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My new sling (Read 2589 times)
Lord_Byron_Key
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My new sling
Apr 18th, 2006 at 7:11pm
 
Greetings everyone! Yesterday I made a sling at a buddy of mines house, he is a leatherworker so he had all kinds of materials around and so I got lucky and found this piece of leather that was the perfect shape for a sling pocket. I asked if i could use it and he was like "For what?" I replied "To make a sling", he (being a mideval weaponry fanatic) immediatley decided that he would make one too. So we both made slings and spend the rest of the afternoon slinging, (and dodging) rocks. Now I have never made a sling before, although I did have one as a kid. I just kind of took what I know about physics and applied it to throwing rocks(or glands as I have recently learned they are called). Anyway, I came up with a design using braided cowhide for stings. I figured this would add some rigidity and weight to the  strings so that t when I let go of it it would snap out all whip like and not get wrapped around the gland. Which was problem I remember having with the sling I had when I was a kid, which was just a couple leather thongs tied to an oval shaped peice of deerskin.  So I cut six thin strips out of a big piece of cowhide and braided two strings. One longer than the other because I reasoned that I would want something to keep the sling from flying out of my hand. I thought that putting a ring through the end of one string(the longer one) and and putting the extra length through my fist against my palm and then putting the ring on my little finger would do that. I also tied a fat knot in the end of the shorter release string so that it would not come flying out of my hand until I wanted it to. Then I began wondering what I was going to do about attaching the strings to the pocket securley, figuring that whatever I did had to be strong. I ended up putting three holes in each side of the pocket and running the three strands of the braid through the holes. then I put the three braid ends flat together and punched 2 holes in them. Then I needled some sinew through one hole and wrapped the ends of the braid together tightly with the sinew up to the next set of holes in the thongs, then needled the sinew through that hole and then knotted the sinew off. I followed this procedure for both sides. The result sinched the leather of the pocket perfectly and caused the pocket to be a in a slightly more concave shape. Once I had the finished strings FIRMLY attached to the pocket I went and tried my new sling out, VIOLA! I whipped a golf ball sized rock a my buddies rusty burn barrel so hard it broke through both sides of the barrel. That was my first, and best shot to date. I have barely been able to hit anything I was aiming at by quite alot since then. That was before today when I decided that mabey there would be other weirdos out there who liked slinging as much as I do. So I searched google and found this rockin site. Spent the better part of the morning reading through the guides area and checking out videos. I have already tried out several of the diffrent techniqes and improved my accuracy and power considerably. I especially liked the part about incendiarey rounds. ( I thought that rubber cement glue would work well since it's A. highly flammable, B. sticky as heck, and C. comes in a nice slingable glass bottle. however it's not very period).  So as not to make this post to horribly wordy I will get to the point.  I am a beginner and until recently had no knowledge of slings at all and I assume that because of this, my sling may be flawed or inefficient in some way. I would greatly appreciate any advice or pointers that anyone could give me about making my next one. I have included pictures of my sling to aid in the visualization process.

This pic is the whole sling
...

This one is a closeup of the braid I used for the strings
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This one is a closeup of the stationary string
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This one is a closeup of the release knot
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This one is a closeup of the pocket/string joint, it is like this one on both sides.
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This one is the back of the pocket showing both string joints.
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This one is the inside of the pocket showing how the strings go through the front and out the back
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This one is a view of the string next to q-tip and a sharpie marker to give perspective on the size of the strings.
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This one is a veiw of the whole front of the pocket showing how the strings connect.
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These are pics of the ammo I am using and a penny to give perspective on size and wieght.
... ... ...

So I hope all these picks are usefull to you in some way. And I anxiously await your replies.
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Tito
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Re: My new sling
Reply #1 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 7:34pm
 
welcome to the forum Lord_Byron_Key
Nice sling, thats a 4 strand round braid for the cords right? thanks for the pics Grin
Tito
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siguy
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Re: My new sling
Reply #2 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 8:27pm
 
that is some pretty nice stuff!!!!!!!!
welcome and welcome some more.   !
does that setup work well for you?
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Altay
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Re: My new sling
Reply #3 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 8:42pm
 
Welcome Lord_Byron_Key. That is one nice looking sling. How long is it from the pouch to the finger loop? Also what method did you use to hit the barrel? (as in, how did you sling it)
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Dale
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Re: My new sling
Reply #4 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 8:54pm
 
Tito,
Look more carefully, it is three-strand braid.  Leather braids differently than the round cords we are used to.

