# First boardcut following a pattern.



## HungaJungaESQ (Jan 4, 2012)

Hey guys! Just made my 2nd fullsize sling shot, and first one that I'm actually proud of!

Followed Hrawk's "Dragon" template from the shared design forum. Actually found my jigsaw and was able to follow it pretty closely. A little off in places, but that gives it character (I hope)









I made a shopping run today and found some discount ammo, a 60 dollar pocket knife for 11 dollars, and a trip to Good Will ended with a purchase of some old suede slippers. Tried to rip it in the store and couldn't, so I assumed it would be good for pouches.








Turns out, YUP!









Here's the shooter with chained bands, and some gypsy tabs made out of the same slipper. Tied one end of the tabs "permenantly" with floss, then wrapped the other end and tied off with 32 bands.
Configuration from pouch to forks: 64, 64, 64, 64+32, 64+32, 2x64.









The pouch was a little too big at the start, and I made the holes a little lopsided, so I trimmed it with my new knife =D It is so soft and comfy, it's like a slipper for my fingers now. The slingshot itself feels okay, I need to trim the thumb spot a bit, it's digging into a nerve or something and isn't the most comfortable. I feel like it shoots high all the time, but it could be my technique. Regardless, if I aim a bit lower it works out.

I'm a little underwhelmed by the power of this band layout (barely puncturing cans from 20 feet with 3/8 steel.) I see no signs of weakness in the bands though, and it's been at least 80 shots. May make it 64, 64+32, 64+32, 64x2, 64x2+32, 64x3 or something. I still have a lot of 84s here too. We'll see. A few shots went really wild, but I certainly didn't release properly and it felt off anyway.

Big thanks to Charles who held my hand through this process even if he didn't know it. Hehe.

-Bob


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## zhop (Dec 6, 2011)

nice i made my first board cut off of "the dragon" to but i couldnt find the jig saw so i use a drill and a pocket knife http://slingshotforum.com/topic/13193-my-first-board-cut-sorta/page__fromsearch__1


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## zhop (Dec 6, 2011)

good slingshot by the way


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Hey Bob,

Looks like you are very well on your way! You did a nice job on that frame, as well as on setting up the bands. If you want really fast bands, you should just break down and buy some Theraband gold. The braided office rubber bands are not the greatest for speed, but they do have good power. What that means is that they will handle pretty heavy ammo without the loss of speed of most flat bands. Speed is not determined by draw weight ... but generally power is. The heavier draw weights will shoot heavier ammo ... if it takes a lot of force to pull the bands back, then the bands will exert a lot of force when released. Speed is a different matter. So, instead of using 3/8 inch steel, you might try .44 or .50 caliber lead ... or go out and try shooting some stones. Those bands should handle stones quite well. With stones you may not get penetration, but you will crush the can.

Oh, yeah ... great scrounging to find that leather!

Just keep on experimenting with it!

Cheers ... Charles


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## Bob Fionda (Apr 6, 2011)

Well made. Keep on doing you've got talent mate.


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## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

Looks cool! I like the way you making pouches


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## Jesus Freak (Dec 31, 2011)

Nice! You should try to make the Bill's patirot next!


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## bullseyeben! (Apr 24, 2011)

Looks great mate, get some flats on it one day soon buddy and you'll be punching 3 cans








Cheers, Ben


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## HungaJungaESQ (Jan 4, 2012)

Thanks for the support everyone.

Zhop, your thread actually inspired me to do my first board cut. No template, just drilled holes and chiseled because the jigsaw wasn't working... then I fixed the jigsaw and got a better result =D

Charles! Again with some sage-like advice. I think that's so strange about speed vs force. I thought it would all be intertia, but now that you mention it, the steel I shot with this SS versus my Barnett with fast tubes seemed to be much more resonant. Perhaps just the lower speed allowed more of the energy to transfer to my catch box before puncturing. It certainly makes it rock a lot more. The Barnett I'm only sure I hit my target due to sound xD. I'm kind of bummed I trimmed the pouch now. It was like Hussy's it was so huge. Aww well. Got plenty of leather to try again.

Just to clarify, adding bigger bands wont really improve the penetrating power; but it will improve the maximum weight projectiles I can fire?

Another Bob! Thanks for that. High praise indeed coming from you, sir.

e~shot, thank you! They're super duper soft and comfy. Like, no joke. I could rub it on my face for hours and not get a rash xD Need to find an awl or something though. Using my smallest chisel is still too big.

Jesus Freak, I have the pattern on my hard drive, but the wood I have likes to split with holes that close together along the grain... I was scared to try it. It's definitely on my list though!

