# POM slingshot (delrin)



## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

Hello from France  .

Here is a slingshot inspired by the Bill Hayes' shrike.

It is made of POM (Acetal, Delrin)

Below these are the ones I'm doing, it is the No. 3 (done in that order).

Above there are the slingshots that I bought (with a excellent Hathcock Sniper Target ).


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## Rip-van-Winkelholz (May 7, 2015)

Hallo from Germany.

Nice shape!



Rip


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## Genoa Slingshot (Oct 29, 2015)

Very nice shape and very good work!


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## ShootnCoastie (Jan 26, 2015)

Really nice design inspiration. I like the finish of the POM. Does it cut that smooth or is there a particular method you use to get it that smooth?


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

Thank you 

I polished it with a felt disk on a drill.

Then I stuck it in a vise and I polished it with a strip cut in thick cotton clothes


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## ShootnCoastie (Jan 26, 2015)

wad said:


> Thank you
> I polished it with a felt disk on a drill.
> Then I stuck it in a vise and I polished it with a strip cut in thick cotton clothes


Thanks for sharing your technique. Nice show piece!


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## d3moncow (Aug 29, 2014)

Great job! It looks amazing. That material must be really strong.


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## roirizla (Dec 3, 2010)

Nr3 is awesome!


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## piojo (Jan 3, 2016)

That's lovely!

I don't know much about POM--what are the advantages that made you choose it for these? (The main big Chinese ecommerce site is also full of POM slingshots, and I'm curious what makes it so suitable for this.)


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## jazz (May 15, 2012)

From Wikipedia: "*Polyoxymethylene* (*POM*), also known as *acetal*,[1]*polyacetal* and *polyformaldehyde*, is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts requiring high stiffness, low friction and excellent dimensional stability."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyoxymethylene


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

it's a great, hard material without being brittle, easily worked like wood, but much more solid, it can be machined, even with the router: it not melt like plastic.

Its only flaw is that you can not paste it (it's impossible to paste it with alloy's frame for exemple).

One last thing, as it is very smooth and that the bands may slip, I mount them like this:
I put them in the other direction, do 3 laps and folds in the right direction, did a few laps and normally attaches it.

A extremly strong mount!


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## Vly62 (Feb 21, 2015)

Very nice!


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Those look great !


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## piojo (Jan 3, 2016)

@jazz But in slingshots, we don't need high stiffness, dimensional stability, or low coefficient of friction! Wikipedia is not going to answer this one. 

@wad POM sounds nifty! Though I'm afraid to work a slingshot by hand. I'm afraid of making something perfect, but breaking it and never being able to make another that's as good.


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

POM is unbreakable . Not the charm of wood (I like wood) but It's much stronger and relisient, a perfect polymer.

It's not like lexan or plexyglas.

A shot from 4 meter with theraband and a 10mm steel ball:


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## leon13 (Oct 4, 2012)

Hi That's really great work 
and looks perfect finished 
Thanks for showing 
And cool target looks like it will last for ever 
Cheers


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## jazz (May 15, 2012)

piojo said:


> @jazz But in slingshots, we don't need high stiffness, dimensional stability, or low coefficient of friction! Wikipedia is not going to answer this one.


Hi piojo,

You might be right, but I did not want to make a statement related to slingshots; I only pointed to some of the information on the Internet related to POM.

cheers,

jazz


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Very nice slingshots and an excellent synthetic material you chose.

Thanks Jazz for your contribution, I'm always gathering info on materials in general whether it's for slingshots or anything really...it goes into my memory bank for use later. I found your information quite interesting.

Delrin is used in the best zippers too.


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## alfshooter (May 11, 2011)

Mastery of the material, are very comfortable. :thumbsup:


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## piojo (Jan 3, 2016)

wad said:


> POM is unbreakable . Not the charm of wood (I like wood) but It's much stronger and relisient, a perfect polymer.
> 
> It's not like lexan or plexyglas.
> 
> A shot from 4 meter with theraband and a 10mm steel ball:


Nice! It looks like in that test, it was hanging, not braced? I'm interested in doing the same test with DIY micarta (layers of denim laminated with epoxy), and comparing the result. If I ever make a hand-worked slingshot, that will be the material. (Though my 10mm steel and bands haven't arrived yet.)


