Sunday, February 26, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Kabuto: First pictures
OK, I pretty much finished the Kabuto yesterday evening.
Green paint and gauze bandage wrapping, as in the original pictures. Made from 18mm Multiplex and an old broom stick.
The pouch looks kind of odd, but actually work pretty well.
I did add a steel spike (hardened the tip) so you can stick it into the earth for a better stance, and of course so the weapon can double as a spear.
First test shots required the removal of the low/center band - the shots went low. I will fix this by changing the band dimensions so the look will be original.
Green paint and gauze bandage wrapping, as in the original pictures. Made from 18mm Multiplex and an old broom stick.
The pouch looks kind of odd, but actually work pretty well.
I did add a steel spike (hardened the tip) so you can stick it into the earth for a better stance, and of course so the weapon can double as a spear.
First test shots required the removal of the low/center band - the shots went low. I will fix this by changing the band dimensions so the look will be original.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Usopp's Kabuto Slingshot
He fights with a slingshot as his main weapon! The large one is called "Kabuto", and it has five strings of rubber.
Many kids asked me to build such a weapon, and I have hesitated for a long time. But recently I learned that "One Piece" is immensely successful, 250 million comic books have been sold, and it is the most successful Manga ever.
The Slingshot Channel can no longer ignore such a famous rubber based weapon, and therefore I have made a "Kabuto". I will present it next week in another episode.
I will use TB Gold instead of the tubular rubber, and optimize the design a bit. But it will still be much alike the weapon in the image!
Monday, February 20, 2012
OK, the new video has all the details.
You can win one of the cast aluminum "Moorhammers" I brought home from Sheffield!
All you have to do is to place your vote and then post a reply to this thread
http://theslingshotforum.forumotion.com/t865-jorg-s-best-sling-x-bow-vote-and-win#6912
explaining why you have chosen your favorite, and - if you want - also in which direction you would like to see that design developed further on.
I will draw the lucky winner next Sunday (26th of Feb., 2012)!
Good luck!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Back home from Sheffield
Just returned from an exciting three-day visit to Peter Hogan, the owner of hogancastings and milbroproshot.com!
It was fantastic. We spent many hours in Peter's foundry, and we got to film every step of the process. The guys had done a perfect preparation job, so we could really focus on the filming with almost no idle time.
Nothing was held back, and Peter took the time to explain everything in person. Now I am convinced that his products are way too cheap, given the amount of time, material and - last not least - deeply red heartblood that goes into every cast frame.
The video is finished, which was a monster job. My longest so far! More a documentary than a slingshot video really. Runtime is 17 minutes total. The video should be online in a few hours (almost 2 Gigabytes of data, a lot for my small countryside DSL connection).
The slingshots I took back home are stunning, shining little masterpieces. Photos don't do them justice, as always with super shining surfaces. But here are some pics anyway!
It was fantastic. We spent many hours in Peter's foundry, and we got to film every step of the process. The guys had done a perfect preparation job, so we could really focus on the filming with almost no idle time.
Nothing was held back, and Peter took the time to explain everything in person. Now I am convinced that his products are way too cheap, given the amount of time, material and - last not least - deeply red heartblood that goes into every cast frame.
The video is finished, which was a monster job. My longest so far! More a documentary than a slingshot video really. Runtime is 17 minutes total. The video should be online in a few hours (almost 2 Gigabytes of data, a lot for my small countryside DSL connection).
The slingshots I took back home are stunning, shining little masterpieces. Photos don't do them justice, as always with super shining surfaces. But here are some pics anyway!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The "Polar Hunter"
Made a cold weather resistant slingshot.
It has a leather bag in the front that contains two Zippo handwarmers, and has enough room for the bands. This means the bands will stay warm for about 12 hours! They get to about 40 degrees celsius, very nice.
It has a modified lead launcher handle and "gipsy tab" attachements. This allows the storage of the entire rubber into the bags.
Shoots nice too! I should probably paint it white, though.
It has a leather bag in the front that contains two Zippo handwarmers, and has enough room for the bands. This means the bands will stay warm for about 12 hours! They get to about 40 degrees celsius, very nice.
It has a modified lead launcher handle and "gipsy tab" attachements. This allows the storage of the entire rubber into the bags.
Shoots nice too! I should probably paint it white, though.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Zebrawood and Aluminum Hammerhead
Tried to make a really delicate frame from the Zebrawood. Used very thin Kydex as a core. But I thinned out the fork too much, it broke during the stress test in the vise.
In order to salvage the handle, I sawed the fork off and attached an aluminum one instead.
I am fairly happy with the result!
In order to salvage the handle, I sawed the fork off and attached an aluminum one instead.
I am fairly happy with the result!
Bands and heat: One more test
It is very very cold right now here in Germany - a high pressure system coming in from Siberia.
I measured minus 8,4 centigrade noon temperature - that is -18 Fahrenheit.
So I took my band test system outside, stretched the bands and let it sit for 30 minutes or so.
The bands lost ALL flexibility! No more rubber like behaviour. I saw the "wrinkled" look I noticed a year ago after shooting a sling-x-bow out in the cold.
About five secs of the heatgun restored the rubber in full.
This is one more proof: Rubber stores all of its energy thermally. You stretch out a band, it warms up. Release it, it cools down. Cool it down while stretched, and the stretchiness decreases. Cool it down low enough and there is no more stretchiness.
I measured minus 8,4 centigrade noon temperature - that is -18 Fahrenheit.
So I took my band test system outside, stretched the bands and let it sit for 30 minutes or so.
The bands lost ALL flexibility! No more rubber like behaviour. I saw the "wrinkled" look I noticed a year ago after shooting a sling-x-bow out in the cold.
About five secs of the heatgun restored the rubber in full.
This is one more proof: Rubber stores all of its energy thermally. You stretch out a band, it warms up. Release it, it cools down. Cool it down while stretched, and the stretchiness decreases. Cool it down low enough and there is no more stretchiness.
