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Balearic maker of slings (Read 55475 times)
Elthore
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #60 - Mar 11th, 2009 at 3:37am
 
any word on this? id like to get my hands on one of Diegos slings
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #61 - Mar 11th, 2009 at 9:04pm
 
I still have not heard back from the federation.  I have been able to make slings that look something like they are making.  I think I still have a long way to go.  Attached is my third sling.  I have made positive changes with each attempt and it is very easy to feel and see the sling improving.  This third sling is a pleasure to use.  Tennis ball crack down range and sound like they were fire from a gun.  The stones in the photograph are 4 3/4 to 7 1/4 oz. and work real well.
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #62 - Mar 11th, 2009 at 9:08pm
 
This is a better view of the pocket with stones and tennis ball.
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #63 - Mar 11th, 2009 at 9:22pm
 
I forgot to say that I am trying to wear this sling pocket out to see what issues someone might have.  I know the photograph is not of the pocket area but after sling between 300 and 400 stones and maybe 700 tennis balls I can see very little wear on the pocket.  Wear can be seen but not what I would have thought.  Most of the stone were shot with a good amount of force.  I think with maintenance a sling like this would last a very long time like Diego said.
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #64 - Mar 12th, 2009 at 7:45pm
 
Justgeorge,
There is some very nice looking work there. I don't know where you find the time Wink
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #65 - Mar 12th, 2009 at 8:03pm
 
Justgeorge, your new slings are wonderfull.
A suggestion: A little leather on the left side of the pouch, on the release cord,  like you did on the fingerloop.
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #66 - Mar 14th, 2009 at 4:38pm
 
Ok, I am a very happy father!  Attached is the sling that was made by my 13yro.  It took him about a month of working on it off and on.  I gave him a little help deviding up the fibers for the pocket.  He did everything from preparing the fiber to wipping the release cord.  He is also teaching his friends.  The other day I came home from work and he was teaching his friend a five plait brade using jute twine and it was looking real good.
I wish I was doing what he can do at 13.

almost forgot, YES I think leather is needed on the sling and you are right, that is the location you can see the wear. 

Time, well it takes me a long time just to get the fibers ready to braid.  Diego was saying it takes about 10 hours from start to finish.  I think this last one was close to 15 hours maybe longer.
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #67 - Mar 16th, 2009 at 8:11pm
 
Maybe this leads a bit too far, but for those of you who tend to allergic reactions: be very careful if you think of extracting your own sisal fibres from agave leaves yourselves.  
A few days ago, I tried to squeeze or scratch the juice and fruity parts out of the leaves more or less like Don Diego did on the video, and not more than a minute after getting in touch with the liquid, I had a very irritating and intense itching/burning reaction of the skin which got worse after the contact with water.   It only ceased gradually when I treated it with baby oil (yes, that was what was at hand, thanks to my little son).  
It is possible that the reaction depends only on the variety of agave (or "piteira", as they are called here in Portugal). I had used the ones with yellowish seams on the edges of the leaves, not the entirely green plant you can see in the video. Anyway, for my slings I'll stick to sisal from the shops in the future, or to palm fibre from the trees around. Or cotton. Or... or...or...

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Ferrugo numquam dormit.&&(Nigellus Iuvenis)&&&&

Noch weiz ich an im mere daz mir ist bekant
einen lintrachen  slouch des heledes hant
do badet er in dem blvote  des ist der helt gemeit
von also vester hvte  daz in nie wafen sit versneit.
 
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #68 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 7:06am
 
Very nice work on the slings ! are very similar to the balearic sling! well done!
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #69 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 5:27pm
 
Fundibularius: ouch ! Anti-histamine cream time.

What beautiful slings
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #70 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 6:03pm
 
If Fundibularius' experience was anything like mine, topical treatment would have meant covering most of his body!

I should have told of my experiences a little earlier and might have saved him some misery, I hadn't seen this post before I mentioned it on another thread yesterday. I'm not prone to 'allergies' in general, and had worked with agave several times before it bit me back.

I suspect you'll get the same effect from pretty much all the agaves one sees around, there's a lot of cultivars used around the U.S. for landscaping as well as the wild types.

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #71 - May 1st, 2009 at 11:28am
 
No problem. My tears have dried in the meantime. Well, a few of them.

