Cross Grain Testing

The bane of all 'board cut' slingshots is the cross grain.
You may have been careful to ensure the grain is running
vertically, but you still end up with VERY weak
cross grain at the juncture of the fork and body.
 
 Why are 'natural' forks stronger?
The simple reason is that there is NO
cross grain in a natural.
 
So the obvious solution is to give a 'board-cut'
the grain of a natural. To do this, you cut a couple of
narrow pieces of timber with approximately a 20 degree
angle, glue them together and suddenly you have
'board-cut' with the grain of a natural.
 
That's the theory anyway.
To test this theory I used some cheap pine,
cut first as a normal frame and then one cut at a 20 degree angle.
Put them in a vice, and gave them a whack with the hammer.
The 'normal' one broke with just a couple of taps, where as the 20
degree one,  put up a real fight!!
 
The testing was soo successful that I made one out of pine!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





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