b'SKILLS & CRAFTSMANSHIPHOW TO: MAKE A NATTYThe most important catapult in each issue is a Y-shaped stick or natural tree fork. Here is how to make oneIreasonably thick fork will be good. Avoida twig. W ith ash, when dried, that fork have a dilemma here. This feature is largely about the Ash tree, (Fraxinuselder, buddleia and any pithy shrub likewill make a sound like a small wooden excelsior) that is suffering from alilac. They are simply not strong enough.chime if you drop it on a hard surface, dreadful disease simply called AshHolly and oak are known to be excellent,unbanded. Ash is one of the toughest Die Back, causing a lot of ash treeswhile yew is the king of gorgeous grain.hardwoods and absorbs shocks without to slowly perish. My degree course wasA horse leg shape carved yew forksplintering. It is used for making tools and Environmental Sciences, so I care aboutcatapult by GameKeeper John sells onsport handles, including hammers, axes, this. It is caused by airborne spores of theEbay for around 400, they are so highlyspades, hockey sticks and oars. (to quote fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus and isprized. You must wear a face mask whenthe Woodland Trust) And thats why it is a real worry. Please only harvest for yoursanding yew, though, as the sawdustso awesome for catapults.needs rather than in bulk, if you use thisis loaded with alkaloid toxins. You cantFrank Wass (see p49) told me that classic wood. So much so, that editorially,eat those sticky fruits the blackbirds soan ash tree only has one main fork as I decided to let pictures of the stages ofadore, either. it grows, with the central stem either different frames be used rather than kill thatIf you are a townie, then you maycarrying on, or atrophying. Either way, sapling in my garden just for continuity. not know the facts about seasoningif you harvest that fork, you can then Fact is, any decently shaped, eventimber. This is simply drying. Thats it.shape the upper tines to bend them into tree fork will do. It just must be ruggedJust having the moisture be gone. Then,a perfect cup and slice off, then sand-enough to take the forces you are goingit is a wooden item of great strength,out-of-existence that central portion. The to subject it to. The general belief is thatrather than an old stick that you may findshape and the bending are the key to that if the tree bears a fruit or a nut, then anyon the woodland floor that snaps likecup shape we so love.038SlingshotWorldSSW003.38-39.How To Make a Natty.indd 38 06/09/2019 10:25'