Ok, someone mentioned that the Saunders would be a good slingshot for customizing. I happen to have one lying around.
The Saunders has a lot of advantages:
- Inexpensive (16 dollars)
- Quick band change
- Flat bands
- Great pouch
But it also has some disadvantages.
- High fork
- Small, thin, unergonomic handle
So I set out to correct the fork height and also to make a new ergo handle for it. My goal was to make this reversible, at least the handle change.
So I started by disassembling the slingshot.
Then I clamped the fork arms into the vise and lowered them from 5 cm to 3 cm.
Then I sawed out two handle parts, front and back, with the finger and thumb grooves already outlined.
Next, I put in a groove for the steel frame.
The two halves already fit in this picture! But of course the handle was far from finished at that point.
Sawed out a piece of multiplex for the palm swell, "Baumstamm style".
After lots of rasp and file work, the handle was shaped and sanded, ready for some color.
Then, I died it in blue, came out almost purple.
Have now finished it. Added nice poly coating, sanded and spraypainted the fork, and outfitted it with TB gold, 2 layers, 18 cm active band length, 2,4 cm (fork), 1,5 cm (pouch). This is the toughest band I could attach without altering the original band holders. Much more power than the original Saunders bands.
Here is the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60CDL0nq984
It's now a much better slingshot, and of course one of a kind.
Jörg
The Saunders has a lot of advantages:
- Inexpensive (16 dollars)
- Quick band change
- Flat bands
- Great pouch
But it also has some disadvantages.
- High fork
- Small, thin, unergonomic handle
So I set out to correct the fork height and also to make a new ergo handle for it. My goal was to make this reversible, at least the handle change.
So I started by disassembling the slingshot.
Then I clamped the fork arms into the vise and lowered them from 5 cm to 3 cm.
Then I sawed out two handle parts, front and back, with the finger and thumb grooves already outlined.
Next, I put in a groove for the steel frame.
The two halves already fit in this picture! But of course the handle was far from finished at that point.
Sawed out a piece of multiplex for the palm swell, "Baumstamm style".
After lots of rasp and file work, the handle was shaped and sanded, ready for some color.
Then, I died it in blue, came out almost purple.
Have now finished it. Added nice poly coating, sanded and spraypainted the fork, and outfitted it with TB gold, 2 layers, 18 cm active band length, 2,4 cm (fork), 1,5 cm (pouch). This is the toughest band I could attach without altering the original band holders. Much more power than the original Saunders bands.
Here is the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60CDL0nq984
It's now a much better slingshot, and of course one of a kind.
Jörg
