Homemade Wooden Boomerang

I got the idea for this boomerang from the book Boomerangs How to Make and Throw them. This book contains detailed instructions on how to make several boomerang designs.

The boomerang I made was the smallest and simplest of the cross-stick type. It was surprisingly simple to make and I didn't believe it would work until I threw it for the first time.

The first step is to make the two sticks. I ripped these from a piece of scrap pine 2x4. Each one was 1/8” thick, 1-1/2” wide and 18” long. I cut of a piece of 2x4 that was 18” inches and then ripped two 1/8” strips off of it.

Next the sticks needed to be shaped like a wing. This means that the two edges had to gradually slope up to the middle. I was going for the profile to look something like this when completed:

The shape doesn't have to be perfect. The book recommended using a jack-knife to carve the shape into it. This is how I shaped my first one but I think that a power sander would work much better and quicker. Once the wings were shaped, I used a bit of wood glue and a clamp at their centers to glue them together. This isn't the strongest joint but for how light this thing is it works just fine.

The sticks also need to have a bend in them. Each one is bent upward towards the shaped side on each end. The book recommends doing this by heating them over a candle flame. I did this and found it worked well. I made a mark six inches from each end of all four wings. This was the point that I held over the flame. As I held the wood directly over the flame I bent the wood with my thumbs. After holding this shape over the flame for a few seconds, the wood held the bent shape permanently.

Once all of the bends were done the boomerang had the shape that can be seen below. The only thing left was to try it out. To throw the boomerang, I held on to the end of one of the sticks. I held it over my head and tossed it out front. It was really quite easy to get the hang of after a couple practice throws. The boomerang usually came back within 10 feet or so of me.

It was an interesting project that shows how surprisingly easy it is to make your own boomerangs.