How to Hand-Carve a Boomerang

Go to your local home-improvement store and have a professional cut you a piece of Finland birch wood, 20 inches long and 20 inches wide. The wood should be approximately 5 to 6 millimeters thick. If you prefer, you can also use plywood.

Draw your boomerang design onto the wood. Use the corner of the wood to guide you as you draw a boomerang design that is 12 to 14 inches in length, 2.5 inches wide and at an angle of 90 degrees or more.

Carefully carve the boomerang design out of the wood using a jigsaw. Round out the edges at the ends and top of the boomerang as best you can.

Using a file, shape edges of the boomerang, rounding and filing down any rough corners. File the inner edges of the boomerang, creating a leading and trailing edge, also known as airfoils. The airfoils are contoured edges that allow the boomerang to sail through the air. The trailing edges are closest to the tips of the boomerang. File the trailing edge down to approximately one-fourth of the original thickness of the wood.

Gradually get thicker as you file toward the inner elbow of the boomerang, also known as the leading edge. The leading edge needs to be approximately half of the original thickness of the wood.

Use a fine grade of sandpaper to sand the boomerang so that the surface of the wood is smooth, which will help the boomerang travel flawlessly along its flight path.

A boomerang needs a flex or curvature for optimal flight. To give the boomerang a curve, fill a tea kettle with water and place it on the stove to boil. Once the water begins to boil, hold the boomerang faceup with the elbow and one end over the steam for 10 to 15 seconds.

Carefully bend the wood inward at the elbow. Do not bend the wood more than 3 to 5 millimeters. Hold the wood in place for five to six minutes, allowing it to set.