Introduction[]
This article describes a method for creating sliders composed of two pieces of wood. The slider described here is for the Cheiroballistra, but the process is pretty generic.
The idea is that the back of the slider which houses the triggering mechanism is made from hardwood for durability, and the front-end of the slider from softer wood to reduce weight. Here I've used elm for the back-end and pine for the front-end. The joint is a simple half lap splice joint, which is adequate for this purpose, as the pieces are pushed against each other, never pulled apart with a significant force.
The process[]
The front-end of the slider is made from two pieces of wood layered on top of each other in staggered fashion. The same end result could have been reached using one piece of wood with some patience and care. The dovetail shape was made the same way as described in the Making sliders article. The end result is shown below on the right:
Here is the slider's male dovetail between the female dovetail of the case:
Next make the back-end of the slider from hardwood (here elm). It needs to be staggered so that it overlaps the front-end. Notice how the front-end of the slider is higher than necessary at this point:
Now drill the holes for wooden dowels that help bind the band-end and front-end together:
Apply glue to the joins and wooden dowels, and force the dowels into the slider. Apply pressure and let the glue dry properly.
Next plane the top surface of the slider to correct height. The roughly form the groove for the bolt. At this point the slider should look like this:
The round guiding hole for the fork and tenon has already been marked to the back-end:
What remains is some planing and lots of sanding so that all slider surfaces are smooth. The front of the slider should rounded quite a bit so that it does not split easily:
And here a the hole has been drilled already:
