# Slingshot In Holm Oak "Ganhão"



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

Hello SlingshotForum friends!!!

There is occasions in life that bring us the most unexpected and tasty gifts!! It was this that happened almost a year ago, when I was in the south part of Portugal, the lovely and rustic Alentejo, hunting for some good forks of Quercus suber (cork oak) These forks were supposed to go to some friends of mine here in the forum, particularly one that goes by the name of Bob Fionda!!  It was, I believe, in May that this episode happened. With some considerable hot temperature, I spotted a fallen cork oak in the horizon (all of the Alentejo topography is mainly consisted of plains) and proceeded to cut some beautiful and promising forks. Inadvertently, I've cut myself in the hand with the pruning saw. Although the cut was not too deep, it bled quite profusely due to the heat ...I had to make good myself out of the place to the car, which was at some 300 meters of distance. In my escape, I encountered a huge and noble holm oak, with a fallen branch near it. In that branch was this raw fork that you see here... I couldn't resist!!

And so it was, my friends, that the branches were retrieved and put safely at rest in the back seat of the car. With a bleeding hand, I said goodbye to the loneliness of the plain, heading for the next small village...

What is a little of our present pain compared to the joys of the future, I thought??

Finished with olive oil and natural beeswax, it sports a 2.5cm X 1.7cm X 22cm TBG with an awesome E~Shot pouch.

The name "Ganhão" is dedicated to the history of Alentejo, the most beautiful region of Portugal!!

Hope you like it!!!

Cheers ...Q


----------



## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

Astonishing!


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

e~shot said:


> Astonishing!


Thank you my dear friend!!!! :wave:

You guys help me to create a little bit better every new slingshot!!

Cheers ...Q


----------



## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Q-Man, that's just marvelous! I wish I could make my oak forks look like that.


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

Dayhiker said:


> Q-Man, that's just marvelous! I wish I could make my oak forks look like that.


Thank you so much, master Dayhiker!!!

Your forks are unique and imprinted with your own personal style!! 

Nevertheless, I must post, one of these days, a thread about a slingshot making-in-progress. Some folks here might find it interesting.

Cheers ...Q


----------



## Mister Magpie (Apr 10, 2013)

Q,

What a fascinating account - I am glad you survived the wilds of Portugal in order to continually provide us with beautiful works of art!

Keep it up and maybe wear some body armour. 

Darren


----------



## DougDynasty (Jul 8, 2013)

Very nice job Q! As always u impress us again my friend. And BTW u will have a shipment in the mail in the morning to u. Doug


----------



## quarterinmynose (Jan 21, 2012)

A wonderful story of this beautiful carved fork, and your adventure in finding it! Thanks for sharing with us Q.


----------



## Can-Opener (May 11, 2013)

Wow that is a beauty Mr. Q Nicely carved and finished!


----------



## HP Slingshots (Jun 12, 2013)

what a beauty 

-Epic


----------



## Sharker (Sep 15, 2013)

Aaaaaaaa! Its so nice, that i want bite it


----------



## GHT (Jan 22, 2013)

Thanks for sharing Q, the quality of your work is something to aspire to.


----------



## Btoon84 (Nov 22, 2011)

Superfork! Wonderful job Q-Man


----------



## SmilingFury (Jul 2, 2013)

Beautiful fork and work to get it there. But what an adventure to retrieve the raw fork. Q, I would go into slingshot battle at your side any day! Hahaha you are a soldier of our sport. A little blood never stopped you from a good fork!

Hope your hand is better now,
SF


----------



## tradspirit (Jul 23, 2012)

Fantastic devotion and an even more fantastic creation. Take care of those precious hands of yours....without which we would all suffer for lack of seeing your beautiful workmanship!


----------



## Applecore (Feb 3, 2013)

That is fantastic grain pattern, and even better workmanship!


----------



## mr. green (Nov 3, 2012)

Another beauty from the master of oak, with an adventure story behind it. Thank you for sharing this beautiful beast, Master Q.


----------



## bigron (Nov 29, 2012)

please do make a building video Q alot of people would love to see your magic


----------



## Bob Fionda (Apr 6, 2011)

UH! I didn't know that. I'm sorry and happy at the same time, things happen for a reason that we don't ever know. Good or bad are only a point of view. Ganhao is beautiful, a tutorial would be really well appreciated. What about a Quercusuber logo in the future?


