# Boiled Leather Slingshot



## Winnie (Nov 10, 2010)

I've been playing around with boiled leather lately. I've made a number of boiled leather pouches and I thought I'd try a boiled leather slingshot.

I put some short carbon fiber rods in the arms to give them a bit of extra strength. I also used the handle for storage. It holds 40 5/16 ball bearings. It is set up to shoot full butterfly and actually shoots really well. Something a little different.


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## swarbt119 (Jan 12, 2011)

That's definitely a unique idea, and it holds your ammo too.


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## glsmith1544 (Jan 28, 2013)

Now aren't you some kinda' tricky little devil!!!!

Me like!!!

Geoff S.


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## Joseph (Feb 14, 2013)

I would definitely buy one of these, the whole all in one package is very appealing to me


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## Thistle (Jan 4, 2013)

Brilliantly *pioneering* of you.

This could open up a whole new world for hand-tooled leathercraft projects. Leather slingshots and matching holsters would be a thing of beauty, and a niche that definitely needs filling among all the wood, metal, and polymers.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

That looks too cool!!! I would really appreciate a tutorial on how you do that.

Cheers ....... Charles


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## Btoon84 (Nov 22, 2011)

very awesome dude! first one i've seen. very innovative, great idea!


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## Popcorn (Mar 25, 2011)

Charles said:


> That looks too cool!!! I would really appreciate a tutorial on how you do that.
> 
> Cheers ....... Charles


Me Too!


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## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

Looks cool buddy!


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## wombat (Jun 10, 2011)

In a previous life I did a bit of boiled leather work and have thought of using some for a palm swell, but you definitely took the idea to a new level. Nice one!


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## Saderath (Jan 1, 2013)

Now that is unique!


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## Winnie (Nov 10, 2010)

I appreciate the feedback. I pretty much use only my computer at the office so it's taken me a bit to get back to everyone.

Making one of these is not a big deal. All it takes is some vegetable tanned leather and some basic leather working kit. You need something to hold the leather as you punch holes with an awl and then stitch it useing a saddle stitch.

Design it, outline it on the leather, stitch it and then cut it out with a sharp knife. (People familiar with leather working will cut it out first - I find it easier to stitch first.) I stitched it up and around the forks first and then, while the lower half is yet to be stitched, shoved a supporting rod up into each of the pockets formed by stitched the forks. [ I found a two or three foot piece of 1/8" carbon fiber rod at a hobby store for a few dollars. The pieces I used were around 2.5 inches long.]

Finish the stitching then soak the slingshot in cool water for ten of fifteen minutes.

Next, start stuffing it. I used BB's on this one. For my pouches I use 5/16 or 7/16 steel bearing. Sand, rocks, or grain works too (rice is not too good - it sticks).

Put some in and shove it down followed by more until the wet leather has stretched to roughly the shape you want.

Keep in mind that as it is boiled, or just heated, it will shrink. The hotter it gets the more it will shrink and the harder it will get.

A couple of hints:

I use steel BB's or bearings because excess water easily pours out and the steel retains some heat which helps in the drying process.

Make the stopper or a dummy stopper before you boil it. You will need this to be in place as it sets.

If you drop dry leather into boiling water it will shrivel immediately and will harden into whatever shape you put it in while still hot. This will likely give you more shrinkage than you want.

I wet the leather before I but it into the water. This helps control the speed of heating. With the added working time I can get it where I want it and then remove it from the water and, while it is still malleable, cajole it into the shape I want. Pour the water out and shove the stopper in at this stage. Make certain to use a plug large enough to allow easy dispensing of future ammo.

I put it into the water without the stopper so that hot water can get into it and heat it from the inside.

Depending on how full you stuffed it and how much it has shrunk you may need to remove some of the bearings.

As it cools it will begin to harden and as it dries it will harden the rest of the way. Next, finish the edges any way you want -sandpaper works well, so does a large bur. You can laquer the finished leather or buff it or use oil or any combination you want.

