Slinging.org Forum - My first Atlatl!

Coops

Tiro

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My first Atlatl!
Apr 19^th, 2006 at 4:28pm

I finally completed my first atlatl. Sorry I am not an adept photographer.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/adam550spyder/DSCF0032.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/adam550spyder/DSCF0034.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/adam550spyder/DSCF0035.jpg

The majority is made from an old oak board that has been stored in my garage for over a decade. I decided to go for a hammer style grip as it seemed most natural to me. The dart rest was a later addition when i realised that holding the dart in the same place for each throw was difficult, particularly as I am a begginner. The spike to place in the nock of the dart (I am insure of its real name) is made of an old bolt I filed down (I hope to replace this with horn or bone when i get some). The atlatl weight (made from slate) was the third I designed, it seemed to feel most natural and gave the best accuracy (this however could be due to more practice). Your critiques are welcome!
Oh and here is a picture of my latest sling!

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/adam550spyder/DSCF0013.jpg

Coops Grin

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Willeke Interfector Viris Spurii Past Moderator Offline Give me some string and I know what to do. Posts: 2072 Netherlands Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #1 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 4:45pm Coops, I like what I see in the Atlatl, but I have never used one, I am not even sure I have seen one, so that is not worth a lot. I am better suited to judge ropework. And that is a very fine piece you show in that last pic. How well do the atlatl and the sling work? And do you have also pictures of your darts? Willeke
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Coops

Tiro

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Re: My first Atlatl!
Reply #2 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 4:55pm

Thanks for the praise on the sling! I have been trying to get my dad to teach me to splice rope for ages, and now that he finally did I thought it would make a perfect sling. The knot on the end is a Carrick mat that I modified into a cylinder to hold the hardwood peg for the release knot. I am beggining to achieve accuracy with the atlatl, but with the sling I am doing less well (mostly due to lack of a safe place to practice). I have made darts from both bamboo and birch dowel with copper and steel tips respectively. I will try to get a photo soon.

Coops

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siguy Interfector Viris Spurii Offline si vis pacem para bellum Posts: 1714 connecticut Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #3 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 5:11pm that is a very nice atlatl, and i love your sling. it seems as though there are several slingers on this site that are coming to the conclusion that a spliced rope would make a good sling, which is cool. i personaly would also like to learn splicing, but i guess i will have to wait to find someone that can teach me.
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Coops

Tiro

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Re: My first Atlatl!
Reply #4 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 5:23pm

I had previously ignored the idea of using hawser laid rope for slings thinking it would twist and the cords would tangle. This problem does not seemed to have emerged, on this sling at least. Splicing really is not that hard its just a bit fiddly to do it with small stuff. Start off with a larger diameter rope and check out this website.
http://www.alpharubicon.com/prepinfo/eyesplicingeli.htm
Don't forget to tape up the rope to prevent it becoming overly untwisted!
Coops

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ben_banned Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Posts: 1272 Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #5 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 5:28pm Hey I learned that in Sea Scouts.
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Coops Tiro Offline I love Slinging.org! Posts: 36 Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #6 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 5:31pm Some of the best rope workers I know are sea scouts! I am sure you could teach me a thing or two. Coops
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ben_banned Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Posts: 1272 Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #7 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 6:10pm Not to good with the rope, just telling people what to do. Im a boatswains mate. If your the age you should join its pretty fun.
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CanDo

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Re: My first Atlatl!
Reply #8 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 7:00pm

Quote:

The spike to place in the nock of the dart (I am insure of its real name) is made of an old bolt I filed down...

Yes, Dart is the correct terminology for english.

That is indeed a very fine at'latl

O and you can actually put the photos right into the post, just put the tags {img} and {/img} on either side of the URL. Replace the {} with [], I just don't know the proper way to display those tags without them thinking i have an image to show.

O and nice sling as well, what is it made out of?

P.S. at http://www.slinging.org/forum2/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=1;action=display;num=11452094... you said Quote:

So far i have made blowguns, slings, an atlatl, slinshot, club, bolas, pistol crossbow, staff-sling, longbow (which broke), bow drill.............. the list goes on

Feel free (polite way of saying 'please') to post pics and/or info of all these.

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siguy Interfector Viris Spurii Offline si vis pacem para bellum Posts: 1714 connecticut Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #9 - Apr 19^th, 2006 at 11:10pm cando, from what i feel, he was asking as to the name of the little spike that the dart goes onto. coops, since you are using photobucket, you can imbed the images by copy and pasting the code that is in the window labeled "img" and not "url".
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Willeke Interfector Viris Spurii Past Moderator Offline Give me some string and I know what to do. Posts: 2072 Netherlands Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #10 - Apr 20^th, 2006 at 2:25am To see how others put photos in their posts, go to a post and click on quote. Willeke
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Tiro

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Re: My first Atlatl!
Reply #11 - Apr 20^th, 2006 at 2:56am

Glad you like the atlatl! I was asking about the name of the spike but I see now that I could just as easily be asking for the name of the dart. Sorry for the confusion.
I realised i could put the images directly into the posts but i felt I would leave them as links as they are quite large to be loaded up all at once (especially for those still using a 56k modem)
I will post photos of the other items in the near future if thats what you guys want. Thankyou for such a good welcome to the forum!
The sling is made of spliced rope (nylon I think) as metioned in a previous post.
Have any of you made atlatls before? I would be happy to see your ideas and any pictures of slings.

Happy slinging/atlatling
Coops

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MammotHunter

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Re: My first Atlatl!
Reply #12 - Apr 20^th, 2006 at 7:51am

Wow! Nice atlatl! Normally, we call the little spike "The spur" or, like my friend, who is terminally gutter minded, "the nipple" but that's just him and most people refer to it as the spur. The sling looks great, as well, and I can honestly say that I am most jealous of both your atlatl and sling building skills! Keep up the good work and please post more pictures of your other works. I may be able to get some inspiration.

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Coops

Tiro

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Re: My first Atlatl!
Reply #13 - Apr 20^th, 2006 at 11:10am

Glad you liked the atlatl, it took me a whole month (on and off) to build it but now it has finally come to the stage where I am satisfied with the design. I have heard about adding a further dart rest which "grips" the dart instead of you having to use your fingers. Having only a little knowledge about it I decided to omit that from the design. Does anyone have any further details on this form of dart "grip"?

Thanks for enlightening me about the name of the spur. This website is the best I know for inspiration. It has been the brainchild for nearly all my primitive ideas.

Speaking of my other works here is a picture of my bolas. Sorry again for the rudimentary photography.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/adam550spyder/DSCF0036.jpg

The two sphereroidal weights are beach pebbles held within Turk's head knots. The rope is a braided polypropelene (I think) that I purchased from a local yacht chandler. The handle is some form of bloodknot (from what little I remember about knots, I just made it up as I went along). I weighted the handle by filling the centre of the rope with a core of lead pipe solder.

Hope you like it,
Coops
Cheesy

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Taiki Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Don't tell my mom i'm here will you... Posts: 1255 belgium Gender:	Re: My first Atlatl! Reply #14 - Apr 20^th, 2006 at 12:28pm once again nice atlatl (i bet your getting sick of hearing it ) i like the bola's too what are the dementions cause before i read the discription i had the idea i was looking at a prototype of maybe the size of a keychain but After reding the description i'm pretty sure that is not the case
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