----------



## alfshooter (May 11, 2011)

Perfect "Q", working with passion.

Un fuerte abrazo ....... Alf


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

generic said:


> Q,
> 
> What a fascinating account - I am glad you survived the wilds of Portugal in order to continually provide us with beautiful works of art!
> 
> ...


LOL!!!! Thanks for watching, my friend!!!

The month of May in the south of Portugal can offer some merciless heat!!

I believe my pruning saw was no match at the time for a very hard holm oak fork, hence the small punishment in my hand lol!!!

Cheers ...Q



FishDoug said:


> Very nice job Q! As always u impress us again my friend. And BTW u will have a shipment in the mail in the morning to u. Doug


Thanks for the comment, my friend!!!

Can't wait to see the surprises!!!

Cheers ...Q



quarterinmynose said:


> A wonderful story of this beautiful carved fork, and your adventure in finding it! Thanks for sharing with us Q.


Thanks for the kind reply, QIMN!!!!

I hope my English is readable enough ...and not too boring 

Cheers ...Q



Can-Opener said:


> Wow that is a beauty Mr. Q Nicely carved and finished!


Thanks a lot, dear sir!!!

I was only fortunate enough to have found this piece of wood...Next thing: shoot it in the weekend!!! 

Cheers ...Q



EpicAussie888 said:


> what a beauty
> 
> -Epic


Thank you so much, my friend!!!

Cheers ...Q



Sharker said:


> Aaaaaaaa! Its so nice, that i want bite it


LOL!!!!! And the beeswax give it a somewhat creamy/glossy texture!!!

But if I was you, I wouldn't sink my teeth on it. Very hard!!!

Cheers ...Q



GHT said:


> Thanks for sharing Q, the quality of your work is something to aspire to.


Thank you so much for your inspiring comment!!!

Cheers ...Q



Btoon84 said:


> Superfork! Wonderful job Q-Man


Hello my friend!!! :wave:

How are you?? Busy, I suppose!!!

Thank you so much for you super-comment!!!! This one turned out to be nice, with a very comfortable grip!!

The season of fork hunting is approaching again here, by the way 

Greetings to all of yours!!!

Q



SmilingFury said:


> Beautiful fork and work to get it there. But what an adventure to retrieve the raw fork. Q, I would go into slingshot battle at your side any day! Hahaha you are a soldier of our sport. A little blood never stopped you from a good fork!
> 
> Hope your hand is better now,
> SF


Thank you so much for your nice comment!!!

Yes, my hand has healed long since. But it was quite an adventure in the lands of Alentejo. Lovely place!!!

And you can come to battle with me anytime!!!! Bring your saw!!

Cheers ...Q



tradspirit said:


> Fantastic devotion and an even more fantastic creation. Take care of those precious hands of yours....without which we would all suffer for lack of seeing your beautiful workmanship!


Thank you so much, sir!!!!

I shall keep my hands out of danger!!!

Very kind reply, my friend!!!

Cheers ...Q



Applecore said:


> That is fantastic grain pattern, and even better workmanship!


Thank you so much for your comment!!!

Cheers ...Q



mr. green said:


> Another beauty from the master of oak, with an adventure story behind it. Thank you for sharing this beautiful beast, Master Q.


Mr. Green, how are you, my friend!!!!

I got some carving knifes that work a beauty 

Thanks for dropping by!!!

Cheers ...Q



bigron said:


> please do make a building video Q alot of people would love to see your magic


Hello Bigron!!!

That is a matter for consideration, indeed!!!

I always wanted to publish such a video. I'll have to pick a right moment and a right piece to do so!!!

Thanks for your praise, sir!!

Cheers ...Q



Bob Fionda said:


> UH! I didn't know that. I'm sorry and happy at the same time, things happen for a reason that we don't ever know. Good or bad are only a point of view. Ganhao is beautiful, a tutorial would be really well appreciated. What about a Quercusuber logo in the future?


LOL!!!!! I believe I haven't confided to you this little episode!! Did your cork oak forks appeared to be blood tainted?? (lol!!!! )

Thanks so much for your support, my friend!!!!

