100.000 subscribers!

About four years after we started, we reached 100 k subscribers.

It is amazing how fast this went... it took a full year to go from 0 to 1.000 subs. Yesterday, on a single day, I got over 600 new subscribers.

OK, I won't be able to show chainsaw launcher like contraptions every Sunday... but still!

Celebration time.

Chainsaw shooter.

Honduras Palisander

My niece and her loverboy gave me some nice wood for christmas... a type that I never used before.

Honduras Palisander, stored and dried for over 25 years, meant for musical instruments (flutes).

See it on the vendor page

The wood is incredibly hard, I had to buy a new band saw blade before I could start...

I wanted a slingshot that can stand upright (inspired by Zwillie's avatar beauty). So I added a "foot" to the proven Moorhammer handle. A bit thicker and more round than usual - I like experiments.

The wood polished well. In normal light, it looks even darker! The rest of the wooden block can be seen in the pics, too.

The Witch Hunter Trilogy

Witch Hunter Series - First Episode!

Stories about witches have fascinated people since prehistoric times. They represent the pure evil, and - must be killed. The Hänsel and Gretel fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm 200 years ago is usually the first horror story we listen to, often long before we can read and write. Nobody ever forgets the two abandoned kids, alone in the forest, that get caught by a terrible witch that wants to eat them and fattens them up beforehand. Pure terror.

So we here at The Slingshot Channel have been very excited when we saw the announcements about a new movie that takes a new look at the ancient story: Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters!

Go to the website of the movie

We knew we had to cover it with a special episode. So we made two brand new special and elaborated weapons, of course all based on rubber, for hunting witches.

In the end, we had so much material that we decided to split it into four different parts - a trailer first, then three episodes. We will start with tests of our existing arsenal against witch targets, then the monstrous Witch Beheader Bazooka, and lastly the Portable Witch Incinerator.

All these episodes will go online within a very short period of time, so stay tuned... and go see Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters!

Chainsword: New video

I have now souped up my chainsword... Replaced the old homemade battery pack (six 3V CR123A cells) with 18 1,2V Sanyo 1500 cells. This runs the B+D motor at 21,6V instead of the original 18V!


Now this thing is as powerful as I hoped it would be. No more jamming in soft material and such. Also, the 900 gramm (about 2 lb) "pommel" makes a great counter balance.

Here you can see it next to the old, lame battery pack.

Chain sword enhancements

The chain sword is really a nice toy. I am currently making a custom battery pack that will drive it to insane performance. It will also look very cool.

Speaking of "cool looking", here is a 3D model that a fellow youtuber has created - I love his improvement.

Animated GIF!

Fellow youtuber "MCraftSQuared" made this animated GIF from my last video... I rather like it! Thanks, man.

Follow him on twitter, @DerpyC0w! (the "o" in "Cow" is actually a "zero", for some reason blogger.com doesn't accept that).

Here is this week's video:

The chain saw sword is also covered, from 8:15!


And yes, I have to get better batteries. The Amperage of the CR123A cells is too low. I'll find better ones for sure.

Chain Saw Sword

In further preparation for the chain saw launcher, I moved the battery pack for the mini chain saw into the handle. It looked immediately like a sword!

So I decided to give it a go... made a hilt, and a pommel, then wrapped everything with 10mm paracord.

I also made a scabbard, from a bit of thick leather and the original plastic blade cover.

This looks very cool - and a cut from the saw blade would certainly be unpleasant...

Duct tape and pencils

For a planned upcoming episode, I am looking at duct tape.

Amongst other things, a slingshot is a given and must be included.

Here is one I made this morning before work... made from 8 pencils and some duct tape, nothing else. It shoots double Theraband Gold, easily.

New video!

This video features a mini pistol nail shooter (3" nails), but also the long anticipated circular saw blade rifle.

I am thinking about doubling up the spring - then we are talking.

Jörg Sprave Cartoon!

Still can't believe it... a very talented cartoon artist has in fact made a piece about me. What an honor!

http://ftf-comics.com/?comic=crazy-slingshot-guy

Trumark: A visit to Boulder

Firecrackers in gelatin!

Firecracker video, part 1

Firecracker launcher - finished!

Finished the firecracker launcher today.

