Popular Woodworking 2009-12 № 180, страница 41

Find a Space to Throw

The larger the throwing area the better, especially when learning to throw. Parks are areas worth scouting. A football or soccer field is a good-size space to start with. There is less chance of losing a boomerang if the area is very large. Do not throw in an area where there are children, pets, cars or structures that may get in the way.

After five years of teaching physics students to make and throw boomerangs, there have been a few surprises. One surprise is

just how well the boomerangs fly. The other shock is just how much the students enjoy the entire process. They carry their boomerangs around the school and even trade boomerangs with one another.

And a few times every year some students will bring some boomerangs to class that they didn't make at school. Yup. The students have been at home making boomerangs with their parents. One female student said that she didn't have any interest in her dad's shop until they made a boomerang together. In

several cases, the student's parents became so interested in the boomerangs that once the kids showed their parents (and even grandparents) how to make them, they would make boomerangs on their own. PW

Trevor is a physics teacher at Troy High School. He was introduced to woodworking in middle school wood-shop. He now creates furniture pieces and wood turnings in his home workshop. Smith also teaches various woodworking skills and project classes at the Woodcraft store near his home in Sterling Heights, Mich.

How to Throw a Boomerang

Wind direction

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY JANE FAVORITE

14 ■ Popular Woodworking December 2009