think the plastisol coating will grip the flat band enough not to need to plug the hole?

Thank you.
Raymond

Nope, the magic metal and rubber coat added a negligible amount of weight.
I just started doubling back the bands at the fourks on my other OTTs last night and it helped the band creep with double bands but the toucan already had the hole mods so I couldn't tell if not filling the holes would make a difference.
Ps by doubleing the bands at the forks I meant; I mount them as usual but with 13 mm extra hanging then turn the tails up before wraping with the mounting bands, then wrap the bands as usual. I'll post pics later. It works great and only shortens the bands by 13mm.

Updated pics with double up on fork tips..it makes a difference to my rigs.

Edited by justplainduke, 30 July 2011 - 10:52 AM.

[AlmostHuman]

After seeing the latest pics it's now at the top of the list ..... How durable is the Plastidip ( a lot more expensive over here ) ? Top mod btw Duke .....

[Bob Fionda]

Here's how I wrapped with black leather my Dankung to make a better grip.

Attached Files

•  _MG_0190.jpg   72.69K   33 downloads

[justplainduke]

In hind-sight, I would have been more careful with the black rubber tube that was installed for the thumb and forefinger rests, it tore coming off and I didn't find a solution. So it does bite into my knuckle with the pull of the double bands.
Soo...plan on putting those rubber tube pieces back on!

[justplainduke]

AlmostHuman, on 30 July 2011 - 01:19 PM, said:

After seeing the latest pics it's now at the top of the list ..... How durable is the Plastidip ( a lot more expensive over here ) ? Top mod btw Duke .....

So far it seems durable, but I put on about 5 coats. Sanding the frame first would be a better idea. I didn't but it's still holding up.

[justplainduke]

Bob Fionda, on 30 July 2011 - 02:37 PM, said:

Here's how I wrapped with black leather my Dankung to make a better grip.

Bob, that Leather adds a certain sense of Eurpean class and flair to that one