More rubber, front handle, and a stirrup made from an old aluminum pipe. Ready for action!

Shooting dynamite sticks

OK, not quite...

...but some nice firecrackers!

Type II explosives, legal to fire in Germany only from the 31st of December until the 1st of January.

I made myself a slingshot for these nice crackers three years ago, but this year it has to be a launcher.

So I made a typical in-liner, chambered for the largest legal firecrackers you can buy here (23 mm diameter, filled with black powder).

The firecrackers are loaded into the breech, winchester style.

The built-in storm lighter helps keeping things under control, under time pressure.

It works fine.

Will increase the rubber some and also put in a steel piece to protect the wood from the burning fuse. Video on the 31st.

Homemade Assegai

I bought 10 cheaply made bayonets from Russia a few years back. The whole set was maybe 100 Euros. OK blades, but the handles are miserable. They probably all fit on an AK 47, but none of the designs is authentic.

Amongst them was this:

(in comparison with my Cold Steel Hold Out II, 4" blade).

A huge bayonet, the sharpened part of the blade is 36 cm (about 14"). The handle is short and edgy, making this a very unbalanced weapon. So I decided to exhange the handle against a nice 30 mm beech rod! This way I can fire it from my witch beheader bazooka.

I cut off the pommel and removed the scales. Then I cut a slot into the beech rod and fitted the blade in. Secured it with wood screws through the original holes, and also wrapped it with poly string (double constrictor knot). Rock solid.

Then I smeared on some epoxy putty and filed it down after it had hardened.
Last step: sanding it and oiling it with linseed!

Now it is a much more dangerous weapon, really a home made assegai short stabbing spear. And it fits nicely into the witch beheader!

BTW, the cat loves linseed oil, too...

Christmas present!

I always wanted to have the Armcross Leopro.

Read a review about it here

A reverse bow, very compact, and delivered complete with scope, back pack and accessories. It was designed in Russia, but made in Germany. The sole reason why I did not pick it up earlier was the price - 1599 Euros, about 2080 dollars. I guess others thought it was too expensive, too - the company went out of business, probably some time ago.

The Leopro got cheaper and cheaper - now was the time to go for it! My wife (on my not so subtle hints) bought it for 580 Euros, about 750 dollars. Brand new, with all the bells and whistles.

Here you can see it with the back pack, ready to go:

And here you can see me, right next to the christmas tree, unpacking my new toy:

Tuned it in already - lost three of the four bolts that came with it. Two went over the mat and disappeared into the muddy lawn. One went through the mat (obviously too thin) and got deformed by the stone wall behind it. Oh well, gotta order some more after christmas.

The power is very good (307 fps with a 425 gr bolt), actually a bit on the high side for my taste - at that kind of speed, bolts break often and early. I actually would prefer it to be a bit weaker, maybe 290 fps. That would be powerful enough for target shooting and the occasional Zombie skull :)

Big downside is that you need a cocking aid (basically a length of string with a little claw, in a pulley fashion). Impossible to cock this baby with bare hands. That is very common for modern, powerful compound crossbows, though - a high price you have to pay for compactness and performance.

Now I have to replicate the design and make a rubber powered variant - less powerful (this thing is beast), but even more compact and far less expensive. I may even make a tutorial.

Here are some more pics from the christmas party - early in the day, my niece and her loverboy had to go to his parents, too.

9" Nail shooter!

Here is my latest work... a repeating slingshot crossbow, shooting 9 inch nails.

This is in continuance with my Chu-Ko-Nu based design line. This time, it is bigger than the pencil shooter, but a lot smaller than the chest mounted spear launcher.

The ammo is - nine inch (23 cm) nails. Those are cheap, about 8 Euro-cents a pop (10 Euros for 120 of them). Of course you have to cut of the head, done in about one minute.

The repeating action is done by pressing the butt against the chest and pulling back with both arms, like in a rowing machine. This is needed as you need a lot of draw force to throw the heavy nails - each weighs 76 gramms (1276 gr). The magazine fits ten of them.

With a bit of extra effort, you can very easily enhance the tip by sharpening it. I even hardened the tip of this one.

It works great. I may add more rubber soon, but already this is very effective. Like a Chu-Ko-Nu, but more compact and with a trigger!

Video will follow shortly!

Witch hunter shooting: Radio coverage!

