# The African Godess of Archery



## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

I revisited the sling bow today, inspired by Fish (he made a sling bow a while ago, but posted the video again here in a different thread).

I had a few tasks.

First, I wanted to eliminate all the dead play.

Second, no handslaps.

Third, a conventional bow release had to work.

Fourth, I wanted a quality arrow guide for accuracy.














































So I made the "bow" 40 cm long, and the bands are a bit pretensed in unloaded mode. This way, no dead play at all!

Then, I put a Hover arrow rest (kind of a whisker buiscuit) INSIDE of the bow, right in the middle.

The bands can never touch the arrow rest (a big problem with sling bows usually).

Next, I designed the bow arms in a way that the bands are effectively stopped and can not slap on my hand.

I formed the "cable" from some paracord, with a loop for the release (otherwise the angle is so steep that the arrow falls out in full cocked position).

This shoots great! It is the best sling bow I have made so far.

Weight is 550 gramms (1,2 lbs), complete with bands.

Here is the video:






Jörg


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## A+ Slingshots (Jan 22, 2010)

Marvelous my friend!!! Very interesting!!!


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## USASlingshot (Feb 25, 2010)

That is the best slingshot you have made in a while. I love the lines. Keep it up


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## Darb (Sep 14, 2010)

That's .... well ... funky cool !


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## baumstamm (Jan 16, 2010)

looks pretty cool! wil built one!


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## geckko (Sep 9, 2010)

Hi

nice sling bow

I´m curios about the video


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

That is the coolest thing I have ever seen. thank you for posting!


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

That is very cool!!!


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

+1


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## lucifer93 (May 4, 2010)

Great job Jörg looking forward to watching the video. I will have to have a go at making one of these myself


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## Brooklyn00003 (Feb 28, 2010)

WOWWWW
I just love it ! Cant wait for the video to see how it shoots .Is it possible to draw heavery bands with this then with a regular slingshot?( talking about force on wrist issue)
Great work


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## Darb (Sep 14, 2010)

JoergS: I see a bandaid on your forearm, exactly where a bowstring would swipe. I'm guessing an archer's forearm guard might be helpful for shooting that thing.










Again, looks like an awesome design.


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## Pocket Slingshots (Oct 17, 2010)

Hi Ive gotten into the hobby because of you. Nice videos and the bow slingshot mix looks great hope to see a video soon.

Ps: Do you have any pocket slingshot plans or ideas?


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## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

Here is the video:


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

another great design, would love to have one of those, unfortunately my skills come no where close to that kind of work..


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

I am not an archer, but that looks like it _could _take the place of a bow, the advantage being in its small size. I will be interested in what the bowyers say.


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## Brooklyn00003 (Feb 28, 2010)

Please try it with stronger bands I realy wanan do what it is capable of. Thanks


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

Jörg, I strongly admire your ability to think outside the box, ability to deliver and willingness to share your ideas. The world would be a better place if more people were like you.

On the subject of the bow, I think it'a a great idea to build a slingshot around an arrow support, but I believe there is a lot more technical potential to be extracted in the next version.

I'll just brainstorm some ideas:

The longer the bow staves, the more energy is lost - from a slingshot at least. If you can reduce that, you'll have more power. About oooooh, 24 years ago, I discovered that I could shoot a sharpened half yard of 1/4" dowel through a short length of 5/16" brass tubing using packing bands. I happily shot that until one day when I snapped the dowel and give myself a heck of a fright, but up till that point, that simple system delivered great power. The reason was the very linear band path. If you can make a slingshot wih a shorter stave, it will be faster.

Having said that the staves should be short, long staves add stability to the system. I believe that's why archers can brace the bow on the web of the hand and the palm and not grip it tightly like a slingshot. If you anchored the slingshot bands centrally, but put back longer stabilising staves and ran a guy cords to the top and bottom like like a bow string, you would achieve this same effect but for the entire duration of the shot.

The length of a bow limits its energy. With a slingshot, you can shoot bands as a long as you can draw, but arrows are designed for bows. I'm not suggesting you use atlatl darts and butterfly bands, but you might want to consider pretensioned bands. That means a fork extension. I appreciate that you may not want a wrist brace (though I'm not sure this is a slingshot any more) but pulleys can bring the centre of pivot bact to the hand and release point. The pulleys don't have to reverse bands backwards like a com-bow; they can send the bands sideways, or forwards. Forward fork extensions with a pulley would have little effect on velocity but would limit wrist wobble.

Finally, I heard that containment rests have a very long contact time and magnify errors. Do you have the budget for a drop away?


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## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

Dan, yes, there is more potential.

First, I will attach stronger bands to see if I can get to 200 fps with the 25 gramm arrow. That would be like a normal recurve bow, suitable to hunt deer (where legal).

The hand slap protection makes the bow kind of bulky. On the other hand, it is already a bit on the lightweight side, and I wouldn't want it to be even lighter. In fact, the grip could be a little more forward extended in order to gain more draw length. But then the "tunnel" would be longer, which may cause problems when the slingshot hands starts to move.

I am actually amazed by the shootability of this slingbow. It outperforms any other slingbow I have seen so far.

Jörg


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

Sorry, I edited my post adding suggestions while you typed.

