Woodworm riddled spalted Hawthorn natty, 18/8 taper, 165mm active, 0.6mm SS yellow. Jade G10 Skadi slim, 25/15 taper, 165mm active, 0.5mm AK Velocity. SniperSling ammo magnet loaded up with 8mm steel. These two were made consecutively, L to R.
OK, got the pouch out, had it on my hip for a short two and a half hour(ish) walk with the dog, and it's pretty much perfect.
First off, I got it a few years back from Aliexpress, it's made by "Elite Spanker" (stop laughing) and it's well made. I believe I got it from the official "Elite Spanker" (I said stop laughing) store, but it was a while ago and I can't remember how much I paid, but the quality is good regardless. 1 full width and 2 half width slip pockets under the flap, and 2 main pockets each with an internal slip pocket, perfect for spare bands. The front, rear, and dividing panels are padded and the single zips go in opposite directions, which is great for me as it sits just past my right hip and I'm reaching for it blind a lot of the time and that tells me which pocket I'm in. The rear pocket is a bit thicker than the front, but even with this chonky frame I can still comfortably still fit the WendiGLO in the front, although I used the front pocket for my phone today as it does block half my back pocket where it sits on my belt.
I don't really like carrying pouches, but this one needs it, and I'm really enjoying shooting it. I don't want to stretch out my hoodie pocket or cause my knee an injury.
Took this for It's first stump shooting trip walking the dog yesterday. Far too warm for a hoodie so I had it in a padded cloth bag in the leg pocket of my combats. It was fine just walking about, could feel it knocking on my knee a little bit, but no biggie. Then, shortly after taking that pic, my dog, attached to me via a long line for this very reason, caught sight of a rabbit in one of the posh gardens that back on to that path and when off like a rocket, pretty standard tbh, but I wasn't paying attention so I had to sprint a bit before I could plant my feet and put the brakes on. Now I have a bruised knee and I can't get access to my box of pouches at the moment. I wouldn't normally worry as I wouldn't regularly carry a frame this heavy, only occasionally or for a specific purpose, but I suspect I might be carrying this often so it's worth sorting a pouch for it. It's probably gonna pick up some "character" as time goes on.
(For those interested the little knife is the Tri Ang Khola from KHHI Nepal)
TLDR at the bottom.
I started making this when I had minimal tools. I got the core layers cut and bonded, and I cut the oak scales out of a large fork from a fire damaged tree, and got them flat and down to thickness all by hand. I pre drilled the pin holes on a pillar drill where I was working at the time. Aaaaaand then my life turned to chaos for a few years. Left my job, moved to Cornwall, eventually sold my place back in Dartford, and tried putting my life back together. These bits continued to sit around in my unfinished project box waiting to be finished. Recently the parts of my life that got thrown in the air are now starting to fall back into place and I feel like my life is beginning to find stability again. Finishing this has been cathartic for me and I'm glad it's done. I finished it using the same tools I had available when I started, so the only power tool used has been a small bench drill to open up the pin holes, just rasp, file, and sandpaper for everything else. It's rough around the edges, and far from perfect primarily because I didn't really know what I was doing when I started, but it shoots great and looks stunning, IMHO.
Copper and brass layered core, oak fork scales from Dartford heath, bias cut spalted yew swells, mosaic pins, and a stainless steel lined lanyard hole. It weights approx 450g.
TLDR: Started making a slingshot over 8 years back, life went to shit, only just finished it.
The work in progress is gonna take a bit of time due to the way I'm doing things, plus I'm also busy with work on the house and garden at the moment too. It has a bit of a story behind it.
This is another frame I cut out of the discarded chopping board. Finished it up yesterday and threw a bandset on this morning. Shape needs a bit of tweaking, but I'm liking the short/wide vibe.
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The biggest skill in shooting flower stems at the moment isn't in hitting the stem, it's being able to see the thin green stem against the dense green background with 48 year old eyes. Tbf tho, I am long sighted.
I've had this idea in my head for a while and finally got around to making it physical. Used an old chopping board someone was throwing out. I was making a TTF version too, but as I'm not that familiar with this material I buggered it up. Already getting ready to remake it already though. I'm also considering this one for an OTTF configuration.
I've called it Fenrir because it looks a bit like a wolfs tooth. Asymmetric pinch grip, OTT 25mm tips, 90mm wide.
Slimline Skadi FL, natural jade G10, 90mm fork, 25mm tips. Probably get a bandset thrown on it tomorrow.
I originally set this up for shooting 8mm steel but it felt too light, it was shooting great, but it just felt a bit too soft. So I fitted it with a 22/12mm taper, 165mm active length, 0.6 SS black bandset for 9.5mm steel and it feels perfect. I will no doubt fit it with a heavy draw bandset at some point, probably when this bandset is shot out, but this feels like the perfect set up right now. I could probably widen the tapers a little, the tips are around 23mm, but I already had 22mm tapers cut.
I had some time to spend on making slingshots this weekend, and instead of finishing off the prototypes I've been working on I got distracted with a side quest. I've had this idea in my head for a while, an Axiom with true straight wrist ergonomics. Grabbed a sketchy looking spalted oak fork and some spalted plum for the swells. Copper pins and liners. It's been a while since I've made something this involved, and I rushed a bit. The finish is a bit rough and the pins are a bit off line, I just eyed it, but it feels perfect. Just need to throw a bandset on it and wait for a gap in the rain.
One of my oldest frames, and a long time favourite. A testament to the quality of 316 stainless steel. Over two decades old and still looking like new. It had a wrap on it when I first got it, which I immediately removed and fitted with Dankung Pro fork tubes, and it's been that way ever since. It's one of the best "EDC" slingshots I've ever owned. It was so heavily polished the antelope logo nearly got totally wiped out.
Took my favourite Antelope evo out on stump shooting duties today. Had so much fun flinging marbles at the dried clumps of flowers on the gorse bushes that I wanted to continue with some tube based can bashing when I got home only to realise that I only had 2040 tube sets made up so I threw a few other options together. 1836 pseudotapers (half loop), 1632 loops, both for 8mm steel, and 1836 loops for 9.5mm steel.
Wasp AK Velocity, 22/12 taper, 165mm active, 0.5mm thick, 8mm steel ammo.
Do you ever get the feeling it's going to be one of those days? To answer your questions before you ask them. Yes, my catch cloth does need replacing. Yes, there are multiple layers. I am only shooting light set ups at the moment. Shooting 12mm lead with a double layer 0.7 bandset a few weeks back did the bulk of the damage.
Tbh, they had been hanging around some older alcoholic types, gin and vodka, I think.
And yes, I did leave the one on the right in the sun a bit too long.