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My first Atlatl and Dart

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DC:
Does anyone have a rough idea of the speed of these things? L know it depends on the arm throwing it but just a ballpark figure would be nice.

bjrogg:
DC I'm sure it depends greatly on person casting it but I believe I've heard over 100mph. My dart weighs about 1635 grains. I'm sure someone could figure the foot lbs. but I'm thinking that would penetrate pretty good.
Thanks Aaron I almost didn't paint my Classic Bjrogg markings but I figured if I didn't it would stab in the ground and without sealer just end up with dirt embedded in it. I really just made this Atlatl to play around with and learn from. It's still extremely windy out and I haven't really got it out on a big lawn to try it but I did learn I needed to choke up on the handle a bit. It's a little longer than it should be.
Thanks Patches and Clewis
Bob my eyes are peeled for those woolly mammoths 🐘 Dang still no Atlatl emoji
Bjrogg

clewis:
Being your first dart did you have any trouble drilling the slot for the forshaft and what method did you use? Ive tried power drills but its a good way to mess up fast and some success with stone drills but only on my larger shafts and they dont go very deep. What did work well though was a fine pair of scissors from my shaving kit and just roughed up the edges a bit. My go to method now is a piece mild steel.

bjrogg:
Clewis like you said, I didn't go very deep and the pith was quite advantageous also. First thing I did was wrap sinew on both ends of main shaft. For fletching end I use awl on my multi-tool. For fore shaft I used electric drill for smaller diameter hole then I use the tang for handle on my rasp to finish it off. I believe I even touched up the tail end with file tang also. I like to wrap sinew first to keep it from splitting. The whole thing didn't take me as long as it would to make a tuned shoot arrow. Honestly in a survival situation it would  be way faster and easier to make and with less tools than a bow and arrows. Learning to use it we'll see.
Bjrogg

Hawkdancer:
Looks very serviceable and well done!  The dart is real nice, could easily make meat.  Looks like it is about 2 1/2 times as long as the atlatl.  Might have to talk to you about some trade points like that.  The finger loops would be a real good idea.  You might try a thumb and forefinger grip on the dart when castling, or a dart rest.  There are a number of sites that talk about dart speed, but I think it averages about 30% of  what an arrow flies at.  Bob Berg at thunderbird atlatl.com may have some info on that, I've not had access to a chronograph to test with.  My friend, Ken Wee has a utube video, but I don't remember if it mentions speed of cast.  Accuracy can be a challenge, I can usually keep the darts in the 4 x7 foot butts, almost all the time, but I need more practice to get a group!
Good work, didn't think of making darts with the extra long shoots!
Hawkdancer

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