Making a pouch is easier yet. Not so much shitching and the shape isn't as important. Same process. Just vary the time depending on how hard/soft you want it. My experience is that, with pre-wetted leather the neck of the pouch and the seams harden the soonest. This is nice because you get a stiff seam to hold the shape, a stiff neck that does not change and yet the body of the pouch will still have a bit of give to it.

It's like so many other things. It's not hard to do. It just involves actually beginning.


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## PorkChopSling (Jan 17, 2013)

Wow, thanks!! I'm going to have to give this a try.


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## Chopshopchopper (Mar 3, 2013)

That is sweet, thanks...


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## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

That is cool, love seeing new ideas like this.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Hey Winnie,

Thanks so much for these details. A couple of things I wonder about: Do you boil the water first and then dip the leather object into it, or do you put the leather object into the water and then bring that to a boil? And how long do you leave the leather in the hot water?

I am also curious about how strong that slingshot is. Will it take really heavy bands? Does it flex if the handle is not full of ammo?

Cheers ..... Charles


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## MissLace (Feb 13, 2013)

That sounds like a really neat way to work with leather, I'll have to try this technique one day :thumbsup:


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## SHTF Slingshots (Feb 4, 2013)

That is a thing I want when SHTF, ammo and sling in one place.

Genius of you.

You could probably get a good market going on these, nice thing to have and it's so stylish.

A leather slingshot.....overall a very neat little idea.


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## Winnie (Nov 10, 2010)

Charles said:


> Hey Winnie,
> 
> Thanks so much for these details. A couple of things I wonder about: Do you boil the water first and then dip the leather object into it, or do you put the leather object into the water and then bring that to a boil? And how long do you leave the leather in the hot water?
> 
> ...


Hi Charles,

You will want to bring the water up to whatever temperature you are going to use before you dip the leather. If you are dipping dry leather then boiling is too hot. There will be a ton of shrinkage and the leather will get really hard and brittle.

What I do is build the slingshot or pouch, stuff it and dip it for 30 seconds or so and then check it. The spout will harden the most because it has boiling water on both sides of the leather. As the hot water flows into the pouch it is cooled to some extent by the bearings I've used to stuff it. Hence, the body of the pouch hardens more slowly and will remain a bit flexible compared to the spout.

You can take it out and empty the water out of it, put the plug into it and then form it with your hands and see how much it has shrunk which will give you a bit of an idea how hard it will get when it cools and drys. If it shrinks alot you can pretty much count on it being very hard. I'm no expert. I made six or seven pouches before I tried the slingshot. It's pretty hard to mess up a pouch. It will either be very hard or less hard. Either way you end up with a cool pouch.

The slingshot is a little trickier only because the forks themselves are double thickness and, because it was pre-wetted, it took a bit longer to cook. What I used as a guide were the little carbon fiber supporting rods. I fit them in place, stiched the "v" to hold them in place and then, when boiled, I could kind of sense how tight they were becoming as it cooked and shrank against the rods. In this case I also cooked the forks longer than the body because I wanted them especially stiff.

The slingshot does not flex without ammo in the pouch. It's very stiff. I have purposely strung it "light". The bands are the same as the small micarta ss I sent you awhile back. TBG 11.5" x 5/8 x 1/2. They are full butterfly bands and I am comfortable shooting anything from 5/16 steel on up to .45 cal lead. My everyday ammo for these bands is 7/16 steel. Because they are butterfly I can keep the pull down on them. The slingshot seems to be very robust, does not flex at all and handles these bands great but I do not want a problem so this is as strong as I will go for this particular slingshot.

I'm in the process of building a bamboo root/rawhide slingshot right now that I may be able to string a little stronger. Rawhide, though hard, retains some flex so I'm thinking I don't need to worry about it potentially breaking on me.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Thanks for these details, Winnie. You sure make it sound tempting to try! As if I need yet another project ...

Cheers .... Charles


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## D.Nelson (Feb 20, 2014)

Wow, I really want one of these...fantastic work! Whoever wins that Altoids contest is a lucky (skilled) fella!


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## D.Nelson (Feb 20, 2014)

Where did you get the leather doe this? Did you purchase it online?


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