3 cans you say, Ben? That's assuming I can hit em! Hehe. I have the window for Thera-Bands on-line ordering with no shipping open in my other browser all the time. I'm just torn on what weight. The whole reason I'm using office bands is due to the prohibitive cost of the TB Gold. I think I can swing Blue with no dirty looks from my wife, but the gold I think would raise an eyebrow. I'm talking about the 6 yard rolls. It's definitely a goal, maybe in a few weeks!

Thanks again everyone. Now I understand why you guys make so many! It's great fun.

My mother-in-law wants one with very light bands and a smaller handle. A BB shooter I think =D My wife wants a nice bit knotted and gnarled natural that, "Looks like it was made by faeries!" she says. Sounds good! PROJECTS APLENTY!

-Bob


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Good work man and great use of materials!


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## bullseyeben! (Apr 24, 2011)

Haha yes it can hurt the hip pocket a bit tb gold, thing with blue is depending on how its cut, you usually use 2 layers to get the same speed-power as gold. Its bloody fast, but lacks torque.. I have had good life span with both, but these days use what blue i have left for pouch tying, being softer and lighter, it seems to really help pouch end band life, and minimze weight too. Cheers mate


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## HungaJungaESQ (Jan 4, 2012)

Very kind of you Hrawk. I did my best to do your design justice =D

Thanks for the info Ben. The Blue is almost a third of the cost of the Gold >< I'll just wait a bit and get Gold I think. Or silver. I'm so cheap it's embarassing, haha.

-Bob


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

HungaJungaESQ said:


> Thanks for the support everyone.
> 
> Charles! Again with some sage-like advice. I think that's so strange about speed vs force. I thought it would all be intertia, but now that you mention it, the steel I shot with this SS versus my Barnett with fast tubes seemed to be much more resonant. Perhaps just the lower speed allowed more of the energy to transfer to my catch box before puncturing. It certainly makes it rock a lot more. The Barnett I'm only sure I hit my target due to sound xD. I'm kind of bummed I trimmed the pouch now. It was like Hussy's it was so huge. Aww well. Got plenty of leather to try again.
> 
> ...


That's about right. Each type of band has a maximum speed at which it will retract. If, for example, you put two bands on instead of one, it will not mean that the double band will now retract twice as fast ... it will still have the same maximum retraction speed. Now, obviously if you get heavy enough ammo, the single band will not have enough time to accelerate that heavy ammo up to its maximum retraction speed because it does not have enough power to overcome the weight of that heavy ammo. But if you double the band, it will have enough power to over come that heavy weight ammo and reach its maximum retraction speed. (This is a bit of a simplification, as the bands will not really reach their maximum speed when shooting ammo, but you get the idea.)

Think of your car ... lay out a 1/4 mile straight track (your draw length). You are like the ammo in your slingshot. You step on the gas, and see how fast your top speed is at the end of the track. Now, put a big, heavy trailer on your bumper hitch and try the same thing ... like shooting very heavy ammo. You will not be able to reach as high a speed in the 1/4 mile. Next take two identical cars, and have them sitting side by side ... your car automatically controls the other car by a radio link. (Like doubling your bands) Those two cars will not be going twice as fast at the end of the track ... they will still be going at about the same speed the single car reached, because your weight is not very significant relative to the power of the vehicles. But if you hook the trailer with the heavy weight on it so it is being jointly towed by the two cars at once, their combined power will allow them to reach a higher speed at the end of the track than the single car was able to hit dragging the trailer by itself.

Similarly, if you can use a longer draw length, the band will have more time to reach its maximum retraction speed ... so longer draw length yields higher velocity. If you make the track for your car 1/2 a mile long, you will be able to each a higher speed at the end than you could hit in just 1/4 mile.

All the Therabands have very fast retraction speeds. But gold has the most power ... it will handle heavier ammo, will not be slowed so much by heavy ammo. You can use multiple layers of the other colors, but that is a pain to attach to the pouch and to the fork, tangles more easily, etc. If you are going to go for Theraband, just bite the bullet and go for the gold. You can often buy it in 5 or 6 foot lengths, which will make a LOT of bands ... and that way you do not have to fork out so much money at once.

Penetration is a function of the velocity of the ammo and the size. I have a .22 pellet pistol that fires at over 400 fps. It will easily pentrate both sides of a steel can. But it does not have the energy of a good slingshot with weighty ammo. If you want penetration, basically shoot smaller diameter ammo (within reason) at higher velocities. For a pretty good illustration, check the following thread:

﻿﻿http://slingshotforum.com/topic/11806-ammo-type-and-effect

Cheers ..... Charles


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## HungaJungaESQ (Jan 4, 2012)

Makes sense. Gonna put on a few more 64s and call it a day then. 
I didn't realize I could buy shorter lengths than 6 yards of TBG.... I now have a 6 foot length on its way. Should be here by the 13th!

Thanks.
-Bob


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