Ian's Project Parrt 1
I thought it would be best to have Ian know something mmore about boomerangs, how to make them and how they work. I got Ian copies of the Herb Smith book on making boomerangs and the Powerpoint presentation by Tom Connolley on how they work. Ian studied these as preparation for the project. He also looked at over 1000 boomerangs plans on Pierre Kutek's site (http://www.kutek.net/boomplans/plans.php) . Ian selected plans and had me review his selections. He finally narrowed down his selections to four from the database and one of his own design. The five designs range form a simple Australian style boomerang through to a 5 blade boomerang with a large center cutout. These should provide us plenty of work to make.
We printed out the plans and calculated how much to enlarge them, since they usually don't fit a standard sheet of paper. Ian cut the plans out and set to tracing two of each on on the 4mm or 5mm Finland Birch plywood we were using. Then the fun started. Ian had never used a jig saw before and here he was with expensive plywood trying to learn on cutting unusual shapes. Things went a little rough on the first boomerang but with a little coaching he got a steady hand and things improved with each cut. We got half the boomerangs cut out and decided the jig saw method was taking a lot of time to cut things right. We were trying to do some of the work in Ian's yard but I knew that a 14 inch bandsaw was in my garage that would make cutting the tough shapes much easier. Ian cut apart the remaining blanks so we could continue with cutting the next time. Even with me doing a little of the cutting to give Ian a rest, the jig saw does a lot aof vibrating and will wear out a newbie pretty fast. With the real purpose of the project being to teach Ian how to make boomerangs, I saw no point in torturing him when there were better tools and methods available. The jig saw is fine for one or two boomerangs at a time.
There is still a lot to do. We need to finish cutting the blanks, then sand the airfoils. Once we get that far we can test fly them to make sure they all work. After that we will finish sand them to get them ready to paint or decorate. Ian is a good artist so I am anxious to see how the final boomerangs turn out. This is a real fun time and Ian and I enjoy working together. We welcome your comments and suggestions about the project. Just click the + Add Comment link below the journal entry.
Photos from each session will be uploaded to a webshots album at: http://community.webshots.com/album/559798566cbHJMM
Photo: Ian cutting out a traditional design
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