Check it out on the website of the radio channel

Parody!

Found this really hilarious parody about me. The guy covered so much...

voice... baldness... safety glasses... shirt... intro... posing... apple... even the cat. My wife and me have been laughing for a long time.

"Witch Hunters" project update

The film team just left... after three exhausting, but fun days.

The weapons performed well, in spite of the cold, cold weather (not great for rubber based weapons). The beheading arrows cut deep into the targets (completely slicing the melons, cabbages and so on), but I do not think they would really chop an entire head off. I mean they would cut the throat, slicing the wind pipe and carotis for sure, but the head would stay on. Room for improvement I guess. More heft is needed.

The heavy spike ("Moby Dick") was most effective. It went all the way through the thickest part of a [b]frozen[/b] turkey, then on deep into the wooden back rest, and toppled over the tree trunk it was sitting on. Scary.

The burning was really fun... three mannequin puppets, dressed up as witches, were doused in alcohol, then set a on fire with the burning arrow. It clearly worked! The pyrotechnic guy then opened the gas valves, and fed 35 kg of propane gas into the fire. A solid 12 feet high flame wall was the result - pure fun.

The guys will now do the editing (hours of footage will have to be condensed into about 4 to 6 minutes), and then Paramount will have some change requests for sure, as they financed the whole thing. This will be a promotional piece for the movie, of course! I do hope the piece will be up on my channel before christmas - I can't wait!

Number 8!

The popular FieldSports Channel  recently compiled a ranking for the biggest hunting/shooting/fishing channels on youtube.

The Slingshot Channel came out at number eight! Amazing, if you keep in mind how narrow my specialty niche is.

See the list at fieldsportschannel.tv

I am really happy about this - I never expected THIS kind of attention. Have to pop a cork tonite.

Hunting witches with the slingshot?

I love that fairy tale ever since my mother read it to me when I was a (small) boy. It has everything - desparation, betrayal, drama, cannibalism, fire and murder.

Read about it on wikipedia


The new Paramount movie "Hansel and Gretel - witch hunters" will soon make it's debut in theaters around the world.

Great plot - the children that killed the witch, 15 years later. Now they make a living doing what they learned back then - hunting witches. In Germany.

Look at the weapons - multi shot crossbows, steampunkish shotguns, even a gatling gun! Not historically fitting, but who cares - witches are fictional as well.
And look at how they kill witches - beheading them, or burning them down. Inspiring.

So I am thinking about designing rubber based weapons that  could be useful for witch hunting. Hmmm. I have a few ideas already...

Bolt for the Stink Master

The pistol is too good to be condemed to stink bombs really... made a nice bolt today, from steel tubing, aluminum and a 4mm steel rod. Wooden shaft. 24 gramms total.

It shoots very accurately and hard - penetrates a thick catalogue all the way to the hilt.

Stink Master 2000!

Stink bombs are standard issue items for naughty boys all over the world. These little glass containers are filled with chemicals designed to disgust. They smell so bad that usually, who ever throws them has to run away, too.

Based on an idea from a commenter,I added a new dimension to stink bombs - a specifically designed launcher, what else!

The "Stink Master 2000" is a breech loading pump action slingshot crossbow that can shoot a stink bomb 80 to 100 meters far - well outside of the reach of the smell. It allows the anonymous and stealthy usage of the fearsome objects.

Flying at 90 miles per hour, the stinky projectiles can also be shot with good accuracy... see for yourself.

As a bonus, a new version of the poison injecting arrow is shown. This time, it comes as a tip for full size arrows. See how cherry juice is ejected with tremendous pressure on impact of the heavy arrow!

New Thera Band Gold - An Improvement!

OK, here is some Chrony result.

6 degrees Celsius, so no records are to be expected.

12 kg draw weight on both bands,

2,8 x 1,8 x 23 cm two bands per side old TBG
3,8 x 2,4 x 23 cm two bands per side new TBG

15 mm steel:

old TBG 64-68 m/s
new TBG 67-71 m/s

16 mm lead:

old TBG 54 - 57 m/s
new TBG 56 - 59 m/s

Conclusion:

The new TBG is slightly better than the old type (yipeee).

But of course you have to cut wider stripes (or use more layers) to get to the same draw weight.