# Rubber discusion



## justone (Jul 5, 2015)

Hi all, I'm new to your forum and I think it is great. I resurrected my old slingshot which uses 3/16 ID tubes. I always thought I was pretty good but couldn't get it on. Which brought me to your forum. The reason for my post is to learn about rubber science. I downloaded Bill's Patriot template and sawed one out, I wanted to try flat band shooting. I bought some .030 latex from McMaster in a sheet 42X12 inches. Which gives me 4 ea 10.5 X 12" pieces. Cutting 3/4" X 1"X 10.5" I get 13 bands per square or 52 bands, 26 band sets for $22.34 or $0.86 / band set. Great. I haven't used flat bands since the '40's, Inner tubes from behind the filling station.
Now the science, I'm not ragging on McMaster, I buy from them all the time, but when I received my .030 latex it was folded in thirds, rolled into a tube and bound with a plastic cable tie. When I un-rolled it and laid it out it has humps from the folding and more important, all along one 42" edge the color of the rubber is a few shades darker in color a waived pattern where the ultra violet hit it. I am using it as planned. I'm ignoring the humps as it won't effect more than 3 bands. I am curious though about the dis-coloration. Will that effect greatly the life of the band? Half the bands I cut will be trimmed to make my Proper length. Next, my background in printing industry teaches me about grain direction in a sheet of paper. If you cup a sheet of paper in your hand and squeeze gently, you can feel more resistance against the grain than with the grain. Similarly I feel a difference when I roll the rubber band sideways and long wise. The piece I received seems to be long grain. A piece I purchased previously was 6" X 36" also seems to be Long grain. Which grain direction is desirable for slingshot? If paper base stock is cut in both directions in order to get the most pieces out of a ream, it is said to be "Dutch" cut. If McMaster's base stock is of a certain size, they may Dutch cut the latex. I guess it is much to do about nothing. One more thing, which is most desirable, .030 latex or Tharaband gold? TBG being only 25 mils, do I need shorter bands? One last observation, I noticed that after 50 to 100 shots the latex stretches about 1/4 inch or more. The trajectory is not as flat. I hope I didn't break any rules being so long winded but these are things I don't hear discussed. Being analytical, I go to the experts. Thank you for your input.


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

i can only somewhat answer your last part of your post. the 1/4 inch stretching. the hotter it is the more rubber will stretch, the colder it is, the lesser it will stretch. i live in the deep south part of california and in the summer, i know my flats will stretch more than usual, so i put on a shorter length, by about a 1/4 or 1/2 inch less than usual. i try to stay around 6 1/4. the thinner the rubber, the more it will stretch. its just about adjusting. as for which is better, latex or tbg? it depends on your purpose and what you prefer, "users preference".


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Wow that's a lot . Lol Use the latex you have and next time order from a slingshot vendor . EX. Tex Herriman Here on the forum painstakingly takes measures to insure a suitable piece of latex is delivered properly for slingshot applications . Past test have shown that .03 latex is about 10 % faster than thera gold . They are both very good choices . The grain direction should not make much of a difference but you can test it for yourself and see . Cut some bands and start shooting . Things will make sense once you get experience . Most of of : HAVE FUN !!!!!


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## justone (Jul 5, 2015)

Thanks Fellas, I hooked up with TexShooter. Good idea. Rr


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