Wanderer, I am interested to know which variety of agave it was you used. Was it an entirely green plant or one type with a yellowish seam?

Did it affect your whole body? With me, it only irritated the skin parts that had been in touch with the moisture (hands, arms, chest, as my shirt had become soaked).
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Ferrugo numquam dormit.&&(Nigellus Iuvenis)&&&&

Noch weiz ich an im mere daz mir ist bekant
einen lintrachen  slouch des heledes hant
do badet er in dem blvote  des ist der helt gemeit
von also vester hvte  daz in nie wafen sit versneit.
 
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #72 - May 1st, 2009 at 1:28pm
 
Fundibularius wrote on May 1st, 2009 at 11:28am:
No problem. My tears have dried in the meantime. Well, a few of them.

Wanderer, I am interested to know which variety of agave it was you used. Was it an entirely green plant or one type with a yellowish seam?

Did it affect your whole body? With me, it only irritated the skin parts that had been in touch with the moisture (hands, arms, chest, as my shirt had become soaked).

The particular one which caused my reaction was Agave Americana , very much as grows wild in parts of Mexico and Southern U.S, but is also used as a garden plant.  I think there are ornamental varieties of this species with yellow stripes (maybe Timothy Potter can tell us since I think he is in the landscaping business(?) ), although the one I was using was the plain dark green 'wild type'.

My impression is that for me it was more than a contact effect. The reaction was bad enough that for the only time in my life I took (large) doses of Benadryl to cope with it. I had reddening over pretty much everywhere I could look!
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Timothy Potter
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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #73 - May 1st, 2009 at 2:38pm
 
Here’s a site with listings of Agave varieties:

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Agavaceae/Agave.html

It’s interesting that it says Agaves were brought to the Mediterranean in the 17th century, so the Balearic slingers must have adopted the fiber since that time.

As to the irritation, I’ve read that many Agave varieties can cause it, but you would have to look up the exact variety that you have to know for sure.

http://books.google.com/books?id=C8xJE2NfQpIC&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127&dq=agave+irrita...

This book has a section on Agave sisalana, the Sisal plant, and it says that it can cause skin irritation. Agave Americana, commonly called Century Plant, is probably the most common Agave that I see here in Southern California, and it causes irritation too.

In the San Gabriel Mountains near my home, there are a lot of Yucca whipplei, or “Our Lord’s Candle” Yuccas. Yuccas are in the same family as Agaves. The leaves from these produce a strong, usable fiber, and they don’t irritate the skin (or at least not my skin). In fact, when rubbed in the hands, the crushed leaves work like soap. I haven’t got around to making a Yucca fiber sling, but it’s been on my mind for a while.

On a slightly side note, here’s video of Sisal rope production that might be of interest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ztA1Ea03g0&feature=related

I wish I had one of those handy put-the-leaf-in-take-the-fiber-out machines, or whatever they’re really called.

-Timothy Potter
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« Last Edit: May 16th, 2009 at 11:39pm by Timothy Potter »  

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Re: Balearic maker of slings
Reply #74 - May 1st, 2009 at 4:51pm
 
Quote:
My impression is that for me it was more than a contact effect. The reaction was bad enough that for the only time in my life I took (large) doses of Benadryl to cope with it. I had reddening over pretty much everywhere I could look!


Looks like I was still quite lucky in comparison. I think we've both got away from the idea of growing our own sisal...  Embarrassed

TP. thank you very much! That is a lot of valuable information. I'll browse through the (long) varieties list and try to find the one that I worked with.

Quote:
It’s interesting that it says Agaves were brought to the Mediterranean in the 17th century, so the Balearic slingers must have adopted the fiber since that time.



This is what comforts me a bit. Slingers from the Balearic Islands in the centuries before Christ and until the discovery of the Americas must have used other materials anyway, maybe the plants Diego mentioned, or other fibers (nettles, palm, ...), if not rawhide. So, for absolute purists, the "sisal project" goes more to the Aztec (or Apache?) fraction... 

From what you wrote, yucca sounds like a very good alternative. It's a pity you don't find it here at all.

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Ferrugo numquam dormit.&&(Nigellus Iuvenis)&&&&

Noch weiz ich an im mere daz mir ist bekant
einen lintrachen  slouch des heledes hant
do badet er in dem blvote  des ist der helt gemeit
von also vester hvte  daz in nie wafen sit versneit.
 
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