# First post and where do I begin



## saunterer (May 6, 2014)

OK, I am going to say this as friendly as possible... but I hate you guys. 

I was out in my barn last week, found my old Marksman big box store slingshot and decided that there has to be something better than Daisy, Marsman, Barnett...

Fast forward to this week.

I carved out a generic HTS for myself out of a piece of composite I had laying around...



















I have some leather laying around, and access to TBG.










I have measured my draw lengths, have access to a rotary cutter and I am basically ready to go.

But, I just need a little help on how to cut my bands. Should I just cut them straight, no taper, how wide to I make them 3/4" or 1", or should I just cut them however and tune their lengths for whatever works for me?

Thanks to all that have helped me indirectly on getting this started.


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## saunterer (May 6, 2014)

And here is my method for cutting TBG....


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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

i go 1 inch to 3/4 inch taper at 9 1/2 long thats me others have there way mine works for me.


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## TSM (Oct 8, 2013)

It depends on what type of ammo, how long your draw. If you want more speed, use a tapered cut. If you want longer band life, use a straight cut. My setup is 3/4"-1/2" tapered, 7" active length (between the pouch tie and fork tie) and I shoot mostly 3/8" steel and 1/2" marbles on about a 32" draw. I usually get 200-300 shots before a band change. Hope that helps.


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## saunterer (May 6, 2014)

ghost0311/8541 said:


> i go 1 inch to 3/4 inch taper at 9 1/2 long thats me others have there way mine works for me.


Thanks. I've read a lot (maybe just too much) over the past week, and somewhere mentioned that if my draw was 34" that my bands should be 8.1" or so.



TSM said:


> It depends on what type of ammo, how long your draw. If you want more speed, use a tapered cut. If you want longer band life, use a straight cut. My setup is 3/4"-1/2" tapered, 7" active length (between the pouch tie and fork tie) and I shoot mostly 3/8" steel and 1/2" marbles on about a 32" draw. I usually get 200-300 shots before a band change. Hope that helps.


Thanks. I'll be shooting 3/8" steel for varmint control and probably tons of pea gravel that I have laying around on the farm for fun. I just cut up a bunch of straight and a bunch of tapered (based on http://www.slingshotchannel.com/band_calc.html). I guess I'll just have to try out what works and just have fun with it.


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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

that may be for someone who has a anchor point i dont i draw until it feels right past my sholder most of the time.


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## Mr.Teh (Feb 28, 2012)

A nice shooter, now band it and let the ammo fly, have a good shot !!


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## saunterer (May 6, 2014)

Thanks Mr. Teh,

I whipped up a natural fork tonight and banded it up. I actually like it better.










And of course I banded up the homemade HTS too, with some tapers that I cut out.










Oh trust me, I shot a couple of hundred times tonight since I still have a ton or so of pea gravel left over from a project. Amazing how well these homemade slingshots shot with TBG versus the big box store slingshots. I was knocking soda cans at 30 feet or so with relative ease.


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## Underachiever (Oct 17, 2013)

Very nice shooters, have a great time at this wonderful forum!

Take care and always wear safety glasses!

Luke


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## Whitewolf (Mar 13, 2014)

welcome aboard. This is a great site for us noob's!

Dennis


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## Mr.Teh (Feb 28, 2012)

With bands it looks much better  have fun !


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