Brit in Darkest Taiwan.

Hi Chaps,

James Hammond here, I'm a hardcore Brit who happens to have lived in Taiwan for the last 34 years.

I have had a lifelong interest in woodwork started at the age of 6 by my father who was a watch repairer turned boat builder. Long hours I remember watching him fashion dumb old bits of wood into beautifully shaped pieces that fitted exactly where they were supposed to - then he'd transform them into art by lovingly applying the finishes. Oh the smell of Turpentine!

Later I transferred the skills I had learned into what turned out to be a lifelong passion for model aeroplanes - in the last three decades, radio controlled model gliders - but I digress.

Now retired after a long career as an aviation/aerospace engineer and designer, I have more time to do what I'd like to - and that includes various woodwork and cabinetry projects, furniture, glass cases clocks etc etc - but I have so many offcuts of really fine and sometimes rare woods. So what to do with them?

The answer: Slingshots! - or as we used to all them when we were grotty little kids in England - Catapults!

Hopefully I can learn how to make these lovely little devices from you wiser and more experienced heads.

Cheers,

James.