How to Make a Wooden Pebble Chuckit Toy

I was at work one day, doing lawn work around my boss's house while he played with his dog. I noticed he was using a long arm-like device to throw the ball, which I later found out was a "Chuckit!" thrower. I was amazed at how far he could launch a tennis ball, farther than anyone could throw by hand. It used a class 3 lever, similar to a stapler, broom, fishing rod, and even your own arm. I wanted to carve a wooden chuckit of my own to throw pebbles, hickory nuts, Pop Its, etc. Please check out my upcoming Instructable on soft slingshot ammo.

Please note that this is NOT A WEAPON, nor is it intended to be. It is for target practice and woodcraft skill-building alone.

Saw(s): woodcutting and/or fine cutting Japanese pull saw

Chisels (optional)

Knife, straight blade and hook knife (pretty sharp)

Sandpaper: heavy and light grit

Machete (optional, you can use a knife in its place)

I selected a small black birch tree from my back yard for this project. If you don't have access to trees or fallen limbs, a 2x3 board is a good alterative.

After cutting down your tree, (or board, whatever) cut a 12-30 inch long section off. I cut mine off at around 22 inches, and cut off another 4 inches later on. Leaving a little extra on is not a bad idea, because it makes the piece more maneuverable and gives a few inches at the end for mistakes. Mine ended up around 18 inches

Note: this only applies if you are using a piece from a fresh-cut log.

Strip the bark off with a machete or knife, and make sure to cut away the slimy inner bark. Dry the wood out in a (duh) dry, well-ventilated place, for up to a week. If you are using very hard and/or dry wood, you might want to do the opposite and soak it.

Draw out your intended design on your piece of wood. Allow some extra space at the cup and handle (for messups, you will cut the extra off later).

Use a knife or machete (I used a machete) to hack out a rough outline. This will save you the work of painstakingly whittling tiny chunks of extra wood away with a fine knife.

Now is also a good time to saw off the extra handle length.

Using a hook knife or curved chisel, start shaping the bowl. Make your hole about the size of what you want to throw. For instance, a golf ball sized cup for golfball sized ammo. I made mine half as deep as a hickory nut, which is my main ammunition, but I can throw stuff up to the size of a small apple. And you can obviously throw smaller ammo.

Note: you will have to experiment with the bowl angle, depth, and length. You can't go wrong, but you can definitely make throwing easier and more efficient.

Start whittling it down to your preplanned design. Keep a good distance away from the rim of the cup, or it will be a vulnerable point to cracking and wear. If you are following my design, keep an eye on the pics. Minor details can add good asthetics.

Start making it perfect, focusing on small details like knots, the handle, and the bowl rim. Make the handle feel good in your hand. Make the arm even, ready for sanding. Finish carving the bowl.

Now is also a good time to test it out. If you haven't already figured out how to use it, please see Step 12. If there is a problem, it is most likely the bowl or the form with which you use to throw. Experiment with a better bowl, seeing which works best, most accurate, and throws the farthest. Remember, it takes some practice to use this chuckit right.

Start out with rough grit sandpaper, like 50-80 grit, then work your way up to around 100 grit. I can't tell you much for this step, except to make it perfect, ready for staining. Look at the pictures for reference.

After the extensive sanding, I drilled a hole through the handle for a lanyard. Should have done this BEFORE sanding... I had to clean up the handle again.

If you know anything about staining, you know more than me. I basically wiped on thin layers of stain with a cloth until I got the right color. It didn't help that my stain was jelly thick. Home Depot Guide to Staining

Mine came out looking like stained oak.

Optional: I added a bankline lanyard, and polished the stain.

Now you are done!

Load it with appropriate sized ammunition, and CHUCKIT! The ammo I use is mainly fallen hickory nuts and pebbles. I have had better luck "flicking it", rather than "swinging" it. See the above gif for reference. I can chuck pebbles over 100 feet with this project!

As always, please don't chuckit at humans or animals. It could be potentially harmful, so be carefull. Keep an eye out for my upcoming Instructable on soft slingshot ammo.

Thanks for reading this Insructable!

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Gabe