# Making Dimpled Self Centering Slingshot Pouches



## mxred91 (Aug 8, 2010)

My last effort making slingshot pouches resulted in a strong pouch that works, but relied on a hole to center the ball. Since then I ordered some excellent bandsets with dimpled pouches from Tex Shooter. I quickly became spoiled with that detent in the pouch that centers the ball. Tex makes a really great product and I would not hesitate to order from him again. I also wanted to continue to make my own pouches. So I made a really simple jig, it could be much better, but it does work. The pouch is made to the same dimensions as my last effort but no extra holes are used. Here is a link to the pouch pattern: 
http://www.4shared.c...O/ss-pouch.html

Basically it amounts to two blocks of wood with a 1/2" hole, two spring clamps and a small c-clamp. I also made some pouches that have a double detent like Flatbands product. Mine are nowhere near as nice as Gary's, but it gave me the opportunity to try out that type of pouch. Both types work really well, I am not sure which I like better. So, a couple of pictures below, and a video of how I used the jig.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=W2AbdECweK8

Pieces









Assembly









Pouch


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## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

Excellent Red! Flatband!


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

@ mxred91

Just watched your latest vid on YouTube , .....for some reason it often does't work out for me to comment in there , ....so thanks a lot for having published it , ....a very nice tutorial







!

Do you think , it would work out to make bigger dimples into bigger pouches , ..........lets say an indentition with 20 mm or even 25 mm balls on EITHER side , ........or the extended stretch would be to much to take for the wet leather ?

Just thinking how to make a pouch for a "buckshot" slingshot , ......similar to the one in Joerg's video that he made of some plastic material ?

greetz , Holzwurm


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## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

Thanks for sharing


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

Good video, Its nice to share, cos we all love the sport, jeff


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## lucifer93 (May 4, 2010)

Good YouTube video again mxred91, thank you.


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## John-Boy (Oct 15, 2010)

Great vid mx, i will have to try this!! i have a load of welding clamps lying around just need to buy a few c clamps!!


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## Devoman (Oct 15, 2010)

Very cool, this hobby is turning into a full time job, now I have another thing I got ta try! Thanks for sharing. I love the Wham o slingshot replica!


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## mxred91 (Aug 8, 2010)

Holzwurm said:


> @ mxred91
> 
> Just watched your latest vid on YouTube , .....for some reason it often does't work out for me to comment in there , ....so thanks a lot for having published it , ....a very nice tutorial
> 
> ...


That could work. One thing to be concerned about is potential "shoot back". If the pouch goes out and does not open, and flips as the bands retract, you could be the ball's next target. Keeping that in mind I think conservative detents are the best bet. But, I have not tried it, so I don't know.


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## mxred91 (Aug 8, 2010)

An update: Tex pointed out to me that you could use the same wood blocks, with one ball sandwiched between two pouches and eliminate the C-Clamp.

Seems obvious now, DUH, I don't know why I did not think of it. But that is the beauty of a forum, taking ideas and evolving better more efficient methods. Of course in this case it amounts to a very knowledgeable guy that is willing to share his wisdom.


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## John-Boy (Oct 15, 2010)

Excellant, so it would mean taking two blocks of wood, boring round indents in both, place two wet pouches in between the blocks and sandwich the ball between the pouches before putting in a vice or clamp??


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## mxred91 (Aug 8, 2010)

John-Boy said:


> Excellant, so it would mean taking two blocks of wood, boring round indents in both, place two wet pouches in between the blocks and sandwich the ball between the pouches before putting in a vice or clamp??


John-Boy the through hole in both blocks will work, that is much easier than making a blind half round indent. The leather will keep the ball from falling through. I am going to try it out.


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## BCLuxor (Aug 24, 2010)

In the same respect would that work for 8mm bbs?


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## John-Boy (Oct 15, 2010)

mxred91 said:


> Excellant, so it would mean taking two blocks of wood, boring round indents in both, place two wet pouches in between the blocks and sandwich the ball between the pouches before putting in a vice or clamp??


John-Boy the through hole in both blocks will work, that is much easier than making a blind half round indent. The leather will keep the ball from falling through. I am going to try it out.

[/quote]

Aaahh i see now what you mean, im going to try this tomorrow as its my Birthday today and it seems like a good hangover activity









Thanks for sharing this idea MX!!


