Reed whistles and slingshots

R

RobbW

Joined
Oct 15, 2003
Messages
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I think we need a chain on how to whittle reed whistles and slingshots. Seems fitting to have it in the Traditional forum. I think an important part of childhood passed me by.

I'm just sayin'...
 
Great idea! I'd like to see different ways people were taught how to make these things.
Your not the only one who missed out on that stuff.
 
For a slingshot you will need the following;

A forked branch about 2 times the thinkness of your thumb.

Two lengths of rubber sling band material. This can be a bicycle inner tube cut into strips, or even better yet these days, surgical tubing. 3/8 is good. Or go to a medical supply store and get one of those long color coded 4 foot rubber bands they use for physical thereapy. They come in green, black, and red for different strenghts.

An old leather shoe tounge.

some nylon carpet thread.
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Cut the branch from a hickory, ash, or hornbeam tree, and let it dry about 3-5 months down the basement in a cool place. DO NOT TAKE THE BARK OFF TILL DRY. Removal of the bark while green can cause the wood to split from drying too fast. you may even want to drip some parafin on the cut ends to slow the drying prosses. You may even leave the bark on if using hornbeam. Its a mother to get off, and the thick underbark may even add to the lamination strengh of it.

Once dry, make a slight u shaped groove around the tops of the fork where the rubber bands are going to be mounted. A slight groove, not deep, and smoothed out with a round file and sandpaper around a small stick so no rough edge can start a stress line.

If using tubing, take one wrap around the top of the tube an use the carpet thread or dental floss to make a whipping to secure the ends to the main tube. Whip at least 3/8 of an inch to secure.

Cut a slot in the shoe tongue that has been trimmed as square as you can get it. tie off an equal length of band/tube to the tongue. Whip the tied off ends with thread/dental floss.

Wet form the toungue into a pouch with a small round stone in the leather. Use a rubber band to secure the stone in the wet leather pouch till dry. This will make a pretty well formed stone pouch when dry.

Prowl a creek bed and gather your ammo carefully. Make the stones as close in size and smooth roundness as possable. About the size of a .45 round ball is good.

At this point its unbelievable what trouble can result without adult supervision.:eek:

Shooting is done instictivly like with a recurve or long bow. If you try to think too much about it, you'll mess it up. Its like tossing something in the waste basket- you just do it without thinking. Just consentrate and stare a hole in what you want to hit. Don't look at the slingshot at all.

Are there any instictive archers here? Follow Fred Asbells advise.
 
For slingshots I do pretty much the same as jackknife, except most of the time I use maple or oak, because it is readily available. I normally stock up on forks when clearing land, or snow felled trees during the winter. I store them in a closet with the bark on, and use rubber cement on the cut ends. Once dry I strip the bark and smooth any stubs that are left with a knife and fine file. The Lowes around me sells latex tubing for the band.

I make the grooves for the bands at least 1/2 inch down from the top of the fork, but I prefer to go a little further for safety's sake. I make the grooves with a round file like jackknife does. when whipping on the tubing I prefer to put a bit of stretch in to the band then whip it tight so that the whipping is as tight as possible. I often stick a pellet of 00 buck shot in the tail end of the latex so that it can not get pulled back through the whipping.

I use any scrap leather for the pouch, I like it to be medium thickness. Make a rectangle and marck the holes you want to make in it. I use a 3" piece of 3/8" copper pipe and a wooden mallet to punch the holes, backing the leather on a soft wood board. Punched holes help to keep the pouch from taring. Joe
 
I thank you both for the detailed instructions. The step on drying the wood is the one I was missing. No hornbeam, but plenty of maple and oak in this area--I'll keep my eyes open when doing fall cleanup.

At this point its unbelievable what trouble can result without adult supervision.
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I'm in my 40s and occasionally I still require a bit of adult supervision. ;)
 
Thanks guys, those are awesome instructions. Now just to find some forks without getting into trouble.
 
A good place to find forks at least in my area is around ponds where beavers are active. Often you can find freshly cut down trees, or ones that have fallen but not died yet, and snag a branch off of one with out having to cut a living tree. You can also use a store bought band and save your self the trouble of having to make one from scratch. Joe
 
I'll have to try this out. We should have a thread of things to whittle in general, like tools, figures, etc.
 
I agree with Vivi there are alot of crafty people from different walks of life and several generations and areas, I would love toy here some of the things that you folk make! Joe
 
I could use some tips on whittling whistles. I've been trying for a couple of months and so far I've only managed to make some very nice looking silent whistles :( I tell people they are dog whistles to save me some embarrasment.
 
Franciscomv, I will try to post understandable instructions tomorrow on how i make whistles from wood, like willow and striped maple, it will be tough with out pictures but I will try. Joe
 
camo kid said:
I agree with Vivi there are alot of crafty people from different walks of life and several generations and areas, I would love toy here some of the things that you folk make! Joe
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I've been known to make hiking staffs for the family and a variety of walking sticks for my self. Having had my right ankle and foot really broken up left me 50% disabled so its natural I guess that I became interested in canes/walking sticks. I don't like carrying an old fogy cane, so I like rustic looking walking sticks along the lines of the Irish Blackthorn.

The last couple I've made out of hornbeam with some good ridges, by digging around the roots till I find one with the root going off at 45 to 90 degrees. I'll dig it up and cut off the root way down in the ground leaving a large amount of root to make the handle out of. Cut it over long for drying. After sealing the cut ends with parafin I'll let them age down the basement for several months.

