The first winner - CamilloN

OK, the first winner of a "Cougar" or "Panther" is

CamilloN

Congratulations!

The winner was properly emailed and now has to decide which one of the two models he wants, plus what kind of bandset he prefers.

The rest of you has 51 more chances... stay tuned! Every new comment to either this blog entry or other entries of the coming days will automatically participate in next week's drawing. Good luck!

Jörg

Free: User's Manual for the "Panther"

I wrote a very picture rich user's manual for the "Panther".

Download the pdf from google docs

The manual also contains a detailled explanation how to make and attach flatbands. This part can be used for any kind of "Over The Top" slingshot. Many of my followers have asked for something like this, so I included it into the Panther Manual.

The manual also shows detailled pictures about nice modifications, much like small tutorials.

Hope you like it!

The "Panther": Two more variations

I made a few more variations for the "Panther", it is too much fun.

First, I "married" the "Lead Launcher" handle (part of a design I made for Gamekeeper John) with the Panther, simply by cutting the side bars off the frame handle and fitting it into a wooden handle. The wood is "cornus sanguinea", common dogwood. I wanted it to stay as bright as it is naturally, so I did not stain it, just polished and polycoated the whole thing.

I encourage every power hungry shooter to try this handle, it allows ridiculous draw weights. Here you see it equipped with four layers of TB Gold, a full butterfly set that propels the one inch (25 mm) steel balls to ridiculous speed.

I also made a very thin "Speznaz" version of the Panther, just by using a length of shrink tube to cover the handle. I outiftted it with a full butterfly set made from two layers of TB Gold, very good for the 20 mm steel ball ammo.

I am really happy with the results!

The Dankung "Panther" - plus 52 slingshot drawings, one every week!

Dankung just released the second "Jörg Sprave" model - the "Panther".

Here is a video about it:

Watch it on youtube

The "Panther" is aimed at the experienced shooter, with a low fork for maximum power. It accomodates both the "hammer grip" and the "finger support" shooting style, plus the unique fork design can accomodate both "looped" Chinese tubular bands and western style flat bands,

Made from 7 mm stainless steel, the frame is also an ideal "blank" for customizing. Four very spectacular modifications are shown in this video. Olive wood, caucasian walnut and baltic birch multiplex is used as material for fancy, confortable scales.

You can win 52 slingshots! All you have to do is to leave a comment on a recent blog entry here, and you automatically participate in a weekly drawing. You can win a fully wrapped and banded "Cougar" or "Panther" slingshot, including free global shipping.

The weekly winner will be named here as well.

Bye bye, slingshot forums

That's right, it is time for me to focus.

I have more than 160 youtube comment pages and this blog to update. Plus all the PM's from my 21k + yt subscribers...

The slingshot forum was one of my favourite places for a long time, and I was a moderator there. But the endless and often personal discussions with the "paper punchers" simply cost too much time. I got to focus on those that appreciate my work, really. Plus, my critics are probably right, my inventions often aren't slingshots anymore - they are serious weapons, just powered by rubber.

You will still find me on weapon forums where there is no such "elite" nonsense, like my favorite Zombie Squad forum.

Take a peak

I will also set up a nice facebook page, but this will take some time.

That does not mean that the slingshot forums are bad places. You can actually learn a lot of basics there, just not from me anymore. But there are lots of other great guys.

Last not least, I want to encourage people using this blog to discuss my slingshots. I will do a nice promotion, check out the upcoming videos for details! As always, you can win free slingshots.

Using the Financial Times as Slingshot Ammo

Certainly not a Zed killer, but usefull "less lethal" ammo.

Watch it on youtube

The Financial Times Germany brought almost a full page about me, very positive coverage in the prestigeous weekend issue.

Read a teaser (free) online, German language

I am on (cable) TV!

I always wanted to say these Dire-Straits-Money-For-Nothing words... now the time has come.

My videos have been mentioned on TV before, but the slingshots have been in the focus.

G4 brought out a piece about me... in the "Who is who on youtube" special!

I love it, very fast editing and nothing but the truth. Except the Berlin part, I was born in Dortmund, 500 km west of Berlin.

See it on the G4 website!

Knowing its a natural

Sometimes I like to carve.

I had to cut down this tree/scrub in my garden as it was almost dead. Turns out it is Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), a dense wood that is ideally suited to make bows and spears from. It is so heavy it sinks in water.

I cut a big fork from it, mouldy and mossy. After debarking, I found the wood to be perfectly OK.

So I used the templates of a design I gave to John "Gamekeeper" Webb a while ago, the "Lead Launcher". The design is supposed to be cut from two pieces of 18 mm plywood, then epoxied together. But I carved it in one piece out of the big frame.

The wood does not take well to staining, and the grain is boring. So I coated it with black paint and poly, then polished the entire thing until it shone like Japanese laquered bowls.

Feels great in the hand!

Portable slingshot guillotine

Well, some may hunt "big game" (such as a poor skinny 15 lb deer) or even bears with the slingshot - but The Slingshot Channel takes this one step farther by using slingshots against the much feared undead Zombie monsters.

As you may know, decapitating them helps a lot. They still bite, but they can't move around and the danger is much reduced.

It was an indirect challenge from http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=81487 that lead to this scary slingshot... can you slice the head of a zombie of its shoulders with a slingshot?

Sure! Watch the world's first handheld guillotine in action. In spite of the heavy rain, The Slingshot Channel shows how the machine operates by slicing a water melon, simply on the pull of a trigger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-2FVTya6nw

Again, I know full well that there aren't any real Zombies, and I accept the fact that I just spent a

Done it! 200 lbs draw.

I think I found the limit of a slingshot crossbow that can be cocked without mechanical aids like winches.

I put the beastly 20mm speargun rubber on the medieval style crossbow. 200 lbs draw weight! It takes all of my considerable strength to load this weapon. It is insanely powerful.

Bought the rubber here, just as a reference:

http://www.spearfishing.de/product_info.php?info=p163_Gummizuege-Imersion---16-18-20-mm---Meterware.html

I shot a 22 mm lead ball against a rock, it flattened it very much. The new diameter was 26 mm!

The pic shows the 20mm speargun rubber, the 16mm type, Thera Tube Silver and Thera Tube Black in comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXNppLFxeXY

Oh, and as a bonus, I show four of my latest conventional frames too.

Six circles

I have been making this style a lot lately, it simply works great and looks good, too.

I realized the beauty lies in the simple radius combination. So I limited the design down to those.

All I needed to create this wonderfully symmetrical design is six circles. Of course this should be sawed out of multiplex or other high quality plywood, 15 to 22 mm, and then some scales (palm swell) should be added, from any kind of material.

Fork height is adjustable to one's needs.

Here you see both the blueprints with the radius's.

I love this style as it is elegant and REALLY comfortable. You have to add scales, though, to give some depth to the handle.

I decided to attach antler scales, simply because I like the contrast between the very geometrical shape and the irregularities of the antler.

I lightly sanded the surface of the antler to break the sharper spots, and polycoated the entire frame. Came out great!