# Meet the multiplex mess :)



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

Hi all,

I am no native speaker. So please bear with my English









I just wanted to present my two first creations. Both are made of 10 mm Multiplex since I had some pieces lying around from another project.
I used the "Arrowshooter Ergo" from Bill Hays and "The Tsunami" by Big Papa as templates. Thanks folks for sharing your designs !

Since I didn't want to order Theraband from the bay I simply grabbed two packages of "fitness bands" when they were available on a local store.

Both designs work very nicely although the 10 mm multiplex feels a bit uncomfortable when shooting the Arrowshooter with the strong blue bands. While I do not share the strong arms of Jorg Sprawe, I still can pull and hold a pretty strong compound bow. But in the end I can hardly draw the double blue bands beyond my ears. No way to even think about doing butterfly shooting.

The leather I have used for the pouches is unfortunately very slick. For shooting arrows I have added a "D-loop" as experiment. Four holes in the pouch plus two zip-ties form a sort of "bucket" in which the unfletched part of the arrow resides. I think this design could also work for commercially produces arrows instead of either using a d-loop attached to your bands or modifying the end of the arrow with a golf tee.

The finish is not really smooth. I glued the printed design to the multiplex, sawed them off with a pad saw, simply grinded the edges using a Dremel and spray painted the stuff afterwards a few times. Given the small amount of time I spent building those two slingshots I am very pleased with the results.

I know that arrows are cheaply available everywhere but I decided to build an arrow myself just for fun. I used aluminum tubing from my local hardwarestore with a diameter of 6 mm. I used a sawed off M5 screw which I pinpointed using a grindstone. For fletching I simply added package band. This selfmade arrow works amazingly well. When shoot from the Arrowshooter Ergo it can easily penetrate one and a half Styrodur isolation foam board about 15 feets away. This is pretty much identical to my small Barnett Phantom pistol crossbow with a selfmade wooden bolt.

This might not be surprising for you folks if you build already 10-20 slingshots but I am really impressed that such a simple device has identical power as a crossbow with a solid steelbow (even if it is just a small one).

I measured a draw weight of around 4 kg for the single-layered red band and around 14 kg for double-layered blue bands. Both draw weights were
measured when pulling back the pouch for a full arm length ( >= 80 cm). Unfortunately wrist braces are forbidden in Germany but I suspect by adding such a device to the "blue slingshot" I could easily add another layer of blue bands. Currently only the grip to the pouch and the power in the hand which holds the slingshot are the limiting parameter for the maximum band force. The solution could be using a wrist brace plus a bow release connected to the D-Loop.

What draw weight have your slingshots in average ?

Regards,
The H.

P.S.: I hope that it is acceptable that I did alienate my face because I dislike any pictures of me in the public. I didn't really make any pleasing pics of both slingshots lately beside the ones attached to this post. Unforunately weather has not really been this good here for doing outdoor shooting.








The "blue" slingshot in full draw with arrow








The "blue" slingshot with the selfmade arrow








The modded pouch with D-Loop








The "red" slingshot








The "red" slingshot in full draw


----------



## BIG PAPA (Nov 15, 2011)

I love it when I see a plan come together....when you make-do with what you have on hand and it all works at the end, no better feeling.
Just like when you tie-up some freakish looking fly on the vise and use it to catch a prize trout.....Outstanding.
Good job.


----------



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

Thanks for the nice words !
I am actually not really proud of those two slingshots after seeing all this close to art slingshots here in the forum.
I posted my results more to show other people that also "non-highend" works nice as well. Plus: Those multiplex boards are really stable.


----------



## Jesus Freak (Dec 31, 2011)

Nice work!


----------



## quarterinmynose (Jan 21, 2012)

nice cuts. You could easily shape something like that into a very refined shooter, in my opinion. Although I would suggest a littler thicker board. 10mm seems kinda slim considering the stresses its under, and just as a comfort in the hand consideration. Looking good man keep up the good work and have fun.


