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care and maintanence of natural fiber slings? (Read 6914 times)
Thearos
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #15 -
Aug 1
st
, 2011 at 5:58pm
Fuzz, glorious fuzz !
A loosely woven sling with a long pouch, made out of cheap (1 Euro) twine, I think jute. It's really hard and fuzzy. Should I pass it over a flame ? Leave it overnight in water ? Rub it with oil ? With wax ?
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Thearos
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #16 -
Aug 1
st
, 2011 at 5:58pm
Another view
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xxkid123
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #17 -
Aug 1
st
, 2011 at 6:24pm
Theoros, I recommend burning, and possibly even waxing it. Burn it by hanging the sling on one end vertically, then briefly holding a flame underneath it. The flame will catch and naturally burn upwards throughout the sling. Then at the pouch burn off the large fuzzies. Sometimes in America the jute we get will have pieces of stalk in it. If he stalk sticks out cut it off (without cutting the cord itself). If its still a little fuzzy. Wash it in water, and let dry IN A STRAIGHT POSITION. if it dries bent then when it dries off it will stay bent like a crease in paper. If its still a little fuzzy then wax it, the cords look q little too thin to burn again
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Morphy
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #18 -
Aug 1
st
, 2011 at 6:38pm
I generally pass mine horizontally over a flame. Either a candle or the burner of my gas stove. I will do this to get all the fuzz off then soak several times in very hot , but not boiling, water. Soak long enough to let the water cool then take it out and wring the sling out by pinching the cords tightly between thumb and forefinger and squeezing along it's length. I do this a couple times. In fiber like hemp there is something in it that makes it naturally stiff, maybe pectin, though not sure... Squeegeeing the water out like this will make the this stuff come out with the water. The water will look brownish. Then back to soak again in hot water and repeat the squeegeeing process a few more times. Then dry like kid said. After all that if I wanted to I might rub in a light coat of beeswax in then rub it quickly in between the folds of a thick piece of leather until the heat from friction melts the wax and lets it soak in.
Kind of more info than you probably needed but maybe someone will find that helpful for later.
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Thearos
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #19 -
Aug 1
st
, 2011 at 7:31pm
Great stuff, thanks !
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Masiakasaurus
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #20 -
Aug 1
st
, 2011 at 9:28pm
Looks like sisal to me. My standard treatment is to soak my slings in water for a minute and hang them on my shower curtain rod by the pouch with a weight tied to the the retention and release cord to keep them from twisting as the sling dries. It really softens the sisal. Part of the stiffness comes from glue added to the fibers as they're spun, and the soaking removes some of that. The rest will drip out as it dries, so put a cloth scrap or a towel under the sling.
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Pikåru wrote
on Nov 19
th
, 2013 at 6:59pm:
Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all.
~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~
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Thearos
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #21 -
Aug 2
nd
, 2011 at 4:40am
Two questions:
1. burning off the fuzz. Is this just a singeing process, or does the sling actually catch fire ? I ask because I'm in greece right now, and mucking about with fire outdoors can lead to forest fires.
2. soaking: can I soak the sling without burning ? I ask this because I'd like to use the sling, it's fuzzy and stiff, and I don't think I'll have the opportunity to go outside and burn off the fuzz.
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Morphy
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #22 -
Aug 2
nd
, 2011 at 1:42pm
It's just a singeing process. Actually if you have a thick piece of stubble it will catch fire for a sec but quickly go out as soon as it burns. It's generally safer to singe on cords that are thicker or tightly braided since the more surface area exposed the more chance that too much will burn too quickly though I don't think that is likely to happen or even be a problem.
As far as soaking without burning goes I'm guessing it will work. I don't use sisal but if others here say it makes a big difference with soaking then it should work.
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Thearos
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #23 -
Aug 2
nd
, 2011 at 2:28pm
Well I tried (outside) it was in fact raining so i thought that reduced fire risks. With a lighter-- slow going. Still, much better.
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Masiakasaurus
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #24 -
Aug 3
rd
, 2011 at 11:05am
Thearos wrote
on Aug 2
nd
, 2011 at 4:40am:
2. soaking: can I soak the sling without burning ? I ask this because I'd like to use the sling, it's fuzzy and stiff, and I don't think I'll have the opportunity to go outside and burn off the fuzz.
I have one sling that I singed before soaking and one that I didn't singe at all and there isn't any difference in suppleness between them. You can soak your sling without singing it, though it looks like you've already singed it.
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Pikåru wrote
on Nov 19
th
, 2013 at 6:59pm:
Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all.
~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~
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Thearos
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #25 -
Aug 3
rd
, 2011 at 7:10pm
Here is the sling, after singeing off the fuzz:
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Thearos
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Re: care and maintanence of natural fiber slings?
Reply #26 -
Aug 3
rd
, 2011 at 7:11pm
And here's another one, with the rest of the spool of ??sisal, with a split pouch.
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