# need advice for making 8-strand Chinese band



## Tmart (Jan 16, 2010)

I've got a dankung on the way with some extra 2040 tubing for making an 8-strand band. Has anyone ever done this? I'm wondering how long I should make the tubes and what the best method of attaching the pouch is for a 5'10" westerner.


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## MSG Hall (Jan 14, 2010)

I'm new too, but I have been reading and thinking on this very thing. it seems to me, there has to be a point where you get so much rubber on there that you actually loose momentum.

how about the tapered bands? the youtube vid claims 330 fps... although I am skeptical. it has (I see from my reading) that tapered it far superior for speed and power.

another thought... I would think 8 strands would be hard to pull making practicing not very long or as fun. I could be wrong though... I still haven't figured out the band ratings to know which is strong or weak or what... but I'll catch on eventually


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## Tmart (Jan 16, 2010)

MSG Hall said:


> I'm new too, but I have been reading and thinking on this very thing. it seems to me, there has to be a point where you get so much rubber on there that you actually loose momentum.
> 
> how about the tapered bands? the youtube vid claims 330 fps... although I am skeptical. it has (I see from my reading) that tapered it far superior for speed and power.
> 
> another thought... I would think 8 strands would be hard to pull making practicing not very long or as fun. I could be wrong though... I still haven't figured out the band ratings to know which is strong or weak or what... but I'll catch on eventually


I decided to go with the 8 bands of 2040 because that is what was suggested by the guys at dankung. The 2040 tubes are pretty small and the chinese have no problem shooting them so I don't think I would have a problem considering the average height of a Chinese male is 5'6". When I do make these bands I don't want to have to waste a bunch of tubing trying to figure out the best length since I am brand new to slingshots. Hopefully someone on these forums has made an 8-strand 2040 band before and can help me out.


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## TruckeeLocal (Dec 23, 2009)

Hi guys,

The first question is about tube length and that's something you'll need to figure out for yourself. Everyone's got a different length of pull so its not like I can tell you whats right for you. There are several factors involved but when I was first setting up my dankung I was looking for 600% (6 x the resting length of the bands) elongation of the bands. Then I just shot a bunch and dialed in the bands from there. I think I ended up with something like 575%. I'm sure other members will offer you good advice as well so keep on reading.

Now for the 8 sting question. This setup is common in the dankung world. I use it and other members use it as well. You are correct when you say that adding to much rubber can become self defeating. The 8 string setup works because you are using a thinner walled tubing and its been proven that the thinner material has better acceleration than thick (same concept used with flatbands). So 8 thin tubes works better than 4 thick tubes. I taper my bands as well and this adds speed(its kind of a pain to do). The 330fps does seem excessive so I would like to see that proven if possible. Santa brought me a Chrony but its to cold and we are about to pick up about 7 to 10 feet of snow so there will be no velocity testing for a long time. The band ratings go like this 20-40 is 2mm inside diameter and 4mm outside diameter and 17-45 is 1.7mm ID and 4.5mm OD. Subtract ID from OD and you get tubing wall thickness.

Hope this info helps you guys.


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## Tmart (Jan 16, 2010)

Thanks a bunch Truckee! I was hoping you would respond because you seem to have a lot of info on the Dankungs.	If i extend my left arm fully and pull my right hand back to right about where my ear is there is about 30-31" between my left hand's thumb knuckle and my right hand thumb. So using the 575% that means I should use bands that are 5.3" long after they have been looped right? So would I cut pieces that are about 11" since you lose a little bit when you tie them off? How long are the pieces you use for your loops before you tie them Truckee?

Sorry for the barrage of questions but I know there is a wealth of knowledge here that can save me some time and rubber


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## TruckeeLocal (Dec 23, 2009)

You got it man. After you've built a couple of sets you'll now how much extra to add for attachment. Remember that the 575% is what I ended up with you may or may not like this. After the snow melts I will do some tests to see how the tubes react to different elongations and maybe a magic number will appear.

As you guys can tell I really like dankungs. I see them as the future of modern slingshot design. Maybe the wrist rocket of the 21st century.


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## smitty (Dec 17, 2009)

Only thing I can add to what Truckie has said is a low tech way to make sure I don't cut the tubes too short. I just take the rubber I'm thinking of putting on the slingshot and just pull it between both hands like I was shooting to get an idea how hard or easy it is to pull. It is better to have too much rubber to start with because you can shorten it a little to fine tune it.


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## smitty (Dec 17, 2009)

I also should ask a question here myself about Dankung tubing. I think it makes sense to say that the rubber has a spot when you stretch it where it feels like it won't stretch anymore. Is this feeling true? Can you go past this spot without getting a slap in the face? This feeling in the tubing is what I go by when setting up the length of any rubber I use, whether 17-45 or 20-40. If I can pull it very far past my anchor point, I will cut a little more off until it "bottoms out" about one inch past my anchor point, for hunting and about three inches for targets. So...what does everyone else do? Sometimes I wonder if I should just use one length for all shooting, somewhere in the middle, for hunting and targets. It would be a shame to miss a tastey meal after practicing by shooting targets most of the time with different bands. It's just that hunting strength bands aren't at all needed to shoot targets and I get pretty tired shooting targets with hunting bands.
I also just ordered some tubing: 18-42 I think was the number, that I thought I would try. Anyone use it yet?


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## Melchior (Dec 27, 2009)

That feeling is correct, Smitty. Pull back far enough and you will hit a wall where the pull force suddenly increases. The rubber doesn't like it if you hit this wall and you get a bad pull/power tradeoff on the last 2 inches anyway, so keep the bands long enough to stay away from the "force wall".


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## smitty (Dec 17, 2009)

Thanks Mel!


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## dragonmaster (Dec 24, 2009)

joist wondering how do you taper tubes that are not already tapered.


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## Tmart (Jan 16, 2010)

dragonmaster said:


> joist wondering how do you taper tubes that are not already tapered.


I believe this is what they are talking about http://www.dankung.com/dk/?q=slingshot_taperedtube

I have also seen a setup that uses a half-length 8 band set connected to a half-length 4 band set.


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## Tmart (Jan 16, 2010)

smitty said:


> I
> I also just ordered some tubing: 18-42 I think was the number, that I thought I would try. Anyone use it yet?


I am interested in that tubing as well, if you end up making an 8 strand band out of it please let me know how it turns out.


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## Martin (Jan 17, 2010)

Ive made up an 8 strand set out of 20/40 for my Dankung. The set that came with it were also 20/40 but 2 strand they seemed to be slightly short, so the new set are a little longer. I am pleased with the results so far. I also fitted a longer band-set to a small natural this also shoots really well. I want to order another Dankung frame and try some flat-bands.

View attachment 264


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## Tmart (Jan 16, 2010)

I went to order a second dankung even though my first one hasn't arrived yet but it looks like they no longer take paypal. Only some chinese credit card service or western union... I'm a little skeptical of this company that they want me to give my credit card info to... https://www.ecpss.com/ecpss/english.html


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## smitty (Dec 17, 2009)

Here's a couple of pictures of how I make tapered tubes. You can open the tube with needle nose inserted into the tube and just open the pliers up to make room for the knot. Please make sure that all connections are secure. It wouldn't be fun to find out while shooting.


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