Make a Simple Sling Shot

It has been a while since I wrote an instructable but here we go...

I found an old catapult rubber sling so I decided to make a slingshot. If you don't already have one of these they are very cheap to buy off the internet...

I can even use a old bike tire tube we use to do this as kids back in the day

I found some patterns on the interweb and the slightly altered and tweaked it a bit. I print it out and quickly trim it using a sharp knife.

I then looked around my workshop and found some wood. I had some purple heart so I decided to use this as it is a good hardwood.

I needed to resaw the wood down and so I use the table saw to trim the rough dimension and then used the thickness planer to get my final thickness...

I use blue masking tape to cover the area I am going to stick the pattern too.

I then go trim to the final length on my mitre saw.

Then finally I stick the pattern using a spray adhesive on top the blue tape. The main reason I do this is because it makes it so easy to peel the pattern off and leaves absolutely no residue.

Once I let the pattern dry a little I take it to my band saw and cut out.

I then carefully cut out the shape using my bandsaw. Getting as close as I can without going over my lines on the template. Take your time the closer you can cut means the less sanding you have to do.

If you don't have a band saw you can use a scroll saw or if you are careful a jigsaw. If you wish to be adventurous you could cut it out by have with a copping saw.

I then drill the 3 holes in the handle... this is pure aesthetics and you can skip this part if you wish.

I first drill a pilot hole all the way through and then find a drill bit the right size and drill halfway to three-quarters deep on all three holes and then flip the slingshot over and drill the rest of the way.

By doing this it eliminates any blow out on the opposite side, which means less sanding.

I sand as much as I can to while the pattern is still attached and then remove the pattern.

After I remove the pattern and do more sanding and sanding and sanding till I make the slingshot feel comfortable in the hand... I use many techniques, from the disc sander, drum wheel on the drill press, to rasp and file and hand sanding. I sand till I get a comfortable fit in the hand...

Once we get the slingshot comfortable to hold I give a quick spray lacquer and let dry in between coats.

I add the rubber sling and go take a few test shots...

Watch the video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJC34aVLV2A