# Help me with slingshot making



## Itamar J (Aug 7, 2010)

well i need to know how thick a board cut has to be so it is safe? an inch of hardwood? i just dont want one breaking on me

how to you make a bent rod slingshot?
im thinking of using a torch to heat it then bending it with plyers

how do i make a good bb shooter?
i think thera band tan would be best, small pouch, light string, all that stuff to reduce weight
but how would i cut the bands?(dimensions)
would butterfly be better?

i think i might have to sell my board cuts in the future







to cover the cost of the tools i buy

answering either one would be great
dont have to answer all of them

thank you!

ive seen those micro scorpions they are look great!
but im looking to learn to make one 
also a thicker one like 1/4 inch or maybe a little thicker


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## hawk2009 (Dec 30, 2009)

Whatever you make you will need a bit of experience behind you before making them to sell,as you need to make sure what your selling will do what you say it will.


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

Itamar J said:


> well i need to know how thick a board cut has to be so it is safe? an inch of hardwood? i just dont want one breaking on me
> 
> how to you make a bent rod slingshot?
> im thinking of using a torch to heat it then bending it with plyers
> ...


This is my BB shooter and it is 1/4 inch thick. No shooter has to be thick if its plywood or metal but a solid wood does break easily. If you are interested I will give you the measurements of this particular over the top BB shooter but I also shoot up to 5/8 marbles with this shooter so dont let the Tiny size fool you this is one bad little shooter and ez to conceal.


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## USASlingshot (Feb 25, 2010)

Itamar J said:


> well i need to know how thick a board cut has to be so it is safe? an inch of hardwood? i just dont want one breaking on me
> 
> how to you make a bent rod slingshot?
> im thinking of using a torch to heat it then bending it with plyers
> ...


a good board thickness is 3/4" or 1". 
i dont make bent wire slingshots so i could not help you








a good BB shooter is compact, but not to small that its weird to hold you kind of have to find a median
thera tan is not that good. i would sugest blue,black,silver, or gold thera band
as for tools you dont need anything expensive. a coping saw, various sand paper grits, and some other odds and ends. no jigsaw or any electronic tools needed at all.

good luck


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

You might want to go to youtube and check out Micro Scorpion Slingshots. I think you can buy from him. Looks like some handy dandy shooters.


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## Itamar J (Aug 7, 2010)

hawk2009 said:


> Whatever you make you will need a bit of experience behind you before making them to sell,as you need to make sure what your selling will do what you say it will.


well i would never sell a bad product
that would make me look bad and no one would buy from me in the future
im gonna make sure i have a good product before i even think of selling it


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## USASlingshot (Feb 25, 2010)

thats a good idea. get a feel for slingshots and what makes a slingshot good. then start making and selling... look at smitty, he has been making amazing slingshots and still isnt selling them because he wants to make them even better. keep working at it and make a few solid designs then youll be good... good luck


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## Itamar J (Aug 7, 2010)

dgui said:


> well i need to know how thick a board cut has to be so it is safe? an inch of hardwood? i just dont want one breaking on me
> 
> how to you make a bent rod slingshot?
> im thinking of using a torch to heat it then bending it with plyers
> ...


This is my BB shooter and it is 1/4 inch thick. No shooter has to be thick if its plywood or metal but a solid wood does break easily. If you are interested I will give you the measurements of this particular over the top BB shooter but I also shoot up to 5/8 marbles with this shooter so dont let the Tiny size fool you this is one bad little shooter and ez to conceal.
[/quote]

sounds great i would love the measurements


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## Itamar J (Aug 7, 2010)

good avice with all that stuff
but i though tan was faster if you got a lot of it?
but i heard its also really delicate
so maybe black, blue, or gold would be better for this


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

Here are the measurements for my BB Shooter. Actually I afectionately refer to it as Pickle Fork Shooter.

The pouch that I find works super for this shooter or any shooter by my experience is if the leather is slick on one side or finished and the size I cut is 7/8 inch wide and 2-3/4 inch long with a thickness of 1/16th inch.

Dont let the size of this type of shooter cause you to think it is not up to the task that large oversized shooters can dole out. I have not shot bbs before but I shoot 3/8, 7/16 and 1/2 inch steel ball and I like the 1/2 inch white glass shot and my all time favorites are 5/8 marbles.

You can get top quality pre-cut squares or lengths of this type of craft wood at places like Michaels arts and crafts and also Hobby Lobby but if you have a model airplane store in your area they may have excellent quality wood.

I no longer make any shooters with solid type of wood because the forks can and do break and become easily damaged now the opposite is true with plywood. Plywood can take a pounding and is many times stronger than that of any hard wood. But if I were to make another solid wood shooter it would be Poplar. Very easy to cut, carve, shape, sand and it can take a few dents. I however now completely avoid fork hits because I hold my shooters like im pointing with it and also never any hand slaps for this same reason.

