How to Make an Australian Boomerang

Boomerangs can be decorated with paint before varnishing.

A boomerang is a wooden stick in the shape of a flat letter "V". Its design causes it to return in the air when thrown. Australian Aborigines use the boomerang to hunt. Another weapon these hunters used was the throwing stick. It is similar to a boomerang but it does not return. One edge of the boomerang is flatter than the other, which creates lift in the air. This, coupled with its unusual shape, causes it to return on its own when thrown correctly. Practice is required to throw a boomerang correctly.

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12-mm thick plywood
Protractor
Pencil
Math compass
Jigsaw
Sanding block
Wood varnish
Thick gloves
Protective goggles

Instructions

- 1
  
  Draw the boomerang onto 12-mm thick plywood, using the letter "V" in your mind as a guide. Use the protractor to make the internal angle of the bend in the "V" shape 107 degrees. Draw each of the long lines of the "V" shape 340-mm long. These are the outer edges of the boomerang. Measure inward from the outer two edges 70 mm. The boomerang is 70-mm wide. Draw a "V" shape inboard of the outer "V" shape to create the inner edges. Join the ends of the outer and the inner edges with a curve using a compass because boomerangs have rounded ends. Round the points of the "V" shape where the two outer edges join and where the two inner edges join. Make sure the inner angle of the "V" shape remains 107 degrees.
- 2
  
  Cut out the boomerang using a jigsaw or saw. Sand away the rough edges. You now have a 12-mm thick boomerang, with wings each 70-mm wide and 340-mm long at their outer edges.
- 3
  
  Identify the leading edges of the boomerang. Place the boomerang flat, orientated like an upside-down "V," toward you. The inner edge on the right wing and the outer edge on the left wing are the leading edges. These edges will be sanded flat to create the airfoils.
- 4
  
  Use the sanding block to rub down the surface of the boomerang along both leading edges. Make the surface of the boomerang slightly curved by sanding more along the leading edges, then less toward the center of the wing, and then slightly more again toward the opposite edge. The boomerang, when lying flat on a table, will have curved surfaces to both wings raised along the center of each wing, but will be flatter along each leading edge than opposite edge. This provides airfoil shaping to the boomerang to provide the lift.
- 5
  
  Sand the entire boomerang until smooth. Varnish all over, making sure that it is smooth to optimize aerodynamics.