[mattwalt]

I've been messaged a few times recently about these competitions possibly favouring exotic builds using specialist machinery. Considering my first ever slingshot only used a saw to cut the branch and a craft knife to shape (nothing else) - and many of my more recent builds were a coping saw / file and sandpaper. Think this month would be great to highlight that you don't need much to get a sweet looking high-end frame made.

So this month - using as few tools as possible I'd like to see some cool frames.

Please list the tools used for each build ( different sandpaper grades in this case I'd count as a single tool), but any final finish as in CA / Varnish / BLO etc. and applicator won't be included in this. Also if multitools are used - each specific blade/function used would be considered a tool in its own right. Power tools are also allowed - but again any change to attachment is an extra tool (Ie - table router trim bit = 1 tool & beading bit = 1 tool)

Any material can be used - tree branch / G10 / Metal - absolutely no restrictions.

Past that same rules as always - created / first displayed this month...

 

[mattwalt]

Also expanding... Any improvised tools should be listed - and may not count towards tools used.

Vice/clamping device I think maybe for this challenge would be considered a tool. Unless it conforms to being 100% improvised.

Blacksmithing - anvil is a tool and hammer is a tool and tongs are a tool... again unless improvised

 

[MakoPat]

May is Macgyver month!
This is a great idea MattWalt.

 

[SJAaz]

Cool Matt..

 

[SLING-N-SHOT]

Absolutely a great idea Matt....should turn out some fine entries for sure.

I'm in.....

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[Cass]

Hi, I am in also.

 

[Pebble Shooter]

Spring is somewhere far to the south, it's Saturday, it rained and was rather cold at 10 Celsius: a perfect day to make another slingshot, right?

Back in 2014, I found a way of making slingshots capable of handling strong flat bands using both corrugated cardboard and regular A-4 paper.

Even better, I found that roll-folding 30-40 page magazines or advertising pamphlets into stick shape, bending these, and inserting a folded triangle made of corrugated cardboard to ensure fork separation under elastic tension, all with the help of fiber-reinforced "Tesa" tape (NB: not the glass fiber version!) in the right places made for a very quickly made slingshot.

Folded cardboard or paper is amazingly load resistant along the edges, and certainly strong enough to handle serious flat band sets (tubes should be technically possible too). Always run safety tests before shooting with something like this.

The only tools I used for this latest frame were a pencil, a pair of strong scissors, and a ruler. The A-4 format, 35-page magazine I used was reduced to a length of 25 cm., and folded. Two layered strips of corrugated cardboard were used to make the inner stabilizing triangle.

The dimensions of this folded magazine slingshot, which may indeed not please the eye, but that definitely gets the job done with plenty of oomph (oh, no worries about damaging fork hits on this one), are as follows:

Length: 12 cm, breadth: 3 cm, inner fork width: 6 cm, fork depth: 4 cm, weight: 80 grams.

Just imagine you've arrived at your favorite annual slingshot shooting competition, and forgot your slingshot in the mad rush to get there on time...this may save the day, as you'll find the raw materials just about anywhere.

Here is one of the videos I made about the subject. There is a short tutorial towards the end, perfect to keep the kids busy during a rainy weekend - check it out:

B) Entry no.1

 

[skarrd]

HMMMMM,another intrigueing contest,,,,,,,,, i'm in,on goes the tin foil hat,i mean Thinking cap.......

 

[SLING-N-SHOT]

Interesting and unique frame PS

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Darrell Allen

 

[Catapults and Carving]

I think I might have an idea for this one ????

 

[Pebble Shooter]

I tend to keep certain things for their possible practical use, as opposed to simply chucking them in the trash - such as wine corks, which have multiple uses beyond their intended function.

Well, one champagne cork from last New Years eve celebration, 3 regular wine bottle corks, 2 wood screws 60 x 5 mm, and two wood screws 20 x 4 mm morphed into the wonderful contraption shown below. The only tools used were a screw driver, a vise, and a blade cutter knife. A bit of sandpaper was needed to ensure smooth edges for the flat bands. Essentially, the kind of stuff most people have lying around in a kitchen drawer.

The champagne cork forms the grip, and two wine corks form the fork. Both these sections were connected by directly inserting the 6 cm screws in the wine corks, and then connecting these with the champagne cork at a 45-degree angle. Cork is a relatively soft material, so no actual drilling was required. The blade cutter knife was used to create two separate sections from the remaining wine cork to form the pinch grip supports - which also reduces the load factor in this critical area. Two notches on the wine corks (forks) ensure that bands stay in place after wrap & tuck.

You might doubtlessly now be wondering, like I did, whether this configuration is strong and stable enough to handle flat bands. Well, to my surprise (it's all experimentation), I am able to apply significant pressure on the forks with the hand: the lower surface of the two wine corks that connects flush with the champagne cork holds things in place together with the 6 cm wood screws. Initial tension tests with a set of 0.3 mm and 15 mm wide flat bands ran smoothly: safety is always at the top of my list of priorities.

Clearly, you're not going to put a super strong band set on this design, but it will nevertheless quite happily handle band sets for 7-8 mm steel ammo. That said, the general concept should also work quite well with hard woods and 6 to 8 mm steel threaded bolts, with nuts to connect everything securely. It's another way of making a pinch-grip slingshot.

Dimensions: total length: 8 cm, total width: 9 cm, breadth: 3 cm, inner fork width: 5 cm, fork depth: 4 cm. Light flat bands recommended.

I decided to call this little shooter "the corker".

Entry no. 2 B)

 

[MOJAVE MO]

Exactly my thought MakoPat! The type of thinking that goes into a slingshot like this keeps kids around the world living the dream!

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[SJAaz]

Hey that is just the thing to keep the birds out of the grapes! There seems to be no end to your creative ideas.

 

[mattwalt]

Pebble Shooter - so 3 tools in entry 1 and 5 in entry 2?

 

[Pebble Shooter]

4 tools in entry 2, unless you count the hands...

 

[SteveJ]

dat gum , Im usually too late , this time Im too early lol

 

[Cass]

Hi, this is my first entry. This is made of buffalo horn, tools used, coping saw, round chainsaw file, steel wool, sandpaper. No power tools, took 3 days, off and on. The biggest problem was my dog who wanted this greatly!! To me it looks rough, but it shoots great. I like natural materials, but I have no wood cut and dried. No band grooves though, I didn't think the horn would support it.

 

[mattwalt]

Cass thats a sweet looking frame.

4 tools. 3 if we consider steel wool as 'sandpaper'

Think in your case you could have actually got that down to just 2 - either by using a ready bar or a bolt as a file (works surprisingly well) or used sandpaper with mandrels.

Personally I think its fairly difficult getting below 3 tools - Cutting / Shaping / Finishing.

 

[bingo]

This be a little entry when I'm done with it wkend project

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[skarrd]

got 2 in the works,