# Good Banding Jigs That Work Well



## Fiveshooter (Nov 15, 2016)

Most of you have probably made your own by now. Some have probably bought the little red plastic one that Dankung sells. I have a couple and they do function but leave very little room to do your work. I went on shopping quest for manufactured banding jigs that work very well and below are links to the ones I have received so far that work really well. Unfortunately ALL come from China and all have a long shipping time.

Some come with tools and some do not. If you are using hemostats or pliers be sure to slip a piece of rubber tube over the ends to protect your bands. Some of the sets come with pliers but they all work much better using a high quality pair of hemostats with latex tube covering the ends. This is true for all models listed.

I chose option "C" from this link and it is a great device that leaves plenty of room to work on:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/new-rubber-ball-wear-traditional-assistant-card-tied-band-group-tool-bundled-no-oblate-frame-pocket/32843101696.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.153b4c4dl3myxd

I chose option "2" for this set and it is actually very well made and works well:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-1-Set-Multifunction-Tools-Rubber-band-Tool-Assistant-Set-Variety-of-Gifts-For-DIY-Slingshot/32833109889.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.153b4c4dl3myxd

This is designed like the one in link above but all metal construction. It is a great banding jig when you use hemostats and not the pliers it comes with:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2018-Outdoor-Hunting-Rubber-Band-Installation-Accessories-Rubber-Band-Tool-Assistant-Set-Various-Gifts-Slingshot-Rubber/32873039486.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.153b4c4dl3myxd

This one is my favorite of all. I like the way it functions best however it comes with no tools at all so you will need your own tools:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Outdoor-Rubber-band-Tool-Assistant-Set-new-Hunting-Shooting-Catapult-Helper-Slingshot-Rubber-Band-Tied-Assistant/32880718629.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.153b4c4dl3myxd

You will most likely be waiting anywhere from 2 weeks to six weeks for any of these to show up. Aliexpress is a fairly safe place to shop for Chinese products. Unlike eBay the seller does not get the payment until you confirm receipt of goods. There are also quite a few good quality slingshots on there made from real stainless, titanium or aluminum. Not many of the "break if you look at it wrong" dangerous zinc ones left for sale.


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## 3danman (Mar 29, 2012)

Great post, this would be super helpful for somebody new to making their own band assemblies. I would also add that, if you have access to basic hand tools and some scrap wood, making your own band jig is also very inexpensive and works as well as anything else.


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## Fiveshooter (Nov 15, 2016)

I'm having a couple made at a local machine shop to be as simple as possible. I'll post pictures of them as soon as they are ready. They will be made of 1/8" stainless steel and no moving parts at all.

Below are a few I already have. The bottom one is one I made. I am not very happy with the one I made but I think the new stainless ones will be perfect for me. The second picture is the pattern for the ones being made now. Since it has no moving parts you would have to use two pair of hemostats to stretch the band and pouch. Where you grip the pouch will determine how much stretch you get on the bands. Of course the ends of the hemostat you clamp on the elastic should have some elastic tubes on them to protect your bands. It's just too simple not to work well. It may take some playing with the width dimension to get it just right but I think it will be fine as it is. I'll post a picture of it set up with a pouch and band ready to tie when they are finished.


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## Fiveshooter (Nov 15, 2016)

Here is the finished product of the ones from the template above. One picture is showing ready to tie both sides and the second is tying for tying one side at a time. Either way it works great and it's solid stainless steel made right here in the USA. I just got the pair of them today. I expect these will be my "go to" from now on. Other than the hemostats which are actually separate parts these have zero moving parts and formed from 1/8" thick solid stainless steel. No doubt these can last a lifetime. The idea for these came from another forum where the guy was using 4 nails in a block of wood. He said it was inspired by GZK's simple setup. While 4 nails in a block of wood will work just as good I do like the custom made stainless ones much better. So thank you Timhortoscoffeetaget for sharing your picture and thank you GZK for posting the video on Facebook because the idea to make these popped into my head as soon as I saw it.


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## Fiveshooter (Nov 15, 2016)

All of these work although the little red plastic ones from Dankung leave so little room to work that are an exercise in frustration. They were the first I ever found for sale. The first four on the right are mostly stainless steel and the one on the front right is all stainless except the clamp which is a common size and easy to find and replace if you needed to. The three black ones are mostly plastic build but all use the same size clamp as the stainless one. The one in the far back is some sort of plated steel. They all work well but only allow you to set them up for one side at a time. I wanted something that was very durable and allows me to clamp both sides at once. Nothing at all complicated about the ones the machine shop made me. Nothing to wear out or break either.