I've also used hornbeam for short staves. Most people cut the hiking staff too long. I preffer the short version reffered to as a rod, as in "Thy rod and thy staff..."

A rod is a short staff that comes up to your lowest rib. I find that it is a good handy length for woods, fending off sticker bushes, around camp for lifting that pot off the fire, is a little more inconspicous back around civilization, easier to transport in small car trunks, and it you have to defend yourself with one the shorter staff is more manouverable.

I've used maple, hickory, hornbeam, and even poplar. I experimented with poplar because in the old days it was popular for boat poles on the river and with the C&O canal boatmen. It grows very strait, clean grain, and is very light for its size. You can have a 20 foot boat pole and it only weights a couple of pounds. It has great end on strength, but does not have the impact resistance of hickory or hormbeam. As a result, you have to use a staff thicker than you would think you have to. But it's not weak stuff, don't get me wrong. Under normal use as a hiking staff you won't break a sturdy poplar by leaning heaviely on it. I use them for the women in the family as the women do not like a heavy staff like the hickory and hormbeam make.

On the maple and poplar sticks I'll take the bark off after 5-6 months drying. For bark skinning I like an Opinel. They do a great job. Some sanding with 220 and 500 paper followed by 0000 steel wool and its ready for staining. I do like minwax products. Alot of nice hue's to chose from like golden oak, provincial, walnut. I'll use a rag to rub in a stain, (use rubber gloves) and after letting it sit for a few days to a week, finish with Helmsman Spar Urathane for a weatherproof stick.

On the familys hiking sticks I'll use brown cotten jute twine to make a cord wrap grip area at the top of the stick, and then saturate the cotten jute with more of the spar urathane. This makes the grip weather proof and strong. After the urathane dries, the cord wrap can be a little roungh, so I give it a VERY light sanding with some worn 500 paper. Just enough to take off the major roughness. Put a rubber chair/table leg end on it at the bottom end from Lowes or Home Depot and it ready for use. Sometimes a medical supply place will have a crutch end the righ size.

For hornbeam and smooth hickory I leave the bark on and just clean it up with 0000 steel wool. I just finish with spar urathane, put a cord wrap handle and rubber foot on and its ready to go.

For my hornbeam walking sticks, I shape the root knob some, and sand the root for staining. I still leave the bark on the shaft. A proper walking stick should come to the middle of your inside wrist with your arm hanging strait down, so there is a mild crook in you elbow standing with your hand on the top of the handle. You have someone you trust mark it for you so it will fit properly.

Okay, I admit I've made a few sticks.:D

A short hiking staff is such a handy thing to have in the woods, I don't know how people get along without one. I think a stick rates right up there with a pocket knife. I've given the whole family staves, and even some of the young members who did not think they need one, remarked after a woods walk that they had never relized how handy it was. Like the afor mentioned sticker bush, keeping balance while crossing a stream stepping from rock to rock, a third leg on loose or very steep surfaces. I've though about making a bunch and getting a table at the next local craft fair and selling some.
 
camo kid said:
I agree with Vivi there are alot of crafty people from different walks of life and several generations and areas, I would love toy here some of the things that you folk make! Joe
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When I was a kid, our school janitor used to make willow whistles. We were always bugging him during recess to make us some whistles. That was his claim to fame.
 
Jackknife great post about walking sticks. I make maybe 2-3 walking sticks a year. I use maple or oak, because it is what I normally can find. I use copper pipe for the bottom tip, I pin and epoxy it to the stick, often letting it over hang the wood by 3/8" and drilling about 1/2" in to the end of the stick. This allows me to epoxy a nut in so I can thread a 3/4'' long bolt in the end for added traction during the winter when the ground is often covered with ice. I have a few that are about 6' long for really rocky terrain, and stream crossing's. Polyurethane is a good idea, I think I will try that on my next stick, I normally use a few coats of shellac.

Not really knife related at all, but today at the flea market I picked up a neat home made sling shot. It is made from 3/16" thick aluminum that has been media blasted to a matte finish. It appears to have been cut out with a band saw and files and sanded to shape, it would be a not to bad home project and probably would only take an hour to do top. it is a slim package and i cant wait to cary it in the field and plink some stumps with it. Joe
 
Thanks for the whistle help, chaps! I'm taking a nice trip to Southern Chile on Thursday (until Tuesday). For some reason, traveling equals whittling in my mind. I made all of my spoons while traveling, using local woods.

So, this trip might be a great chance to produce a working whistle at last.
 
Real cool. I now have three working whistles , one working slingshot, and a new window for the garage.
 
At the US Army Ranger school, there are three phases. Benning, Mountains, and Florida.

Depending on the phase all the "walkers" or evaluators that were with us all carried walking staffs. Interestingly enough each phase produced a certain type of style that was unique to the environment that they were in.

Ft Benning- The terrain is somewhat swampy in some areas, densely wooded, and has some rolling terrain. The walkers carried elaborately decorated staffs that came up to their chin. The wrapped it with 550 cord for grip and had expletives often carved onto the stick. Some put mini skulls on top of the stick itself. They used them to judge water level on the swamps and kill any snakes in the way. They stripped the bark and aged them.

Mountains-The sticks were plain, smaller, and lighter. The sticks were obviously not really seasoned or aged. No decorations or carvings.

Flordia- Huge sticks that were really thick and stood over the walker's heads. They were aged and treated, but no decorations. They all put Garmin GPS systems on top of their sticks. Also they put level marks on their sticks to judge the water level in the swamps.
 
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