firewood boomerang

after reading this you should be able to take firewood or other discarded tree cuttings and turn them into boards to make an awesome project (wink wink) .in this case i've made a showcase quality boomerang

Step 1 Tools and materials

TOOLS

-safety glasses
-ear protection
-leather work gloves
-knife or machete
-ball pean hammer
-roofing hammer or hatchet
-wood planner
-table saw
-compound miter saw
-micro plane
-spoke/spindle shaver
-clamps
-sand paper (80 and 250 grit)
-palm sander
-drill press
-1/2" and 1/4" drill bits
-coping saw

MATERIALS

-firewood (oak in this case)
-dowels (1/2" and 1/4" )
-minwax polyurethane clear gloss spray
-wood glue

Comments

[eyankura]

Radial arm saws are nice for lap joints. A bit overkill, but nice. That way, you are not working blind.

[skyhi1994]

will this thing actualy work?

[somebullcrap]

yes it does

[artinct]

You've done a super job with the lapjoint boom. Looks like a winner. I have made and thrown hundreds of boomerangs and your looks as good as any I've seen. Nice instructable. keep up the good work. If your ever intersted in trading booms let me know.
Art

[Mungerbees]

Would it be possible to use a wood router to make the lap joint?

[somebullcrap]

sure you could you a router to make the lap joint .ideally using it on a router table for precision .and the tongue groove was cut for the purpose of reinforcing the crack .but it does provide extra strength for the tips which is where the majority of impacts occur have i inspired you to make a boomerang of your own?

[Mungerbees]

Excellent! I have a router table! Yes, you have inspired me! I'm working on making a kalimba right now, which should be done soon. And right after that I'm going to attempt to make this boomerang! Thanks for the Instructable! :)

[Mungerbees]

Also, did you ever find out if it really works?

[somebullcrap]

unfortunately i still have not had a chance and a good day to test it .the days good to test i always seem to be busy .and when i'm not busy and want to test it we have winds blowing at 15mph

[Mungerbees]

is cutting a groove for the tongue necessary? or did you do that just because it had a crack in it that needed reinforcement?

[justoskar1]

have you tested it dos it come back to you???

[extrordinary1]

As a weapon, it won't return if you hit your target. I made 17 inch boomerangs

[somebullcrap]

unfortunately i've not been able to test it out .i live in south east texas and the weather here is always changing so a nice boomerang day is hard to come by .though i'm confident it will return to me as it is the 5th boomerang i've made and the previous four do return

[lemonie]

High quality!
What angle are your pieces of wood meeting at ~105^o? And how important is this angle?

L

[somebullcrap]

its actually around 120 .and the angle isn't nearly as important as the shape of the blades .i have other boomerangs i've made with angles of 90 and even one thats only about 65 degrees

[webman3802]

Another good wood source would be old pallets. Some stores reuse them, but others simply discard them and would have no problem with you taking them off their hands. Check with the store manager first, to be sure. These are usually some kind of hardwood and may be old and dirty, but a quick pass through the planer will reveal the woodgrain underneath. Just be sure to remove any nails or staples first. I have heard that sometimes the wood used in pallets may have been treated with a preservative to prevent rot, so you may want to wear gloves and dust masks to be safe.

[Larzid]

Actually in the U.S. by Law All Pallets shipped from abroad must be fumigated to prevent pests from entering the country i don't know about pallets shipped domestically, but since it's really hard to tell where your pallet came from dust masks are a must. you are right, pallets make a great source of wood for many projects, but never use them for firewood unless you want to breath toxic fumes.

[mstark77]

Pretty sweet. Thanks for sharing.

[rimar2000]

Very good work. But warning: boomerangs are amazing but dangerous. I made many of them, and I was pretty lucky not to have hurt an eye at anyone.

[cambalkon]

cam balkon imalt1

[Phil B]

You mentioned the profile of the boomerang viewed from the end is like the teardrop of an airplane wing. But, the leading and trailing edges of the wing change places with one another on the two legs of the boomerang. Their orientation is according to whether the boomerang will be thrown by a right handed person or a leftie. See this

[Phil B]

link.http://dangerouslyfun.com/boomerang

[blugyblug]

Should tell people how to throw it. You throw it with a ten to 30 degree angle from vertical (80-70 or 110-130) and flick it at the end of the throw.

[SinAmos]

Classic design. Maybe I'll go for it.

[the_burrito_master]

I love boomerangs! this is a project for me!