Bamboo Boomerang

I don't know about you, but I've always wanted a boomerang. I live in central Africa and it's impossible to get one here, so I had to make my own. It's a simple and easy construction, that can also be applied to wood. I chose to make mine out of bamboo because it's what I have in my garden I used giant green bamboo, but any would work. Please take note to use dry bamboo otherwise it will warp - this will ruin the crucial aerofoil shape.

What you'll need

Super glue/Wood glue

Drill

Knife/Stanley knife

Marker

Tape measure

Saw

Machete (not 100% necessary)

Bamboo (one segment will be enough)

Cut just bellow the node for the flattest piece/pieces to work with

Split the top of the bamboo, taking care not to cut to deeply. Now split off one of the sides from the top and begin flattening it with your knife.

Think about creating an aerofoil as you do this.

Saw the limb in half that should leave you with two almost identical pieces, don't worry if they don't match up perfectly, mine didn't.

Note: if your bamboo has smaller segments you may need to make two individual limbs rather than one.

Now to start refining the aerofoil, split a piece of one of the limbs as shown in the picture above, then lay the limb on top of the other (this will decide if it's a left or right handed boomerang) and mark as shown. Saw partially across the mark taking care not to saw all the way across or too deeply, then wiggle your knife in the gap till it splits.

Tip: if you hold your knife at 90ish degrees to the bamboo, you can take nice even shavings off without the risk of damaging the limb.

The joint angle should be 107 degrees so just over 90 degrees, don't stress if you don't get it perfect. Drill two holes like in the picture and using a piece of bamboo make the pins, glue them in: one piece first then, the other. If there are any gaps you can add a thin sliver of bamboo like I did, and glue that in too.

Congrats on a making it to the end! At this point it would be a good idea to paint it as you'll lose it really fast if it's not a bright colour. It took me three attempts to make a functional boomerang, so don't lose hope if your first try doesn't work - just try again!