Boomerang Dave's Boomerang Journal

How can anyone have reflections on testing boomerangs? If you don't already throw, you probably can't understand the feeling of throwing a boomerang and having it return accurately. It is even better when the boomerang is something you made yourself.

When I first started making boomerangs, some 16 years ago, I tested each and every one I made. I didn't feel real comfortable selling a boomerang that I wasn't positive that it worked. After 5 or 6 years, a fellow boomsmith (someone who makes boomerangs) told me he stopped testing all the booms because he thought after making several thousand, that he was pretty sure everything worked. I did the same thing, until I started getting some boomerangs returned by customers, because they didn't perform well. I don't know what I was doing wrong, but at least I could remedy that situation. Now I again test everything I make.

I managed to make some boomerangs on Saturday but hadn't been able to test them due to lack of time, and clear weather (besides, the field was wet and muddy). Sunday after church I headed out with Saturday's creations to test. One particular model happened to be a small offset omega made from French Okoume plywood. This plywood looks like mahogany but is quite lightweight. I had forgotten just how easy this boomerang is to throw. It doesn't require much effort, just lots of spin. Range is 20-25 meters and it works in a dead calm, which was good because that was the conditions Sunday. I had 9 of these with me and really enjoyed tossing them.

I moved on to a half dozen reversible boomerangs in two styles. Both work really well, although I would have liked a little breeze for better returns. Reversibles require a bit more testing since you can throw them with either side up. They had better work both ways. I then tried a several copied of a broken Herb Smith boomerang I received recently. (see attached photo) The shape is probably what you would call a flat top hook. The original may be 8mm thick and I made mine in 6mm plywood. The flights were not the best but I wondered if the lack of wind affected that. They had a range of nearly 40 meters. The last booms tested were a set of interlocking boomerangs, or two which are different shapes, cut out so that the lower edge of one is the upper edge of the other. These were not doing well at all so I headed home to the shop for modifications. I did a slight bit of undercutting on both wings of the interlocking set, and also a bit on the dingle arm of the flat top vees.

Monday after work I stopped by a field to retest the modified boomerangs. It was 87 degrees and I was in long pants, a long sleeve dress shirt and dress shoes. This is not my preferred style of dress for throwing boomerangs, especially in the heat. There was a slight breeze blowing so I was happy to do a real test. I threw the first flat top and was too far to the right of the wind. I threw the second and had much better results. The third throw looked real good. I stood there watching the boomerang, not planning to chase it down and noticed it had a great flight. I was sort of expecting it to drop to the ground right in front of me. What I didn't count on was the bit of additional lift it had at the end of the flight. As I stood there, like a target, the boomerang lifted a bit in its final approach and hit me square in the stomach. I never even tried to stop it or catch it. I was both quite surprised and quite pleased. I was also feeling a bit foolish for not thinking to catch it. A little adjustment in my throwing angle had the first two flying equally well. The interlocking set was still not up to snuff, but working better. A little more modification in the shop will take care of that.