# Playing With Trex/Thank you Bill Hays



## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

I was cleaning out my workshop this afternoon and found a sample piece of Trex decking on my drill press. This was a piece of nominal 1 x 6 decking about 6" long. Trex is made from recycled materials they being plastic milk jugs and wood pallets. Both the pallet wood and milk jugs are ground down, combined, heated enough to melt and combine the high density polyethylene plastic from the milk jugs with the wood dust before being extruded under high pressure to whatever size lumber desired through dies. If I recall correctly the ratio is 40% wood dust to 60% plastic. This product if very "green". I used to run the maintenance section for our state harbors division, and used this amazing material in many of the new piers I built in our harbors, pretty neat stuff.

Anyways when I saw the piece of Trex I instantly got a brainstorm and started drawing up a design in my head for a Bill Hays style "Gangstah" slingshot. :bowdown: To me Bill Hays is my new hero the guru, the master, the sensei of new slingshot design and he inspired me 100% in what I drew up and all credit goes to him for what I came up with. Thank you Bill, you're an inspiration, your innovative thinking never fails to amaze me. I kind of combined the Hathcock Sniper with the Boy Scout with alittle Eagle thrown in for good measure. I drew it up to fit the 1 x 6 x 6" piece of Trex I had then transfered the shape onto the Trex, and after about 2 hours of cutting, routing, drilling, dremeling, and sanding I came up with a reasonably finished product though nothing compared to the quality of Bill Hays products. I don't know how Bill makes his exceptional slingshots at such high quality levels and still able to sell them for such a reasonable price. Hats off to you Bill.

I made mine to shoot strictly through the forks using flat bands. I also wiped it down after sanding with some dark walnut Watco Oil I had handy. One negative trait about Trex is if you let the surface stay wet too long (exposure to rain) the exposed wood dust on the surface will soak up the water, swell, then fall out leaving a porous surface. No problem on a deck even making it more non-skid but I want my slingshot to remain relatively smooth. I'm pretty happy with the results but won't know how she shoots until I get my Theraband Golds in.

This was just a one-off experiment using Trex, I hope this thing doesn't snap and send a fork flying at my head the first time I try it out. I will be ordering a real Hathcock Sniper when my tax returns come in, my disability checks just barely cover my living expenses.

Mahalo nui for putting up with my rambling!


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## lightgeoduck (Apr 3, 2011)

Nicely done! I am almost embarrassed to say, but that material makes that slingshot good enough to eat 

Ha, I know I am a bit strange 

Thanks for sharing

LGD


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

lightgeoduck said:


> Nicely done! I am almost embarrassed to say, but that material makes that slingshot good enough to eat
> 
> Ha, I know I am a bit strange
> 
> ...


 WOW It does look like it's made of chocolate doesn't it.


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## LVO (Sep 25, 2011)

Great job! Composites Rock!


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## pop shot (Sep 29, 2011)

You need TBG? I got a full 5 m roll for sale


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

pop shot said:


> You need TBG? I got a full 5 m roll for sale


ARGH, really? I just ordered some a couple days ago on eBay.


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Looking good Man!

One thing though, if that Trex is like what we have here that I got from Home Depot... I can break the fork fairly easily by squeezing them together... so be careful and test it out before shooting with it first.


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## PorkChopSling (Jan 17, 2013)

Sweet!!


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

Bill Hays said:


> Looking good Man!
> 
> One thing though, if that Trex is like what we have here that I got from Home Depot... I can break the fork fairly easily by squeezing them together... so be careful and test it out before shooting with it first.


Thank you Bill, I hope it is strong enough but just in case I will be wearing a safety shield to protect my face when I test fire it. I think this one will be a single layer band slingshot. Thanks again for the inspiration. :thumbsup:


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

It must depend on the grade cause I have one that Flatband made me that is near indestructable, and a few I tried to make that are ugly as sin but are bricks. Of course they are not nearly as streamlined as the design you are using.


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

harpersgrace said:


> It must depend on the grade cause I have one that Flatband made me that is near indestructable, and a few I tried to make that are ugly as sin but are bricks. Of course they are not nearly as streamlined as the design you are using.


 Thanks, that's good to hear. The material is affordable, readily available, and easy to work even with hand tools. Maybe I'll see if lumberyard has anymore free samples of the stuff.


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

I just got a brainstorm! Since this thing is made from Trex I think I'll call her "T.Rex" ! :naughty:


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Nice work! Do you have any scraps to shoot at for strength tests? Might put your mind at ease. :iono:


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## bigron (Nov 29, 2012)

nice ergo shooter hope it holds together for you


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

This afternoon I attached single tapered flatbands I made from Theraband Gold rubber to "T-Rex" ('cause made from Trex), and I have to report that she shoots beautifully, I'm very impressed both with the design, and the Trex material. Gotta get me some more to try some new designs. :4:


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

Before I made this slingshot I looked over many designs for inspiration, and Bill Hays designs obviously had a very strong influence on what I came up with but on reviewing some of the other designs especially from the free templates section I may have left out out credit where it was due. I have several templates saved and on looking them over again recently I noticed the side-ties on the forks of AJW's El Lobo design, and I must have also been inspired by this design as well so I want to take this time to also thank AJW for his innovative El Lobo design. My T'Rex is the result of inspiration from both Bill Hays and AJW, and I can't thank either of these gentlemen enough for there contributions. :bowdown: :bowdown: Thank you very much the both of you! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## halbart (Jan 23, 2013)

AhnkoChee said:


> lightgeoduck said:
> 
> 
> > Nicely done! I am almost embarrassed to say, but that material makes that slingshot good enough to eat
> ...


Yeah, the main thing is not to go shooting when you,re hungry !


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## AhnkoChee (Mar 27, 2013)

Sorry guys, didn't realize the pictures had disappeared when I rearranged my photo albums on host site.

Here they are again:


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