10 replies to this topic

[ferball]

I still need to refine it, but I found that screwing 1 inch sheet rock screw in to the end of a 1 inch piece of FBR is a quick easy slug. Slap some felt on the tip if metal bothers, but no glue to mess with and the weight seems about right. I do get a little bit of a tumble action, but tommorrow I am gonna try cutting the screw in half and see if it helps. Sheet "zip" metal screws might work better but I don't have any kicking around.

[BOSS9]

I still need to refine it, but I found that screwing 1 inch sheet rock screw in to the end of a 1 inch piece of FBR is a quick easy slug. Slap some felt on the tip if metal bothers, but no glue to mess with and the weight seems about right. I do get a little bit of a tumble action, but tommorrow I am gonna try cutting the screw in half and see if it helps. Sheet "zip" metal screws might work better but I don't have any kicking around.

It's good to see new members posters trying new things, but this is a terrible idea. Screws are pointy. If this dart tumbles wrong and hits someone backwards, the screw will go through the foam and give someone a serious puncture wound. I know this from experience, it bled for days and I'll probably have the scar forever.

Edited by BOSS9, 15 July 2012 - 11:34 AM.

[DX-Robert]

The screw can come out of the dart upon impact. I know since I made screw stefens without glue for 2006 Apoc and they didn't work out. The felt pads alone are not reliable, without glue they can easily come off, so you'd basically end up shooting screws at people. Even with glue, screws are not ideal weights because they have a stem that transfers weight away from the tip of the dart. You want all the weight forward.

[ferball]

A bad idea... Hence the reason I posted, I figured I was not the first to try this. I am aware of the possible safety issues of this idea, and the weight thing is what I am experimenting with at this point. I was going to cut the "stem" off to give me better weight distribution, but leave enough to allow for simple assemble. I was thinking that sheet metal screws have more weight in the head, but the bigger head also has more of a safety concern.

My safety standard for nerf is: "Can I shoot my kid with this?". Admittedly the screw slug is not there yet.

[BiwinningPanda]

To be completely honest, this idea seems pretty useless. Even if they were safe when you cut off the stem of the screw, the crafting time would be greater than that of the traditional slug; having to cut down each screw. Are they any pros to using this method you have found yet?

[Carbon]

For easy trimming, you could use one of these, but it's still relatively hard plastic. That, and there's no way the threads would be coarse enough to get a good grip in foam, not to mention pricey.

[Langley]

Jeeze if that is your safety standard, I hope you have lots of kids, or you'll go through them really fast.

Slugs aren't just any old dart with padding on the tip. I think Slug was pretty particular about how to make them. Im not sure why there's so much confusion on that point, especially when people are usually so quick to attach their own name to a new design.


Im always down for new dart designs, if they represent a real improvement on the ones we have now. Just remember to do some testing before you publish.

[ferball]

To be completely honest, this idea seems pretty useless. Even if they were safe when you cut off the stem of the screw, the crafting time would be greater than that of the traditional slug; having to cut down each screw. Are they any pros to using this method you have found yet?

If it was safe, dart making would be much quicker and more consistent(at least for me). Cut the FBR and insert screw, no glue to mess with and hope that you center properly. I could be wrong though, I never claimed that this was a good idea, it was just an idea.

[Daniel Beaver]

I've tried these type of darts before, and they're merely "okay". The weight distribution sucks, so you get some instability in flight. They also cannot be padded effectively.

Edited by Daniel Beaver, 16 July 2012 - 11:29 AM.

[ferball]

For the record this idea sucks. I messed with it for a few hours a day, and it is not worth the trouble. Felt pads and washers are about as easy. I tried about six different types of screws chopped some of the screws in half, the weight is about right, but the stability is crap.

[VelveetaAvenger]

It doesn't really matter if they're safe to hit people with or not, because there is no way they would ever be safe enough to leave on the ground after the hit. Most darts land bottoms up, so you would basically be leaving a bunch of screw caltrops around the war zone. I doubt a half inch of fbr would be enough to stop it from going into a shoe or some barefoot kid's foot.