# The Heretic



## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

I am glad that you have all followed my spiral into slingshot insanity of the past two months, because if I had showed up afresh with something like this without seeing each progressive steps of the evolution, you might have called me a heretic or something. This is indeed a big departure from traditional slingshot frames like the one I first made, but it preserves all my new understanding of ergonomics and biomechanics in full.

















Above you can see that it is very similar in profile to The Core, but even further stripped of all adornment and fittings onto the basic frame. I have replaced the Teflon tips with wide steel lips and replaced the thumb ramp with a fully forged in compound curve. The hammered finish is replaced with a gunmetal grey ceramic Gun-Kote finish over sandblasting and phosphate for a surface that resists corrosion and abrasion but still provides some grip.

The idea was to further develop The Core and make a slingshot more suited to being carried through the jungle where it needs to be simple and light, non-corroding and not expensively made.










The Heretic follows every natural twist and curve of my hand, only covering those parts that are heavily contacted by my hand. To an extent, it is a lot like gripping a board cut like my T1 template or even a fully ergonomic carved handle like The Shootist because to the hand, everywhere the slingshot was pressing on, it's still pressing on.



















I have hand forged it to shape, a particularly complex shape with never a straight line, but in the end, the alignment is the same as the T1 and The Core. There are still two for tips that are perfectly aligned as you can see below. The tips are still at a 45° angle to the handle and the handle is still offset to the side of the centre of the palm by half a palm width. The Forefinger is still supported in a groove and the thumb still has full support. There are differences, subtle differences: the web of the thumb is supported; the forefinger groove is chamfered and bent; the palm base lanyard hole is bent and the lower three finger inner knuckle pad is domed.










The tips lack the Teflon tips, but still have that big sweeping surface for the bands to ride over. There are still deep tie band grooves for security.










It remains an on-the-edge low fork design for medium to high powered bands. It's a bit slappy, but an acceptable trade off for increased stability under load.










I shot this all weekend. I took my daughter camping at the beach on Friday night and spent the evening target shooting, training her and the next day demonstrating the catty to the villagers and hopefully winning new converts to the sport. Today I took all my slingshots to a pool party and we shot at a nearby tree fork. It was good feedback to see how this fits and shoots in different people's hands and how it compares to the other frames I have made.


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## Brooklyn00003 (Feb 28, 2010)

Wow man ! I love the way it twists .It is the perfect style for shooting Chinese Style (when your fingers are on the fork) I shoot that way and with heavy bands my fingers and the sides of my fingers hurts as all the tension is on them.I was thinking about a slingshot that curves like this one.This way the tension is on alot more place so its better for heavy bands.From the pictures I cant see if the part between your pointing finger and thumb touches the bottom side of the fork( sorry I cant describe it more my english is not the best.)Anyway I would do it that way then basically the tension wont be on fingers.
The top of the fork curving back is also very useful in my point.Great design It looks very professional could make some money if you deside to sell them.


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## faca (Dec 24, 2009)

I ´d like to shot it ;-)


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## keeco (Feb 28, 2010)

hey Z,it's awesome.looks like a nice platform for some engraving.


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

Sorry, it's a amazing piece of engineering, but I have to say that I like your first one better. Call me old fashioned.


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## Martin (Jan 17, 2010)

Yet another amazing slingshot, how did other people find it for fit and function? Ive made a couple of my own that fit my hand, although not as elaborate as yours not many of the people who tried them have shot them accurately.
Martin


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## Fork Hunter (Apr 19, 2010)

I think you should have called this " The Minimalist" because theres not much you can take away form this but the experiance ! WoW Dan , you need to add velcro attachment pads had you wouldn't even have to hold on to the catty ! Once again Dan rises to the occasion. I can't speak for everyone here but i'm sure many will agree, this is very amazing coming on to the forum almost everyday to see a NEW design !!! I can't wait for one of these guys to invent a slingshot that shoots Plasma Balls !!


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Great stuff, z-man!


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

Thanks for all the comments everybody.



Martin said:


> Sorry, it's a amazing piece of engineering, but I have to say that I like your first one better. Call me old fashioned.


Yes, you're right about that. The Teflon tips, higher thumb ramp, and nicer finish of The Core make it a better slingshot. As designers and craftsmen, instead of striving to be better in a purely linear direction, if we are prepared to _take a step back_ in some respects to explore other avenues and gain new experiences to contribute to our knowledge we can go further in the long run.


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## Fork Hunter (Apr 19, 2010)

Dan, What scares me the most is that you even considered the idea.....even for a moment ! LOL Beside the military beat you to it , they stabilize the plasma charge within an elctromagnetic platform but, it takes a tank sized machine to contain all the pwoer generation and mobility to make it viable. But then again you can figure how to scale it down on you lunch break !!! HA HA hahahhaaaaa Your quite the guy , Dan ! keep thinkin happy/slingshot thoughts .









-Scott
P.S. I'll be posting a follow-up this morning on the laminate project


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

It looks like the surface shape could be tru-traced onto hardwood, leaving a thickness that could be further shape explored. The surface could also be transferred onto a resin base with some thickness for further shape exploration. I envy the tools that you must have and appreciate your talent very much. Keep up the very good work. -- Tex


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

Tex, that's high praise coming from someone as experienced and well respected as yourself. I think I will try either or both of your proposed techniques.

Seeing as the transfer back to wood offers the easiest possibility of enhancement, maybe I will try that first.

When I have a new carved blank, I can do a resin recasting tutorial that I think someone wanted. I have a couple of tins of 440 RTV silicone and some fresh PU resin to play with ready to go in the shop.

While I'm at it I could also do some low temperature metal casting. All I need to do then is buy or borrow a Milbro or similar.


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## NightKnight (Dec 16, 2009)

I love this design. If someone made it, I would buy it.


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## A+ Slingshots (Jan 22, 2010)

Now that's a new design!!!! I like it.


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

The Heretic's been re-born:



















Discussion thread on the new mounting:

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/1320-cougarizing-the-heretic/


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## Jedi (Mar 10, 2010)

Awesome, very very cool


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## Hugues (Mar 27, 2010)

Very creative and intuitive approach, thumbs up, pal!


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