I'll add that the handslap protection is unnecessary if the band anchor points be moved very close to the arrow rest. You could even move them onto the sides.


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## Devoman (Oct 15, 2010)

That is very cool, I have had a great interest in arrow slinging for a very long time (I have several slings set up yo do so). Good job! I got to try and build one as well! Thanks for all the inspiration!


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## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

I can't do arm braces. And I don't want to add the bulk anyway. Rollers, I no longer use them because of the abrasion (short band life).


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## NoSugarRob (Jun 3, 2010)

.


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## boyntonstu (Jul 16, 2010)

I just realized that this bow clearly demonstrates that limiting pouch travel has no significant effect on the performance.

The slap has energy in it, but it is the energy is in the momentum and it would not contribute to accelerating the arrow.

I now 'see' the possibility of a Bow-On-A-Stick.


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## sanjay (Feb 26, 2010)

Fantastic new invention, Joerg! Now hurry up and share the plans with someone so I can buy or build one!


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## Warhammer1 (Dec 27, 2009)

Its a shame you cant do armbraces JoergS. I finally posted a pic of one of my machines in the other weapons section under crossbows.
What you see there is actually a slingshot design that functions better as a crossbow with a string.

With a few minor changes it would make some rather excellentZombie killer slingshot because theres no powerband to wear out and can shoot some pretty heavy stuff with 28 inches of draw. The inswinging limbs as shown are right at 125 degrees of rotation which can generate some pretty nifty velocities.

My newest design gets over 180 degrees of rotation.

As a slingshot used with latex bands, the limbs swing outwardly upon release so there is no folding of the powerbands as it passes through the yoke. Other improvements to come is a self centering limb design for crossbows and bow. Its always great to see your newest designs as they always inspire me to get to work again!

I have been lazy.

W.



JoergS said:


> I can't do arm braces. And I don't want to add the bulk anyway. Rollers, I no longer use them because of the abrasion (short band life).


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## Warhammer1 (Dec 27, 2009)

There is an arrow called a air-rest which uses two magnets to suspend the arrow in the air. One magnet is a tip insert for the arrow, and other magnet is a small but powerful circular magnet with opposite polarities. I have several the manufacturer provided me to play around with. There is absolutely no friction involved.

The limiting factor to any current slingshot design with fixed forks is that both sides of the powerbands travel in the same direction. HOwever, if you had extended forks that swiveled - pulling together under load and moving away from each other upon release, velocity is automatically increased as the two powerband attachment points are travelling in opposite directions provided the swivelling forks are power assisted and of a great enough distance apart.

There are also other benefits like using the swivelling levers to attach an fixed arrow rest, which automatically falls away upon release as the levers move upon release. One day I'll get around to moving the arrow rest paralell with the hand, and be able to give a 32 inch arrow 40 inches of draw. Works well enough with the arrow, but I dont like fetching arrows so I just use whatever is handy and fits into the pouch.

I have several air rests and will send Joerg one if he wants. Who knows maybe he'll send me one of his slingshots.

W



ZDP-189 said:


> Jörg, I strongly admire your ability to think outside the box, ability to deliver and willingness to share your ideas. The world would be a better place if more people were like you.
> 
> On the subject of the bow, I think it'a a great idea to build a slingshot around an arrow support, but I believe there is a lot more technical potential to be extracted in the next version.
> 
> ...


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## John Shirley (Oct 25, 2010)

Love, love, love it. Any chance of some being for sale? I would love to buy one for my girlfriend, for Christmas..

John


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## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

John, welcome here! Nice that you found us.

I never sell my slingshots, as I can only make one per week (on a Saturday), and I want to keep presenting something new every time.

But I invite people to copy my design, actually I assist them in doing so, for free. If one of the custom makers wants to help you out and make a slingbow for you, I wouldn't have anything against that.

Jörg


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## John Shirley (Oct 25, 2010)

JoergS said:


> John, welcome here!...
> 
> I never sell my slingshots...But I invite people to copy my design...If one of the custom makers wants to help you out and make a slingbow for you, I wouldn't have anything against that.


Thanks for the welcome.







Good to know- I guess I'll have to stop pestering.

J


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## snakeshack (Jul 15, 2010)

Very cool! Since it is a center shot, you could make a slotted hole above the arrow hole to install a sight system of some kind. Also I have attached a very interesting bow that is made in my home town. Take a look at the position of the grip. Very interesting. http://www.libertyarchery.com/specifications.html I have shot this bow and the angled grip places the had and arm out of the way of the string. Maybe it will give you some ideas.

Again, VERY COOL!


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## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

I have ordered and paid for the Liberty 1 a week ago, will be delivered in a few days. Can't wait!

Jörg


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## snakeshack (Jul 15, 2010)

JoergS said:


> I have ordered and paid for the Liberty 1 a week ago, will be delivered in a few days. Can't wait!
> 
> Jörg


No way! You beat me to it! I have shot it over at his house and it exceeds my expectations. You have to tell me how you like it! I do allot of hunting in California and I like the overall size of it. I'm looking to get one after x-mas.

Well enough of this high-jack; I'm sure you have or will post about it in the other weapon section.


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