justgeorge wrote on Feb 3
rd, 2009 at 8:05pm:
I sent an email to them last week and have not heard back.
I have been playing with some sisal and have already made my first sling. There is a learning curve making it from fiber, however, I have played with cordage and spinning fiber in the past. So I have been able to fill in some gaps that cannot be seen in the video. I made alot of mistakes with my first one and a will make a second one soon. I think my disadavantage is that I have to take apart sisal twine by soaking it in water to make the fiber straight. The fibers take alot of work before you can even start making the sling.
Knowing how I am, I would more than likely take the sling I order apart just to see how it was made and end up with a pile of junk that my wife would then try to vacuum up. Of course the vacuum would break because the sisel is tough stuff.
So I hope I will have it figured out before they get back to me
Ha ha, islanders are peaceful and take some time to answer. Besides, the Federation office open only one day in the week, so you have to be patient. Or perhaps they are not very trained with english. If they donīt answer to you after some time Iīll ask for a sling for me in spanish and weīll see if they are quicker
.
Meanwhile you will have to continue practicing with the sisal fibers (pita). I also have braided some slings with sisal fiber undoing cords and wetting the fibers, that are much more simple than to get them from the plant,
, although the results seems to be something worse. The trick to work well with the fiber is to handle lengths not too long and to be adding fiber when necessary. The Balearics generally makes the retention cord of equal thickness, with a plait of five elements, and just before beginning the cradle they add more fiber to form the two cradle strands of five elements each too. Finished the cradle, they join the fiber of both strands forming a braid also of five elements, that is obviously double thickness than the retention cord. Little by little they are clearing fiber so that the cord falls progressively of thickness until the tassel end. This is very useful for the projectile not to be blocked too much lengthways by the cord when released, and besides to give the release cord the configuration of a whip that makes that characteristic crack.
Luck
Hondero