It will have instructions and templates for three different rubber band guns utilizing "classic" rapid-fire mechanisms (mechanisms that I did not invent and which have existed for some time). Two of them will be similiar to the Rapid-fire Shotgun and the Select-fire Carbine that I currently have for sale on Etsy. The mechanisms will function the same but the styling will be different. The third gun in the book will have a motorized rotary string-release type mechanism.
Certainly! It's no problem to ship a gun without the decals applied. Were you wanting to apply a wood finish to the gun? I ask because certain areas of the wood have some parafin wax applied for lubrication of the mechanism, which might interfere with with a wood stain or other finish soaking into the wood. If you planned to finish the gun, I would send you one that does not have the lubricating wax.
I'm working on a book that will have templates and instructions for making three different guns, two of which will be the Select-fire Carbine and Rapid-fire Shotgun (see my videos), but the book won't be published until near the end of this year. Right now the only gun I make for which the templates and instructions are available is the RotaryMek-10X. The instruction manual with templates that I wrote for building the RotaryMek-10X is for sale on Amazon.com
Yes, I may look locally for a larger used band saw at some point. There do seem to be a few relatively good quality inexpensive new saws out there. The Grizzly saws seem to be well reviewed. Lowes has a light-weight 14 inch "Delta clone" that people seem to like. I looked it over and the only thing that bothered me is that the bracket that attaches the table to the frame is somewhat flimsy, so the table has a little flex to it.
At some point I may do a video on how I use my preferred software (TurboCAD and Adobe Photoshop) to design mechanisms and produce cutting templates. At the moment, I'm going the "book" route for sharing detailed instructions; I hope to publish my second how-to book later this year. It'll be organized similarly to the book for the Rotarymek-10X, but will have instructions and templates for three designs, the Rapid-fire Shotgun, the Select-fire Carbine and one other design that I'm finalizing.
I actually did try a timberwolf blade recently and had it break on me. I may try another one at some point, but I do see now that timberwolf doesn't warrant their welds on blades for very small saws. The only of the cheap Vermont Amerca/Bosch blades that I like and use is the 3/8 inch, 18 tpi "metal" blade. I can get very straight smooth cuts in baltic birch ply with this blade, but I have to make several passes for tight curves.
It's worked OK for me, but my relative satisfaction is probably based on the "don't know what I'm missing" priciple, since I've never used a high quality saw. As I've mentioned elsewhere, the only blades I've been satisfied with are the 3/8 inch metal cutting blades by vermont america and bosch, even though they are not optimized for the type of cutting I do.
The title is "Experience Building the RotaryMek-10X Rubber Band Machine Gun." On my RU-vid channel, I have a promotional video for the book that has the same title.
I would strongly suggest that you try to find a pre 1980's band saw. There vastly superior to anything you can by at lowes or grizzly. 9 times out of 10 they are cheaper to buy as well. 7 months ago I bought an early 50's 12" Craftsmen band saw for $100. About a month ago I bought a 1905 20" Crescent Band saw for $275. Most of the time these saws need nothing more mechanically changeling then a good cleaning. Google owwm and/or Vintage Machinery and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Good to know you found on that works, I wasn't so lucky no matter the tension I put on it. I may have to try that one if my timber wolf breaks. The timber wolf is a lot heavier and stiffer than the vermont american so I could see it not liking the tight radius. I am though using it to make Matthias' Wood Band Saw from woodgears.ca :)
Great Video! Really interesting jigs. Ever thought about buying used machinery? Most woodworking machinery, particularly band saws, really have not changed to much in the last century. It's a very cost effective way of acquiring quality tools.
I have that ryobi bandsaw, paid 130 for it. Get some suffolk machinery timberwolf blades. With the new blades it cuts quite well. I had poor performance with the cheap vermont americans from home depot for wood. for aluminum cutting they did ok.
Please get a tripod. I get disoriented when you keep waving the camera around. Please learn about close, medium and long shots and stop using the like a garden hose where you move the hose around to water different areas.
Thanks for the tour. Buy this guys book on the RotaryMek-10x. The book is extremely detailed and very easy to follow. I built 2 of these for my kids as a christmas gift this year and had a blast building them. It will be the best $20 you've spent in a while.
Is there any possible way I can get a selectfire rubber band carbine without the details on it? aka like the instructions on it... Just a plain model ?_?
would be great to take into account the m16 and the Thompson M1A1 rifles that were in the history of united states of north america thanks for sharing have a future do the winchester goes ahead apology for the English
I know this is an older video but have you thought of boring a hole in the box your router is encased in large enough to accept the hose of a shop vac and then run the vac while you are using the router. Just a thought. Nice video.
Wow, you do nome nice work from a fairly basic shop! I have to say I was expecting to see more. I love your simplistic designs! I just made the rapid fire gun you posted on RU-vid last night but I made cad drawings and machined it on my cnc. I too would like to get into designing rubber band guns and your designs have inspired me! Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I've prided myself on doing more with less so to speak, although I'm moving past that stage now. At this point all of the parts for the guns I make to sell are made with router templates on a router table, but I plan to be transitioning to CNC in the near future for a portion of the manufacturing process. As far as simplicity of design goes, I currently design most of my gun's with ease of manufacture in mind. The styling of the parts is influenced not only by my sense of aesthetics but also to minimize per-unit labor. I've been watching a lot of CNC videos on RU-vid.com lately and just took a look at some of yours--very interesting!
