[DragonEyeShooter1]

So maybe I'm crazy or just a dang good shot (which i know I'm no john Jeffries or Nathan Masters) but I've been seeing on the Facebook slingshot groups people are trashing and hating hard on boardcut slingshots saying they are weak or garbage all because one Gentleman (I'll leave him unnamed here but you guys may know of whom I'm referring) who also has a sling channel on YouTube made a boardcut version of Fowler's Sparrow on the post he clearly says he got a fork hit and it split/broke the fork off. I've made tons of slim
Ngshots from my trusty old Lowe's 3/4"red oak craft boards and have never had any issues like that at all with the exception of a colt i tried to make. I'm just curious what are y'alls opinions maybe I'm just being a slingshot snob but i feel like as long as you know what you are doing and understand how wood works and the limits of your materials you'll be fine, my boardcut Mule and Ranger OTT are probly still 2 of my best frames in my whole arsenal i could run my hunting setups on them if i wanted too

 

[Reed Lukens]

Sounds like he should leave the slingshot making to people with some common sense

 

[Grandpa Grumpy]

Straight board cuts (no core or alternating grains) are notorious for breaking when you get a fork hit.

 

[cromag]

A fork hit and a frame too weak to support the bands are two different issues. The hit has all the force of the bands as well as the mass of the ammo behind it , if solid I can see that damaging even good ply material which should be stronger than most straight woods. I think anyone with common sense would at least inspect the fork after a hit even with synthetic materials."Someone" is likely dodging negligence in inspection or engineering.

 

[KawKan]

I love to make and shoot hardwood boardcuts. But you do have to use design that avoids short grain. The Ranger and Mule excel at placing mass in the area where the handle joins the forks.

I think Fowler's Sparrow was a carved natural fork, molded and then cast. You could get some short grain at the bottom of the forks if you cut it from a good straight-grained piece of lumber.

 

[Henry the Hermit]

Boardcuts can be great slingshots. Careful attention should be paid to grain structure, and the forks should be quite beefy. One of the best designs for boardcuts is the Tex Shooter Classic. Oak is a good choice. The danger in boardcuts is people making them from unsuitable wood. Plywood is a much safer choice for new enthusiasts.

Tex Shooter Classic

 

[DragonEyeShooter1]

Alright cool that's why i love you guys, you help me make sure I'm with reasonable levels of crazy, everything you guys have said was exactly what i was thinking part of the reason i only use those groups for catty porn lol but that was really bugging me I'm thinking to myself was it good oak? You needed thicker forks there, maybe he had a bad shot or is still learning? What about the classic designs! The Tex, the Wham-o? Atleast here I'm reasonable some of those facebook cats are crazy

 

[Trap1]

It disnae matter whit sport ye're intae ye'll always get ignorant idiots that ken better & spout aff. This might'iv been a structurally weak sling.

Still... It wid'iv been worthwhile askin him how he managed a fork hit?

 

[vince4242]

Hi all! Been away for a while working and enjoying my time away from chemo, but chemo starts again this week so you'll be seeing more of me for a while.

I have found my best luck with going with oak planks from Lowe's. I only make the half inch oak planks for 1/4 inch and clay but it seems very strong. I have never had a fork yet with it to know about damage but oak is great for me. I also really like ⅝" OSB for making my own slingshots. Also being so cheap or free it is great for testing new designs of slingshot before you make the expensive wood or metal core slingshots. It's incredibly cheap or free to find and it's denser than most other plywoods but not nearly as dense as the oak. I have taken several hits on OSB slingshot and the forks held up well and no catastrophic breakage from fork hits. I just fill in the damage from the fork head with 5 minutes epoxy and reshape and have had no issues. But for my heavy bands and hunting setup I use my titanium D1 from slingshooting.com

Here is my half inch oak light tube shooter that works great for me.

Cheers

 

[Cass]

Fork hit suck!! I destroyed one of my favorites this weekend with a 3\8" ball and . 55 bands hit a fork and at first I didn't notice, but my second mind told me to look harder, and the frame had a good split in it making it unusable, but I can still trace the pattern. That was Osage orange which is very tough, did not deform, just split.I have a piece of carbon fiber for my next make. All wood breaks!

 

[Grandpa Grumpy]

https://slingshotforum.com/topic/20009-show-us-your-breaks/

 

[Cass]

I started today with carbon fiber and aluminum.

 

[Cass]

Hi, here is the aluminum one I made today.No more destructive fork hits for awhile!

 

[Pebble Shooter]

It's really all about the type of wood involved (preferably dense hardwoods, (I particularly like beech wood as it's easy to find in Europe), grain orientation, and a suitable thickness in the slingshot frame sections most exposed to tension. By definition, the crisscross configuration of Baltic birch plywood makes it ideal for homemade slingshots, as the relative risk of snapping forks is significantly reduced - as opposed to regular hardwood of a similar thickness and linear grain structure.

Design is of course another crucial issue, because a super arty-looking frame may in fact not be sturdy enough for the intended band or tube strength: it's a case of finding a compromise between those two criteria. I generally try to stay on the safe side i.e. a preference for thicker forks on naturals, and the highest available initial thickness with Baltic birch plywood.

Safety testing a frame before actually using it is essential too, and should involve exposing the slingshot forks to tensions well above those of the future intended flat bands or tubes: "over-engineered" is a term I like to see in terms of safety of cars, motorcycles, bicycles, firearms, etc. Thin and high fork limbs made of wood are risky by definition.

Last but not least, reading up about the properties of woods, metals, and plastics (3-D printing) helps in seeking the compromise between structural requirements and stylistic issues, while keeping safety at the top of the list of priorities. This is what I did before I started my adventure in homemade slingshots about 9 years ago: I have never had any mishaps with my 22 mm thick board cut slingshots (touch wood!).

All that said, I much prefer using my homemade bent 8 mm stainless steel rod slingshots, or the well engineered Chinese-made stainless steel slingshots in my collection, both from the point of view of safety and weight: I find that extra heft adds stability during the shot release for increased accuracy.

B)

 

[devils son in law]

I agree, boards can be a wonderful material to make a slingshot, but consider a few important factors when making a board cut. A good hardwood, a proper design and stress test it before using it as stated above.

 

[cromag]

Being new to this I find the timeliness of this thread really beneficial. This is an off shoot frame I was prototyping from some 1/2" cherry that after sanding started getting a little "iffy" to me especially after I had to sand the flat surfaces a lot more than I expected to remove some old dark stain. Even though it feels very strong the delicate configuration made me do some reinforcement and I ran a steel rod down the center of each arm and epoxied. I don't shoot heavy bands normally but ,even so, The protection makes me feel a lot better.

 

[Cass]

Nice pins, I hope it works.

 

[vince4242]

Beautiful design and color. Great idea with the pins.

 

[cromag]

Not my design , basic shape was a Recuas from the other site which really fits my hand and allows you to hold it easily negating any real need for a lanyard.

I just widened the forks and did the handle with an offset to change the vertical position of the forks at arms length. It pockets well but too thin. I'm off to find some exotic wood scraps to glue up to some cutting board cores and make one that's thicker.

 

[Rodrossuk]

I really like this profile :thumbsup: Where might I find an outline plan for this one. I am not familiar with "the OTHER site" ! Could you point me in the right direction ?

I have some beautiful 16 mm American White Oak board that would do it justice. Thanks for the steel rod reinforcing tip - Safety is NO ACCIDENT !