----------



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

Actually the thin material works better than I thought. I had lying around from another project. Thus I used it. For the next slingshot I used an old hammer handle but this is currently WIP.
Shooting the stronger slingshot puts indeed higher stress to your hand but I guess around 14 kg of draw is pretty high for slingshots. From what I have seen the strongest bands of A+ slingshots have around 36-38 lbs which is not that far from my 14 kg, which should be around 30 lbs. The flat shape of the slingshots makes them easier to store I guess compared to a thicker, more shaped slingshot.


----------



## Rapier (May 28, 2011)

Good work mate, I'd still be proud of them bro. Theres a few inherent problems with the 'high end' or 'art' slingshots not least of wich is that they take a good while to produce, can be very expensive to make and are rarely even shot for fear of damageing them so a couple of sturdy 'roughies' are a far better way to go as far as practicallity is concerned.
I'm very interested in how you modded the arrow pouch. Could you please post a few more close up pics of it?
Cheers
Rapier


----------



## Jaxter (Jan 23, 2012)

Look good


----------



## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

i think they look great, i am going to have to try arrow shooting


----------



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

rapier,

I share your point of view ! I guess this is identical to those folks who build up a 10-20k$/k€ full-suspension mountain bike which weighs below 10 kg but never gets ridden in the dirt because it is "way too expensive"









I simply folded the pouch in half and punched two holes at the upper and the lower part through both halfs of the pouch. The distance between the holes and the folded end of the pouch is about 1.5-2 cm. Instead of the two zip-ties one could of course use a short piece of string or rubber band.

My selfmade arrow has about the same length free from fletching as those who are commercially available. So I guess that you would be able for fire commercially build arrows from this pouch as well.

I would prefer a modified pouch over modified arrows any time.

Also the pouch has the benefit that you can easily attach a D-loop (like I did). By using some smaller string like mine it should be easily possible to use a bow release and increase draw weight somewhat more.

Cheers,
H.


----------



## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

do you draw it by the cord?


----------



## Sharkman (Jan 15, 2012)

Yeah, I gotta try this. I agree that when you can improvise with what you have on hand.... well, it's just FUN. Well played sir!


----------



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

newconvert said:


> do you draw it by the cord?


Yes, I either hold it by the knot or simply with two fingers inside like a typical D-loop at a bow.


----------



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

Ok, hopefully I do not bore anyone.

I did experiment a bit with new arrows.

Those consist of 6x1 mm Aluminumtubing which are 80 cm long and feature a 5 cm long tip of 4 mm brass.
I build four of them with the identical "fletching" made from packaging tape. Works nicely !








Those guys easily penetrate the double Styrodur isolation foam boards I currently use as target. Woha
















Considering the fact that the "fletching" is not too great and I have closely to no practice shooting either a slingshot or arrows I find the grouping acceptable:








I did some bolts for my pistol crossbow as well from the rest of aluminum tube and they also work nicely.

As for strength of my multiplex boards I am a bit unsure if using thicker plywood (e.g. 2 cm) isn't a more valid option unless I want to get a part of my frontfork in the face someday.

Which thickness would you propose ?
Are you using something above 2 cm ?


----------



## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

i want to try this


----------



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

Feel free to do so.
Making such arrows takes about 5 minutes per arrows and should be feasable with even the simplest tools. I glued the brass into the aluminum with epoxy glue.
Shooting those arrows should work with pretty every standard slingshot. I did my first shots without a modded pouch. As arrow rest you could do something like the guy from A+ slingshots with some piece of cord and a slotted piece of wood.

Of course those arrows are not as precise as a commercially produced but I find it still fun to build stuff from simple parts.

I would be more than happy if one posts his results here (which is of course not directly related to a selfmade slingshot though).


----------



## cheese (Nov 16, 2011)

those look good.
right now my slingshot has a ~40 pound draw weight but i will be getting some stronger rubber when i can.


----------



## The H. (Feb 13, 2012)

40 pounds ? nice...
Are you using an arm wrist ?


----------



## cheese (Nov 16, 2011)

wrist brace? no, i find them very uncomfortable.


----------