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## PJB21 (Nov 1, 2010)

John-Boy said:


> Aaahh i see now what you mean, im going to try this tomorrow as its my Birthday today and it seems like a good hangover activity
> 
> 
> 
> ...


hope you have a good day john!

looks like an interesting idea, im more fond of the double indent idea myself, it holds the ball better, however i use quite soft leather so it takes the shape of the ball after a little while anyway.


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

In the search to find the best pouch... I too made several pouch dimple makers. 
I don't have any pictures, but I'll try to describe....

One is simply a block of 4X6 wood with several different sized holes formed in it... all you do is put the wet leather on top of the appropriate hole, place your ball on top, take a hammer and hit it... voila' a perfect dimpled piece. You don't have to let it set overnight, and you can get many done in a very short time.

Another one I did is I tood a solid weldable hinge from Tractor Supply and bored a few differing sized holes through both sides of it while closed flat. Then welded a couple of long handles to it, so it looks like a giant nutcracker... the wet pouch indexes against the top of the hinge... and you simply load it with wet leather and a steel ball, then close the handles to make a perfect dimple every time.... again the force is great so it stretches the leather immediately and permanently without overnight drying in the device.


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

Bill Hays said:


> In the search to find the best pouch... I too made several pouch dimple makers.
> I don't have any pictures, but I'll try to describe....
> 
> One is simply a block of 4X6 wood with several different sized holes formed in it... all you do is put the wet leather on top of the appropriate hole, place your ball on top, take a hammer and hit it... voila' a perfect dimpled piece. You don't have to let it set overnight, and you can get many done in a very short time.
> ...


good idea Bill


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

The simplest pocket maker is two thick washers. When you use a round shape like a washer, your pouches are never clamped crooked and you don't have to have guide pins the sandwiched ball acts as a guide pin. When you leave them in the die for several hours they hold the shape better. When you do take them out let them dry for a while so any curling or shrinking stops before trimming. -- Tex-Shooter


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

mxred91 said:


> @ mxred91
> 
> Just watched your latest vid on YouTube , .....for some reason it often does't work out for me to comment in there , ....so thanks a lot for having published it , ....a very nice tutorial
> 
> ...


That could work. One thing to be concerned about is potential "shoot back". If the pouch goes out and does not open, and flips as the bands retract, you could be the ball's next target. Keeping that in mind I think conservative detents are the best bet. But, I have not tried it, so I don't know.

[/quote]

Thanks for your info and opininon , ....guess , that Joerg mentioned sucha warning in his vid as well , ..............I was just thinking , that such double pouch indent to accommodate a few small shots would be fairly easy to make after your method , .........my very first idea was to stitch a kinda "frame" of thicker leather onto either inner side of the pouch , ....these would surround the entire buckshot charge and prevent the little balls from falling or sliding out .

One could even make these leather frames sufficiently accurate to exactly fit in the same charge time after time , both in amount of shots and also the way that they are placed inside of the pouch , ......maybe square frames for 3 X 3 or 4 X 4 round airgun pellets 4,5 or 5,5 mm or even a triangular frame for a stapled charge of 3-2-1 or 4-3-2-1(most balls located at kink of pouch) .

When I was a boy , I've taken down small birds and mice with such buckshot charges(as forage for the falconry of my buddy) , though let off from "ordinary" pouches ,......... so now I'm thinking about possible improvement , just out of technical interest .

greetz , Holzwurm


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## Brewman (Feb 1, 2010)

I have a special jig similar to this with alignment pins made in solid aluminum. It is professionally machined and allows the making of two pouches at a time. It is for sale if anyone wants it. uote name='mxred91' timestamp='1294453925' post='47881']
My last effort making slingshot pouches resulted in a strong pouch that works, but relied on a hole to center the ball. Since then I ordered some excellent bandsets with dimpled pouches from Tex Shooter. I quickly became spoiled with that detent in the pouch that centers the ball. Tex makes a really great product and I would not hesitate to order from him again. I also wanted to continue to make my own pouches. So I made a really simple jig, it could be much better, but it does work. The pouch is made to the same dimensions as my last effort but no extra holes are used. Here is a link to the pouch pattern: 
http://www.4shared.c...O/ss-pouch.html

Basically it amounts to two blocks of wood with a 1/2" hole, two spring clamps and a small c-clamp. I also made some pouches that have a double detent like Flatbands product. Mine are nowhere near as nice as Gary's, but it gave me the opportunity to try out that type of pouch. Both types work really well, I am not sure which I like better. So, a couple of pictures below, and a video of how I used the jig.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=W2AbdECweK8

Pieces









Assembly









Pouch








[/quote]


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