About the logo ...You're right: I have no excuse. Something have to come up!!!

Cheers ...Q



alfshooter said:


> Perfect "Q", working with passion.
> 
> Un fuerte abrazo ....... Alf


Amigo Alf!!!!

Gracias por tu comentario!!!!

Espero que usted este bien!!!

Un abrazo ...Q


----------



## Chepo69 (May 1, 2010)

Esplendida talla mi estimado amigo Alcornoque, y la comodidad ostentosa. Bárbarooooooo!


----------



## TSM (Oct 8, 2013)

Amazing work and what a rich color and grain. Love it.


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

Chepo69 said:


> Esplendida talla mi estimado amigo Alcornoque, y la comodidad ostentosa. Bárbarooooooo!


Gran Maestro!!!!

Muchissimas gracias por tu comentario!!!  Sigues sendo una inspiración!

Saludos...Q



TSM said:


> Amazing work and what a rich color and grain. Love it.


Thank you so much, my friend!!!

I'm glad you've liked it.

Cheers ...Q


----------



## mr. green (Nov 3, 2012)

.........."What about a Quercusuber logo in the future?"

I totally agree with Bob.


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

mr. green said:


> .........."What about a Quercusuber logo in the future?"
> 
> I totally agree with Bob.


Me too ...that is the dilemma!!

I've checked some solutions, but didn't liked any!

What I'm thinking is a branding iron sort of thing.

Cheers ...Q


----------



## mr. green (Nov 3, 2012)

Quercusuber said:


> mr. green said:
> 
> 
> > .........."What about a Quercusuber logo in the future?"
> ...


 Oh wow, this is exciting. Can you at least show the forum members how your logo is going to look like? Or start a new topic and ask for suggestions.


----------



## leon13 (Oct 4, 2012)

nice slingshot, really nice one 1 !

cheers


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

leon13 said:


> nice slingshot, really nice one 1 !
> 
> cheers


Thank you so much for watching!!!! 

Cheers ...Q


----------



## ruthiexxxx (Sep 15, 2012)

Simply gorgeous!


----------



## S.S. sLinGeR (Oct 17, 2013)

Looks amazing! Nice work. Look what alil elbow grease can achieve


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

ruthiexxxx said:


> Simply gorgeous!


Thanks so much Ruthie!!!!

Cheers ...Q



S.S. sLinGeR said:


> Looks amazing! Nice work. Look what alil elbow grease can achieve


Thanks for the comment, my friend!!

Cheers ...Q


----------



## NoForkHit (Jul 26, 2012)

Nice shape and nice textures. Perfect! Olive wood looks so fine.


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

NoForkHit said:


> Nice shape and nice textures. Perfect! Olive wood looks so fine.


Thank you so much for the feedback, my friend!!!

Olive wood is indeed nice. This one was carved in Holm oak (Quercus ilex), though.

Cheers ...Q


----------



## MagicTorch100 (Jun 4, 2013)

Understated elegance and supreme craftsmanship, it takes an awful lot of skill to create such nice lines. Lovely work Q, the thought of a Bob and Q creation came to mind when I was reading this, I can hardly imagine how good that would be!


----------



## Craig Lockwood (Oct 29, 2013)

Wonderful feeling of texture. The Oak's grain flows like a current through the fork. Bravo.

CL


----------



## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

MagicTorch100 said:


> Understated elegance and supreme craftsmanship, it takes an awful lot of skill to create such nice lines. Lovely work Q, the thought of a Bob and Q creation came to mind when I was reading this, I can hardly imagine how good that would be!


My dear friend!!

Thank you so much for your rewarding feedback!!

And that's a nice idea: conjoint works of various "couples" here in the forum!! We could pair people with similar objectives and techniques, and together, make a slingshot!! I guess the only difficulty would be the price in shipping a work between two different places (or nations) in order to build it.

A matter for thought indeed!!

Cheers ...Q



Craig Lockwood said:


> Wonderful feeling of texture. The Oak's grain flows like a current through the fork. Bravo.
> 
> CL


Thank you so much, sir!!!

Indeed beautiful the grain of an oak wood piece 

Cheers ...Q


----------