About securing the bands to the forks. I for a long time no longer make this round about grove to hold the bands. There is plenty of flat area length either for flatbands or tubes to simply wind very tightly band to secure bands. When securing tubing make sure the direction of the pouch corresponds in proper position to the forks. I put a temporary ruberband to secure the tubes and then line it up and wind it while it is positionally proper this is so when you are shooting and reloading that the pouch always falls right and open for the next shot.

Just one more thing. About the stencile, just copy the first picture of the shooter and you might enlarge it first to the size you desire then print and cut out and there will be your pattern to make it EZ.

The Pickle Fork is not just for bbs. Check the two pictures attached and see the result of a 5/8 marble pounding and penetrating a shave cream can and then moving it. The can was about 2/3rds full so it took some force to push it. You can also stick with the more traditional style slingshot as the two latter pictures show. The middle picture also provide sufficient evidence that size may not matter in the delivery of power when you require it. Flat Bands or Tubes they both work according to what your hand likes better.


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## USASlingshot (Feb 25, 2010)

Itamar J said:


> good avice with all that stuff
> but i though tan was faster if you got a lot of it?
> but i heard its also really delicate
> so maybe black, blue, or gold would be better for this


Blue is the fastest if you have alot. Very thin= very fast


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## smitty (Dec 17, 2009)

Hello Itamar! For a solid hardwood slingshot I like about 7/8"- 1" thick. Test the wood after you cut it out to make sure there are no hidden cracks. You don't want to invest hours making it and then find out it was flawed.
Bent steel slingshots are easy to make if you don't mind it being a bit out of proportion and harder to make if you want everything to look its' best. I have a video on my smittyslingshots U-Tube channel that I think is worth more than many words I write here.
I have zero experience with bb shooters, but if I was going to have a go at one, I would just use any spare frame I have and rig it up with #32 latex rubber bands for fun. If I had any scrap rubber left from other slingshots I would use that on my bb shooter too, until I found whatever rubber I liked best for it. Seems to me you would not want too strong of rubber. I really would just scavenge around for rubber to use. I might even want to try bending some 1/8" steel into a frame and chain some rubber bands together with a very small pouch, like maybe 3/8" wide X 2" long. Hmmm, sounds like fun...


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

Well in my honest opinion the easiest and cheapest way to get into slingshot making is to take a trip into the woods, I use Chinese tubes because for me they are more convenient and easier to rig. 

as far as BB shooters I just made my first out of a small fork I had drying in the trunk, it has a small double pocketed pouch I got from Flatband...using double 20*40 Chinese tubes on it and having a blast.


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

As a noob myself, started in late May, maybe my experiences can help. First, not many people can handle extremely powerful slingshots, so I suggest you start out with SSs that are easy to pull. Remember that most people who are or are going to be passionate about SS shooting are either kids or geezers, so since you will probably end up giving a lot of your early efforts away, keep them simple and easy to use. I recommend tubes in the beginning, because they are easy to work with. Theraband tan is probably too light for anything except BBs. I built a SS for my 10 year old grandson using Theraband yellow and it was perfect for him. One of my best naturals is fitted with yellow and I love to shoot it, because the lighter the pull, the easier it is to hit the target. Until you hone your woodworking skills and get the tools you need, keep your designs simple. The two below are good examples of keeping it simple and are my most accurate. The plywood cutout is banded with 1.5 x 7 inches of Everlast black and the Tamarind natural uses Theraband yellow with a matchstick lock. Actually, the matchstick is a piece of bamboo skewer.

Henry


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## USASlingshot (Feb 25, 2010)

Harpersgrace is right, naturals are easy to make and cheap. It also happens people love naturals and you could sell them fairly easy


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

USASlingshot said:


> Harpersgrace is right, naturals are easy to make and cheap. It also happens people love naturals and you could sell them fairly easy


I don't know about them selling easily..but for the limited investment you have in them it's not so heartbreaking if they don't, you can get 10 meters of 20*40 tubing from Dankung for about 8 bucks shipped if you don't mind waiting a few weeks or you can shop around and get it local but I haven't found it nearly as cheap...I use a wrap around meathod for attatching the tubes that is quick and easy to do...the thing about naturals is you can spend a half hour and get a respectable shooter out of a dried fork with little more than a pocket knife a file and a piece of sandpaper...you can also spend some time and energy and come up with a work of art with very little more... mine tend to be less rather than more but they shoot well and I dont ask much for them.


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## jmplsnt (Jan 1, 2010)

I am in total agreement with Harpersgrace. I also happen to be a fan of his simple, yet effective slingshots. To me, the natural fork is the resortera in its purest and simplest form......of course with the chained rubber bands. A trip to an area with timber felling going on will reap you year's worth of forks and may I also reccomend a good folding saw, easily available for eight or ten dollars.

Good luck to you in your endeavour; I thought of selling long ago but have contented myself with trading mine with other makers.


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