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## stevekt (Jul 3, 2012)

The Simple Shot band jig works really well but mine had poor fit and finish.


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## Fiveshooter (Nov 15, 2016)

stevekt said:


> The Simple Shot band jig works really well but mine had poor fit and finish.


I have no doubt the Simple Shot banding jig works very well. I am just not much on wooden items unless it s really classy wooden slingshot.

When I see a really nice wood frame it gets my heart pounding.

If you have the patience to wait a long long time for delivery there are some outstanding designs in China. I guess not many US makers because most shooter make their own.

The one on the bottom right in my picture of my Chinese banding jigs is made entirely of stainless steel including the hardware. Only the clamp is plated steel. I REALLY like that one.

I don't think you could find anything even close to it's quality made in the USA and if you could find one the price would be very high. For the two I had made, I was just lucky to have a good contact at a local metal and machine shop willing to make them for me at no charge. I doubt he would consider making them to sell. I could have changed a few dimensions and made a few other changes to make it a little better but I feel very fortunate to have them as they are. Clamping them off to tie one side only puts a bit more stretch on the bands than I would like but O could always incorporate a piece of Parachord to have less stretch. It really doesn't matter as I will almost always use it set up to tie both sides.


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## Tag (Jun 11, 2014)

Always glad to see new ideas glad you shared your ideas


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## JPD-Madrid (Apr 2, 2013)

I will bring the stainless one into Amazon.


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## Fiveshooter (Nov 15, 2016)

JPD-Madrid said:


> I will bring the stainless one into Amazon.


That is great news!!! Of all the ones I have purchased from China the one in the link below has been my favorite one. Evey piece except the clamp is full stainless steel. I would suggest using it with hemostats instead of the pliers it came with. It has VERY good build quality and it is very easy to use. Also the clamp used has a standard hole pattern so it can easily be replaced if you like with Clamp-Rite model 16051. This is a heavy duty clamp that can be found easily in the USA. Chances are good you will never need to replace it but I replaced all mine of two types (plastic and stainless) with this clamp. It keeps the banding jig smaller as the clamp closing direction is opposite and is 2 times stronger. The extra strength is not needed. The clamp it comes with works very well but I wanted to use the high strength clamp. The mounting hole pattern is exactly the same.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2018-Outdoor-Hunting-Rubber-Band-Installation-Accessories-Rubber-Band-Tool-Assistant-Set-Various-Gifts-Slingshot-Rubber/32873039486.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dW3z9lP

I prefer to use the stainless ones I had made locally better than any. It is the simplest design and no parts to ever break or lose.


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## Cjw (Nov 1, 2012)

I had the one from Simpleshot for a few years now and it works great. Tie both flats and tube on it with no problem.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## Fiveshooter (Nov 15, 2016)

Cjw said:


> I had the one from Simpleshot for a few years now and it works great. Tie both flats and tube on it with no problem.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


I had thought about buying one of Simple Shot's on many occasions but never pulled the trigger on the purchase. It is so nice to be able to tie my own to my liking and from the materials I want. After buying the China models and finally having the one piece models made I want to kick myself for not getting into tying my own from the start. It's not so much about the cost savings, it's all about making the band sets in any configuration you want any time you want. I did buy quite a bit of die cut tapered elastic strips from Simple shot but now that I have the adjustable band cutting ruler and a couple batch taper cutting plates I will be cutting my own bands from now on. The adjustable ruler gives you the option of repeatably cutting any taper you want but much slower to use than the batch cut plates. The batch cutting plates are much faster but you are limited to whatever taper it was made for. Mine is 20mm to 12mm only and for power adjustment I just vary the thickness of elastic according to what I want at the time. I guess both types have their limitations but it's great to be able to whip out a large quantity of exactly the same taper in just a few minutes. I started by just measuring, marking and cutting but for me that method made band cutting my least favorite chore. I am saying goodbye to my marking pen and using either the adjustable ruler or a batch cutting plate from now on. I did buy a LOT of the dark amber colored storage bags from Simple Shot to store my cut bands in though. It's easy to get carried away with a batch cutting plate and end up cutting more than you will use in a year at one session so I figured I best get the best band storage bags available. To the best of my knowledge these are the Simple Shot dark amber bags.


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