Slinging.org Forum - Balearic maker of slings

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #30 - Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 7:08pm

I have phoned Diego about the selling of slings. He is a very busy man since it makes the slings for the Balearic Sling Federation and he does not sell them directly except at his home. He says that the best way to buy his slings is through the Federation, so I´ve spoken with Mateo Cañellas, the President, and he confirms to me that there are any problems, just to send an email to the Federation and they send the slings to you. If you want that the sling is customized, of a particular length or adapted to the stature of the slinger, just indicate the messures. Evidently a customized sling can take a little more to be made. Diego recommends the sling made of sisal and a plait of five elements, that is very nice and durable.

The Web of the Federation is: www.tirdefona.org/index.htm

and it has a version in English, in which you will find easily a contact email.

Luck,
Hondero
[/quote]
i visited the site but i dont know the language, and i really want to buy a sling from them, what do i do??????

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Hondero Senior Member Offline Posts: 463 Madrid-SPAIN Gender:	Re: Balearic maker of slings Reply #31 - Feb 3^rd, 2009 at 4:02pm [/quote] i visited the site but i dont know the language, and i really want to buy a sling from them, what do i do?????? [/quote] Didn´t you find the contact email? It´s: federacio@tirdefona.com Just try to communicate in english with them, I think they understand a little.
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justgeorge

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #32 - 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 Grin

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Hondero

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #33 - Feb 4^th, 2009 at 2:57am

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 Grin

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 don´t answer to you after some time I´ll ask for a sling for me in spanish and we´ll see if they are quicker Wink

.
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

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« Last Edit: Feb 4^th, 2009 at 7:40am by Hondero »

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justgeorge

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #34 - Feb 4^th, 2009 at 9:17pm

Hondero,
Thank you for your help and also for the videos that you post on youtube. I am going to post two photographs of the sling I made out of sisal fiber. You can see alot of mistakes as I was experimenting with the twist on the single ply fiber. I think I have that figured out now; however, my question right now is this. When adding fiber I can't seem to make it flow. You can see each time I add fiber. Each time I add fiber you can clearly see the break in the braid pattern.
I also put some of the fiber in the photo (with the sling) that I have straightened and I think that the reason it does not work as well as Fibers that are harvested from the plant is beacause the ends of the fiber start and end at differnt locations. I also think that the fiber used from the rope I am using is very cheap poor quality. I end up throwing about half of the fibers aways.
Maybe it just takes alot of practice. I know that I learned alot from this first attempt.

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justgeorge Descens Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 104 Provo Utah Gender:	Re: Balearic maker of slings Reply #35 - Feb 4^th, 2009 at 9:20pm Did not get the 2nd photograph to post, here it is:
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justgeorge Descens Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 104 Provo Utah Gender:	Re: Balearic maker of slings Reply #36 - Feb 6^th, 2009 at 2:36am Started on my second Balearic sling tonight and I am growing blisters on my finger tips. I am not going to stop until I have it figured out. I think the second one is turning out better but still learning alot and have a long way to go. I am still thinking that I need a new source of fibers.
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justgeorge Descens Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 104 Provo Utah Gender:	Re: Balearic maker of slings Reply #37 - Feb 6^th, 2009 at 2:39am Ok, why is it only posting one photo? I need my oldest son to come back home to help his computer challenged dad. I will just post one more.
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Hondero Senior Member Offline Posts: 463 Madrid-SPAIN Gender:	Re: Balearic maker of slings Reply #38 - Feb 6^th, 2009 at 2:59pm The plait looks fine, congratulations
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Rockman Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 1267 Lima, Peru Gender:	Re: Balearic maker of slings Reply #39 - Feb 6^th, 2009 at 8:01pm Hondero wrote on Feb 6^th, 2009 at 2:59pm: The plait looks fine, congratulations Second that. When you get good at braiding baleric style, I'll be a beauty. Can't you finbn the same fiber, but a single long string? It might be cheating, but save you a lot of effort.
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justgeorge

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #40 - Feb 6^th, 2009 at 11:42pm

Yes and no! It is very hard to explain, as I don't completely understand what is going on. I make very simple patterns out of hemp and jute twine and a few other types of fibers (complete lenghts of string) and they work well. But making the sling out of fiber before it is plied into what a spinner would call yarn (string, is single ply to a spinner) and gives you freedom to easily add/subtract fibers so that you can control the thickness/weight at any point durning the construction of the sling. It is like making a custom rope and sling at the same time. I have played with the idea of making the string/cordage different thickness so that you would have more fiber at the pouch but it just did not work well. I was convinced that sling makers were making the sling as if they were making a rope but until now I could not make it work with other fibers. I tried sisal/pita in the past but did not take it apart and straighten the fibers and the sling always had a mind of its own (meaning it would twist, etc...). I have been able to make some nice slings with many lengths of string added and taken away where needed but still they never compared to the slings the Balearic sling makers are making. They make works of art. I can't wait to get my hands on one of their slings and study how each fiber is placed.

If some one has any information that would help me get this art mastered, PLEASE share it!

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Rockman Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 1267 Lima, Peru Gender:	Re: Balearic maker of slings Reply #41 - Feb 7^th, 2009 at 1:40am http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XENlaEIHTGI&feature=channel_page There was another video, looks like this one is from 2008.
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Hondero

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #42 - Feb 7^th, 2009 at 8:33am

Cool! I haven´t seen this new video on Diego Camuñas, just published. Diego looks older here, time pases.

The debate on braiding is becoming very interesting and I agree with Justgeorge about the advantages of fibers. The only effective way to vary the thickness of the cords is making the braid with fibers. If you make it with strings, adding more strings to increase the width, the braid will end up undoing with the wear, besides showing the ends of string additions. Nevertheless, when braiding with fiber, the thickness vary of imperceptible way since the fibers are mixed progressively and the braid is completely resistant. For that reason, braiding a sling with fiber is not simply a pastime or an ethnological curiosity to do it just as it was made in the antiquity, but it is an essential technique if we want the cords of the sling to be of variable thickness. And the variable thickness is very interesting since the more thin is the braid at the ends that the hand holds, with more facility revolves the sling and better accuracy has the shot. On the other hand the release cord must support the wear of the projectile when released, and it must be quite broad, mainly near the cradle. So we are lead to the variable thickness of the braid.

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #43 - Feb 7^th, 2009 at 9:53am

Just George,

I believe that 'balearic sling' also makes slings in similar style, and might be able to help with the subtleties of introducing fiber. I think he also makes them for sale, at least from time to time.

I have used fiber from the various agave spp. growing wild in the Southwestern desert. As I recall it was much finer than the sisal one can reclaim from a rope. I don't know if this is because the coarse stuff is used for rope or because it comes from a different species, I've heard various explanations.

I don't know if you have access to Agave where you are (somewhere in Utah, but maybe too far north?!) but perhaps that is the way to go for decent fiber?

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #44 - Feb 7^th, 2009 at 2:49pm

I did some throwing today in the style used by Diego. A few slow spins in a sort of parking orbit low and well back then a lift into the final spin and a sidearm throw. The results are amazing distance with no tendancy to pull to the left like my previous balearic style attempts. Its the lift into the final spin that is the key feature.

This is my new favorite distance style. I tried it with a 28" and 40" sling and it was great with both. I'm really chuffed

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