# Attaching Thera-band Tubes To A Hand-made Slingshot



## Stephen (Jan 17, 2012)

Hello all. 
I'm in the process of making my first hand-made slingshot. I ordered some thera-band tubing, and it's on the way, but I was hoping some of you slingshot guru/wizards could give me some pointers on how to attach the tubes to the slingshot. I didn't have any fancy, artistic wood, so I just made it out of good ol' white pine. I know it's soft, which is why I don't want to do a lot of messing around with the place I'm going to attach the tube. I need something simple, solid, and effective. The flat face on the ends of the fork where I'll be attaching it is about 3/4'' square.

Thanks a lot,
Stephen


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## Stephen (Jan 17, 2012)

And btw, _guru/wizards_ was meant with all possible respect and sincere admiration. I try not to use sarcasm on a regular basis.


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## All Buns Glazing (Apr 22, 2012)

Hey Buddy,
I'm not a guru or a wizard but I've made several slingshots and I'd be quite concerned with the strength of white pine. I use pine occasionally in my carpentry hobby, but am continaully worried about its strength, and for a slingshot, I'd be more than worried, I'd be scared.

Far be it from me wanting to rain on your parade, but a broken fork tip isn't just a broken slingshot, it's a spring loaded chunk of wood flying at your face, and that's no fun.

While using white pine would be acceptable for making blanks to facilitate cutting multiple slingshots with a router, I'm not comfortable with saying that it's strong enough to be used for a slingshot.

A friend and I made one recently out of an oak boardcut, and we were even a little nervous about oak - which is much harder than pine. A fork-hit will almost certainly break the slingshot and I'd be concerned with it snapping when pulling the bands back. I've snapped exotic hardwood slingshots with forkhits before, so pine would be like butter. Of course, it depends on the design - if it's a pickle fork shooter, probably not a big issue, but if it's got long (1 inch+) forks, I'd be seriously concerned with safety.

Good luck, and I hope I'm wrong.


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## Smashtoad (Sep 3, 2010)

What the? Don't listen to that wombat! Make it and shoot it!!!

Just kidding, I agree with the Aussie....sounds sketchy. Be careful. There are just too many woods available to take chances, man.


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Buns is correct. I don't recommend any solid wood for newby board cutters, and pine is a poor (dangerous) choice for anyone. I've seen too many frames break from fork hits or simply being dropped on the floor. I use plywood and natural forks for my wooden slingshots.

Now, to answer your question, you can tie tubes on board cuts exactly the same way you would tie flats.


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## LVO (Sep 25, 2011)

Stephen said:


> And btw, _guru/wizards_ was meant with all possible respect and sincere admiration. I try not to use sarcasm on a regular basis.


go to www.builddirect.com and order their free Solid deck samples. free samples, free shipping. the deck material is almost indestrctable and works eeasy wit hand tools. make sure to getnthe solid deck not the hollow


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## Ordie69 (Aug 25, 2011)

I made the mistake of using white pine not to long ago and had catastrophic failure inside of 2 days. I am just glad that I always wear my safety glasses or I would be typing in the blind right now. The advice above is spot on.

As a side note:



LVO said:


> go to www.builddirect.com and order their free Solid deck samples. free samples, free shipping. the deck material is almost indestrctable and works eeasy wit hand tools. make sure to getnthe solid deck not the hollow


Great link. Just ordered my samples! Thanks.


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## BootMuck (Sep 11, 2012)

LVO said:


> And btw, _guru/wizards_ was meant with all possible respect and sincere admiration. I try not to use sarcasm on a regular basis.


go to www.builddirect.com and order their free Solid deck samples. free samples, free shipping. the deck material is almost indestrctable and works eeasy wit hand tools. make sure to getnthe solid deck not the hollow
[/quote]

Which samples do you recommend? Sorry for my ignorance but I see quite a few to choose from.

Thanks


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## Adirondack Kyle (Aug 20, 2012)

I work with pine alot, its not a good choice for slingshots. Its a very soft open grained wood. Some oak is ok and as easy to work as pine, try birch plywood. I used it many times and you can buy cheap quarter sheets at lowes or home depot from 7$ to 13$ depending on thickness, i like to get half inch, sandwich it veneer side out with some exterior grade wood glue and clamp or put books on it for a few hours, then for 10 bucks , you got enough 1 inch ply to make more than one shooter, i got two pocket, and 3 full size shooters out if it


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## Adirondack Kyle (Aug 20, 2012)

Great advice about the solid decking, im taking your advice as we speak


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## Adirondack Kyle (Aug 20, 2012)

Great advice about the solid decking, im taking your advice as we speak


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## muddog15 (Aug 15, 2012)

What about 3/4" thick hardwood flooring boards?? Ive made 2 sling shots out of that.


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## muddog15 (Aug 15, 2012)

oooppsss, that web site was the same one i got the boards from i made the SS out of. I have a local flooring store that i was going to go to and ask for scrap to male more SS out of. But being new at making SS im not sure about wood types.


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