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Meteor Sling (Read 718 times)
Captain_Twine
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Substance is a Word.

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Somewhere with crummy rocks
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Meteor Sling
Jun 23rd, 2020 at 1:00pm
 
Captain_Twine wrote on Jun 21st, 2020 at 1:14pm:
I guess there's probably much better weapons for accomplishing what the sling does when it's spinning, ha ha. I looked up some flail weapons and came across a short Wikipedia article on the Chinese "meteor hammer," which is basically a metal ball on a chain. It kinda reminded me of the Ball and Chain item in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess; it's like a rope dart and a sling had a baby. Which, now that I think about it, gives me an interesting idea...

Today, that "interesting idea" came to fruition! Behold, my Frankenstein monster... the
Meteor Sling
! (Actually, I feel like this is too simple of a creation to have not already been invented, but at any rate, here it is.) Basically, it's a mass (in this case, a tennis ball) on a string (3-strand braid of 1/8" green acrylic yarn) propelled by a sling (3-strand braid, 1/3 green acrylic yarn and 2/3 sisal twine, split pouch), creating what is in essence a retractable slingstone. One problem I encountered was keeping everything from getting tangled, but I discovered that with the proper grip (see pictures), that could be minimized. I tested it for a bit today; it was quite enjoyable. Also, provided you have a good idea of its particular range, it can be practiced with a bit more safely.
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MeteorSling_1.jpg (323 KB | 32 )
MeteorSling_1.jpg
MeteorSling_Grip.jpg (304 KB | 23 )
MeteorSling_Grip.jpg

“For as this ought, or ought not, expresses some new relation or affirmation, 'tis necessary that it should be observed and explained; and... a reason should be given, for what seems altogether inconceivable, how this new relation can be a deduction from others, which are entirely different from it. ..[V]ice and virtue is not founded merely on the relations of objects, nor is perceived by reason.”
 
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Teg
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Re: Meteor Sling
Reply #1 - Jun 23rd, 2020 at 1:24pm
 
I will be a bit of a (friendly) killjoy today...
Be careful with that. You still need a proper backstop, in case your ball becomes loose.
Also, take care of your joints (fingers, ellbow). You are doing the same thing as catching your own shot, but your joints may take the load in a direction they were not intended for...
Personally, I would advise against doing that. A long time ago, I had a shot getting stuck in my sling pouch, which overstretched my ellbow. Let's say, I learned my lesson back then.
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Captain_Twine
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Re: Meteor Sling
Reply #2 - Jun 23rd, 2020 at 3:51pm
 
Teg wrote on Jun 23rd, 2020 at 1:24pm:
I will be a bit of a (friendly) killjoy today...
Be careful with that. You still need a proper backstop, in case your ball becomes loose.
Also, take care of your joints (fingers, ellbow). You are doing the same thing as catching your own shot, but your joints may take the load in a direction they were not intended for...
Personally, I would advise against doing that. A long time ago, I had a shot getting stuck in my sling pouch, which overstretched my ellbow. Let's say, I learned my lesson back then.

Duly noted. When I was testing it, it didn't seem to strain too much, but then again, this is only a prototype. My thought was that the cord would be long enough to stay slack until the ball hit the ground, and would only really become tight - i.e., only require the use of my own muscles and joints - when I was pulling it back after the ball was at rest. But, of course, if the range of the throw exceeds the range of the cord, the problem of catching your own throw and putting unusual strain on yourself arises... The more I think about this, the scarier it gets. If the target is out of range of the cord, it'd yank the arm with the force of the throw, which is already enhanced by the added leverage of the sling... Dang. Thank you; I received a similar, but perhaps less explained warning before, but I actually hadn't thought about it that way before. Better to listen to a killjoy than be killed for joy (so to speak.) I'm glad I posted this now; otherwise I might have gone overboard with it. If you can't tell by now, I'm feeling rather foolish about this now, ha ha. Roll Eyes

I suppose one way of eliminating the risk of joint damage is to simply untie the end of the "meteor" from the release cord... Then, the "meteor" projectile would basically be a tennis ball with a really long tail (Or should I call it a "comet"?) which would en"tail" some more complications. If said cord were insanely long, then perhaps you could hold it in your other hand until either the ball comes to rest, and you could then proceed to pull it back, or if you threw too far, the string would be free to leave your hand entirely without pulling at all. But then again, this would make things far too complicated. If you had a cord that long, you'd probably want a spool with a crank (Or maybe even a motor?) attached to reel it in again. The speed at which the resources to fail-safe this creation outstrips practicality is stunning. So, all in all, you're right - Bad idea. You'd have to make it into a fishing pole/staff sling hybrid. Roll Eyes

On a side note, now I know why I couldn't find any record of this thing having already been invented! It's because it's a dumb idea Roll Eyes So, I suppose, let this page be a warning to prospective "meteor slingers" 'till the end of time - "Turn back!" I'm glad I designed the meteor hammer half of the setup to be modular, so I could remove it from my sling whenever I wanted.

...Now that I think about it, why would one want to retrieve a single slingstone that badly, anyway?
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“For as this ought, or ought not, expresses some new relation or affirmation, 'tis necessary that it should be observed and explained; and... a reason should be given, for what seems altogether inconceivable, how this new relation can be a deduction from others, which are entirely different from it. ..[V]ice and virtue is not founded merely on the relations of objects, nor is perceived by reason.”
 
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