# slingshot building



## tyrone8511 (May 2, 2014)

Hi guys

Well I have been registered on the forum a while and there is some awesome people and builders on this forum, I am just not a very out spoken person so I don't post much. I am trying my hand at building some slingshots but I am missing a trick somewhere. I want to build a slingshot with 5mm plywood 3mm stainless/Aluminium and then 5mm plywood again. The trick I don't get is how you put it all together because I think normal wood glue wouldn't stick on metal but superglue or something like that would probably be to brittle.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Tyrone


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## you'llshootyereyeout (Apr 5, 2014)

You'll need a two part epoxy. Pins and or tubes will make it more stable. Years ago I got brass pins that screwed together. They had extra thick heads that could be sanded down flush thereby removing the screwdriver slots. I got them from a knife making supply co.


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## tyrone8511 (May 2, 2014)

Thanks for the advice, is there any specific brands I should look for I am in South Africa so not sure if we get the same makes


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## Byudzai (Aug 31, 2013)

West G-Flex is a popular epoxy for slingshots.

Keep in mind that epoxy bonds by turning into a solid, so it needs a rough surface to adhere. IOW scratch the snot out of the metal surfaces. If you're using aluminum, make sure to clean thoroughly with as close to pure alcohol as you can get to keep the oxidation product off, right before you glue.

If you have a little jeweler's scale, I've seen people use that to measure out exact 1:1 amount of each epoxy. Seems to have created a harder final product for me than measuring with baking spoons did.

Make sure you get a drill bit that's just the right size bigger than your pinning material that a little epoxy can flow around it. Score the edges of the pins for added grip and epoxy them in. Try to keep them as close to the right length as you can to save yourself excessive sanding/sawing when they're glued into place.

Don't over-clamp with epoxy. A few spring clamps should do the job, long as you don't see any gaps between the layers.

That's the stuff I've learned so far, off the top of my head.


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## Byudzai (Aug 31, 2013)

Wikipedia says this about the adhesive properties of epoxy. I was wrong:

As adhesives, epoxies bond in three ways: a) mechanically, because the bonding surfaces are roughened; B) by proximity, because the cured resins are physically so close to the bonding surfaces that they are hard to separate; c) ionically, because the epoxy resins form ionic bonds at an atomic level with the bonding surfaces. This last is substantially the strongest of the three.

Still, experience suggests that epoxies don't bond well to smooth, hard surfaces all that well.


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## tyrone8511 (May 2, 2014)

thanks for all your guys advice I will give it a go, busy with a board project first and there after I will try the joined together materials


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## DogBox (Aug 11, 2014)

If you find Metropolicity up in the Vendors section, he has done some really good step-by-step photo builds that give a wonderful explanation + pictures to go with it! Others have done similar, but his come to mind...


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## Prototype.x (Jun 16, 2014)

Super glue brand plastic epoxy is what I use for many different hobbies and it sticks, metal,wood,plastic etc.


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