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

Thank you all 

Yes it was hanging to cushion the ball and avoid back (it returned anyway :uhoh: )

I have some Micarta, I will make the test.


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## monkeyboab (Aug 13, 2011)

They look really something, great job on every part of them.


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

Thank you 

Test done!

Shoot with a Air Arms S400 177 and JSB heavy at 10 meter.

The plates are thick a little more than 1 cm (0.5 for the aluminium one)



The Micarta is almost not damaged
The Bubinga's plate is broken


Back: The aluminium plate is slightly dented, the plywood is pierced (we see the head of the pellet)


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## piojo (Jan 3, 2016)

wad said:


> Thank you
> 
> Test done!
> 
> ...


That's a great demo! It almost makes me want to shoot at my own slingshot to see what would happen! 

Unfortunately, the epoxy is full of air voids, so I'm really not sure it would hold up. (3D printed honeycombs, with epoxy and cotton shoved into the honeycombs.)


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## grappo73 (Dec 15, 2015)

Pretty good shape!!!!


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## Tag (Jun 11, 2014)

Thanks for sharing


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## E.G. (Mar 27, 2014)

Beautiful work


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

Ive only heard of delrin for vape drip tips. But man. That looks awesome.


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## fsimpson (May 13, 2014)

really nice design and beautiful job finishing .super tough, too . the pom seems like a real expensive material to work with though , at least judging

by ebay prices for slingshot sized pieces ----------------


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## Metropolicity (Aug 22, 2013)

That finish! Love it.

Great clean work!


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## derandy (Dec 28, 2014)

That looks like a realy fine shooter.
Very Nice finish.


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

Thank you


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## derandy (Dec 28, 2014)

I started to build some POM/ Delrin slingshots to, but my finish don 't look so nice as yours. Can you make a pictute of your polishing tools. ?


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

I have a lumbago :sorry: , I can not go in the garage for the picture, but I use sand paper (120 -->800), steel wool and a tool like this (a felt disk on a drill).

And I put it in a vice and polished it with a strip cut in thick cotton clothes (like blue jean), lot of job but I think this is the tips.


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## joejeweler (Feb 27, 2018)

wad said:


> POM is unbreakable . Not the charm of wood (I like wood) but It's much stronger and relisient, a perfect polymer.
> 
> It's not like lexan or plexyglas.
> 
> ...


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## chuckduster01 (May 30, 2015)

Very nice finish on a material that is not easy to finish...well done. I have made a few extreme duty bang stick parts with delrin, but never a slingshot. You must have some good patience.


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## joejeweler (Feb 27, 2018)

Yes,...plumb forgot to mention that the OP's Acetal (Delrin) slingshot looked so well designed and finished that I think I'm going to pick up a few slabs of the material, big enough for an EDC slingshot.

Oh,...one thing that should be mentioned is that when working with any polymer, a respirator should be used, as the dust created can be a lung irritant. On making my Yawara Sticks with this material, I haven't found the need to wear eye protection beyond my eyeglasses and magnifying headband, because I'm just finishing the ends and there isn't much material coming off.

However, on making a slingshot "by hand" (a much larger surface area to be worked), you might need full eye cover besides the respirator,...just something to keep in mind. This is a good reason why CNC machining makes so much sense for possible volume slingshot manufacturing, as I believe it can be done under water for effective dust control. Even on the small area I sand on the tip ends of my sticks, using a 320 grit 1/2" drum sander in a flexible shaft machine, ....the dust coming off is VERY fine and could easily be ingested into the lungs. :nono:

...so be careful when sanding this or even wooden projects, and use protective gear!


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## stevekt (Jul 3, 2012)

Nice work. Can you post some pics of the slingshot in hand? I want to see how the thumb rests on it.


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

Thank you all 

This is another one I have made but similar :


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## mostho (Mar 28, 2017)

Marvelous


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## The Norseman (Mar 5, 2018)

WOW just wow.


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

wad said:


> Thank you all
> 
> This is another one I have made but similar :


Sweet!


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## wad (Jan 2, 2015)

Thank you Bill, it's a real honor to me.
Your work is awesome and a master source of inspiration.


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## Adonis (Jun 19, 2020)

wad said:


> Hello from France  .
> 
> Here is a slingshot inspired by the Bill Hayes' shrike.
> 
> ...


Acetal is nice for singshots


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