How is it released?

Yurek,   


If all goes well,  I should have a batch of toys coming my way fairly soon.  These are release mechanisms of unique design which will enable one to sling darts of uniform diameter ranging from 1/4" to 1/2".  Judging by the prototype,  this device should provide the most efficient, clean release for a wide variety of darts.  Currently I am using the same arrow bolts I used in the CO2000 arrow gun.  They are six inch long Easton 2512 aluminum arrow shafts cut down from a single, full length shaft and filled with sand with conventional inserts and fletching.  I simply mark the balance point of each shaft, which rests in the release mechanism until the moment of release.  This device is the simplest design I could conceive of while giving a smooth, clean release.   I have another design which involves moving parts, the concept of which I gleaned from those women's cantilevered hair clips.  The design works well.  It uses centripetal force to hold the dart clamped between it's 'pincers' and provides a very clean release, however it is of more complex design and more expensive to produce.   I will most likely market these as a full sling system however for members here on the forum,  I will sell the release mechanism (which is easily reproduced) separately if requested and one could provide their own sling cords.  It, like most good designs, is quite simple and very effective and I am positive that it would prove quite amicable to a distance record attempt........stay tuned.....I don't want to oversell the concept but.....suffice it to say,  the video footage should prove somewhat hard to believe.  I've got other projects going so this is getting the 'hobby' treatment but progress is being made and I am doing it largely for the interest of my 'compadres' here in cybertown.  This is my impression of some of your faces when you see some of the penetration shots.....  ???

Quote:


Yes, the windup is less efficient due to the fins, but you can use small fins because the dart is placed in the right position at the end of the snap and leave the loop straight ahead and fly stable from the beginnig. The fins in this cestros are placed in the center of the shaft because it was the only cestros I keep by now and was a Livy replica, so it´s designed for a conventional cestros sling. But with the lasso sling the dart would be with the fins almost at the end.

About to place the dart in the pouch or loop by its gravity center I think it would be very difficult to keep it tangential in the windup. In theory it would be the best but in practice I think it is uncontrolled. I´ve to try too when have the time... Many thinks to experiment in this research team! 

"although in my opinion the range is a little smaller." Hondero

I suspect the lack of range is because the release velocity is less and the reason release velocity is less is because this Cestros is being spun laterally (sideways) and not point first where air resistance is less. The lateral (sideways) area is about 10-20 times greater than the frontal area.

Tech
Have you done alot of research on centrifugal force? I would like to read some good info on this. I read of a tragic story where a group of teens tied a long rope to the back of a truck and wrapped the other end to a playground merry-go-round. A teen held on, thinking the spin would be fun, but the centrifugal force was so strong it propelled her 30 yards in the air to smack onto the pavement, killing her.  Never underestimate the power of centrifuge!
Johnny

Gun,
A dart attached to a string is also a good way to throw it. I´ve made a lot of variants of this solutions, even sets of darts, like the bolas for hunting birds. Nevertheless, the air drag of the string decrease the range and is better to use a sling and that the dart flies alone.

The centripetal force only keeps the missile on the circular orbit and doesn't accelerate the missile on its trajectory, because that force acts perpendicular to the trajectory. That job makes the tangential force, which is component of the pulling cords force. In other words, we must pull the cords for keeping the missile on the circular trajectory and for accelerate that. That's why our pulling palm must go around the centre of the missile trajectory. Durring release the free missile always goes away tangently to the trajectory in the release point. So it is the best when the arrow is oriented along the trajectory during windups, but not along the cords. I'm not in dubt about it.

Jurek