# Classic Ergo - Multiplex boardcut



## mopper (Nov 17, 2012)

Here is my latest slingshot - the Classic Ergo from the templates subforum. It is made from (the cheapest) 18mm Multiplex wood, but still extremely rugged and a simple no frills tool for everyday use, just as I like it.










What is maybe remarkable about it is the fact that this is the first slingshot where I did not use a rasp, file and sheets of sandpaper to make it.

First I used an electric saber saw (the kind that looks and is held a bit like a clothes iron, with a short blade protruding from the underside) to to cut out the blank roughly outside the contours.

Then I used a heavy duty electric drill that I had clamped into a drill press and a 38mm sanding drum with 80 grit paper to get the contours right.

Finally, for rounding, I used a 9mm radius rounding bit for a router. Going was pretty slow because unfortunately I only had that geared drill and even in the highest gear it did only 3.700 rpm; a real router will do around 15.000 to 20.000 rpm. One has to hold down the slingshot pretty firmly and move it against the rounding bit only very slowly, millimeter after millimeter. The result, however, was really impressive (well, to me at least), better than anything I had achieved by hand before. A really even and symmetrical shape as you can see in the picture.

At first I banded it up with single strand, 2cm untapered TB Silver and shot 8mm steel ... and found that the accuracy was horrible.

The balls sometimes really seemed to perform a hook in midflight upon leaving the pouch and veered off wildly into any direction.

I was almost ready to throw it away and start over but tried some heavier ammo first - 12mm steel and 16mm marbles and lo and behold, no more hooks and unpredictable flight, accuracy was outstanding and consistent. No idea what caused the bad accuracy with the light ammo ... I suspect the bands bunched up in the fork and fouled up the flight path. I have given the bands a 2-1,5cm taper and shoot 16mm marbles. It is now deadly accurate, my best shooter in fact.

The Classic Ergo is a very ergonomic, accurate design and I can only recommend it.


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## mopper (Nov 17, 2012)

Btw I have learned the hard way that cheao Multipley is the wrong place to be pinching pennies - the two slingshots that I made from the same board before that BOTH had voids EXACTLY in the fork tips!!! I was really really pissed. As you can see in the picture, it almost happend again with this one - a huge knot right beneath the left fork tip. I am pretty sure that knot would have been torn apart during routing and created another void if it had been at the fork tip.


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## rapidray (Dec 15, 2012)

well done. I like your description on how you did it. good information! enjoy.


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

Good looking slinghsot!

I'd be willing to bet that it was that big, heavy pouch that was causing you trouble with the lighter ammo. Glad you figured it out, in any event.


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

I like it!


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## mopper (Nov 17, 2012)

M_J said:


> Good looking slinghsot!
> 
> I'd be willing to bet that it was that big, heavy pouch that was causing you trouble with the lighter ammo.


Actually that is the second pouch I put on the frame, it needs to be slightly large to handle the 16mm marbles I shoot (Although 8,5x2,5cm isn't really that large). I also wanted it to be able to handle the 20mm beechwood balls I sometimes use, so I preferred to err on the side of caution.

My first pouch for the 8mm steel was a very small 5,5x2cm pouch, only slightly longer than two thumbnails put together. I call these my "bikini pouches"! I have one of those on my Bad Company, with single strand TB Silver, 2-1cm taper and it shoots 8mm steel and 7mm lead just fine, with great precision. The fork on my Bad Company is a bit wider than that of the Classic Ergo, that was why I suspected the wide bands, in conjunction with the slightly narrower fork, of fouling the flight path.


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