Lord_Byron_Key,
Welcome, welcome, my friend!  Another engineer-at-heart!  That is a nice sling.  Nothing wrong with it at all.  Very nice connection of the cords to the pouch.

Your experience (one perfect shot and then you cannot hit anything to save your soul), is common to those of us who are more analytical.  Especially if you have played any sports (baseball, golf, tennis, archery, any number of things), your reflexes already know what to do.  But your mind keeps trying to analyze and improve, which gets in the way.

Practice is necessary; some analysis is necessary; but when it gets down to slinging a rock, it happens too quickly for the conscious mind to keep track, much less control.  Most of my practice is not directed toward slinging better; it is directed toward relaxing and letting my mind just go along for the ride.

Again, welcome, and enjoy yourself here!
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Re: My new sling
Reply #5 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 9:00pm
 
sorry dale looks like a 4 braid to me too (check on that pic where it meets the pouch. there are 2 straps on both sidei think  Grin

welcome indeed and i must say it is indeed a nice sling (beats the look of my ducktape sling by about a mile(nevertheless those ducktape slings of mine work too Grin )
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Lord_Byron_Key
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Re: My new sling
Reply #6 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 9:12pm
 
Thanks for the praise  Grin
It's a 3 strand braid as well to answer your question Tito. And yes Siguy, it does work well, the release string makes a satisfying snap sometimes. Which pleases me. Smiley Oh and I have no idea what technique i used on the barrel, it was my first shot in over 10 years. I just took, aim whipped it past me as hard as I could to the right side, (I am right handed) let go, and got lucky. My feet were facing forward shoulder width apart, and remained stationary the whole time. I tried many times without success to duplicate that shot.
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Re: My new sling
Reply #7 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 10:29pm
 
hmm sorry dale maybe i have to get my eyes checked again  Undecided think i need new glasses...
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Slinger_Man_Dan
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Re: My new sling
Reply #8 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 10:33pm
 
Welcome, Lord Byron Key,                                                               
     Actually, that sling looks like it should work quite well and leather is "traditional" for slings. Nice job! I've always thought of slings as being made of leather, but as I found out reading here on slinging.org, braided fiber was also quite common. Look through the member's gallery for all kinds of interesting ideas, and thank you for the nice pictures. It is amazing how many variations there are of such a simple device.                                                                           
     The braiding work is quite nice, I wish I could braid like that. As for the stationary finger ring, does it put a lot of stress on your finger? I made a sling out of rope with a finger loop big enough fit three fingers      
( middle, ring, and little finger ) to distribute the stress. This works very well for me.                                                                            
     With my first sling, I found that the rope I was using was too stiff. Only the heaviest stones would fully tension the sling. My second sling was made of cotton rope, which is very flexible. You might consider this if you make a sling with rope cords, although your braided leather looks like it would be quite flexible.                                                                           
     How did you weigh the stones? This might be a good idea as a more uniform set of stones would be an aid to accuracy.                  
     There is a thread on the forum with a discussion of ways to improve accuracy. You might want to check it out and I look forward to seeing more of your work!                                .......Dan
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Re: My new sling
Reply #9 - Apr 18th, 2006 at 11:46pm
 
yep, now that i check the braid, it DOES seem to be a three strand braid. i guess i need glasses too Grin
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Lord_Byron_Key
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Re: My new sling
Reply #10 - Apr 19th, 2006 at 12:26pm
 
For Dan,
No it does not put alot of stress on my pinky finger at all. As I run the excess length of the stationary string through my fist against my palm and then the ring goes on, most of the force of the release is taken by my full fisted grip on the string. To release I just lift up my thumb. Doing it this way seemed like the most sure fire way to make sure my sling does not come out of my hand. The ring is more of a backup in case it manages to slip out of my fist somehow. The strings being made of cowhide are braided in the same fasion that one would braid a bullwhip,(or in my case, my girlfriends hair) if that is a round braid I would not know.
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Re: My new sling
Reply #11 - Apr 19th, 2006 at 8:18pm
 
with 4 strands, a braid is usually round. with 3 strands the braid is always flat, unless you have mutiple strands in the 3 groups and can either "roll" the strands and make a round braid, or keep the strands flat and parallel and make a "flat" braid. if you don't know what i am talking about, just check out the link http://www.slinging.org/20.html the description is about halfway down the page.

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That's one small sling for David. One giant headache for Goliath.&&The safest place to stand when I sling, is right in front of me!
 
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