Help me make this . . .

[Cherokee Slim]

This time it's the arrow tensioner from my Barnett 400 crossbow.  Next time who knows but I want to take my cleanly broken plastic tensioner, make a mold in play doh or something and mix six easily purchased things from Walmart that will fill my mold with a hard plastic.  Like the plastic gun John Malkovich made in "In the Line of Fire."

 

It seems like there has to be an easy way to do this that costs less than $14 + $4.95 shipping.

 

Cherokee Slim

[peejman]

Look up "lost wax casting". You could try something like that and learn how to do it, but I'll guess you'll have a lot more than $20 in it when you get a useable piece.

[Jonnin]

how big is it, and how much force do you need on it?   You can buy some really strong plastic and similar pourable resin products that are extremely strong and such.  Some of it costs a lot.  Much of it is dangerous to breathe, touch, and work with.   Most of the good stuff isn't available at wal mart.  

 

Epoxy and resins layered with wood can be very strong.  The same mixed with "cotton flux" (basically cotton dust) can be very strong.   But most of this stuff can't make a long piece that performs like a stick; it tends to make a durable static item that can take at hit or handle some weight etc but it does not make, for example, a good handle for a hammer.    If you need a stick, the right piece of wood is going to do better.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Jonnin

[RED333]

As I did not know what this looked like, google is my friend.

Make it from spring steel, yea it will take time, but will last.

[Cherokee Slim]

I may just try to do it with a springy piece of metal.

[Jonnin]

if you can work metal, absolutely.    I said wood because hand tools etc and woodworking are much more common and easier to do in my experience.  

 

Guessing at what you have,  something that sorta kinda looks like it in general is probably going to be able to do the job if you get the "end piece" shaped and set up correctly (do you agree?).   That makes crafting it a bit easier if it is the case.    If it looks like what I am mentally envisioning, for example, you might can make it out of something like an old tire iron (not the quads, the singles) or similar.

[Cherokee Slim]

Thanks for the help.  I'll keep trying until I get something that I like.