Lance Akiyama - Launchers, Lobbers, and Rockets Engineer: Make 20 Awesome Ballistic Blasters with Ordinary Stuff

Create, aim, and fire!

Greetings, aspiring blaster crafter! In your hands is a complete compendium of instructions to create your own crafty cache of DIY shooters!

Look no farther than your kitchen drawer and hardware store to find everything you need. The launchers and lobbers in this book are built from a few plastic bottles, some pipe, a little woodcraft and wire, and a whole lotta hot glue. The rocket fuel ranges from rubber bands to hair spray. You dont need to be a rocket scientist to get started, but you might feel like one by the end!

You can build a blowgun from a plastic straw in 15 minutes. Spend an afternoon crafting a PVC crossbow. Transform a BBQ lighter into a mini BB shooter in a single sitting!

Ingenuity, action, and explosions await!

All the projects in this book are designed for fun. Most of them are mildly dangerous. A few of them are extremely dangerous. For me, thats a good thing: Creating crossbows and blasters that have real power inspires the maker in me. Its empowering to know that I built something that can fire more than 100 feet (30 m)! Building something that requires caution and diligence teaches responsibility, a fundamental lesson that all inventors and engineers need to embrace.

The projects with a warning symbol are designed for adults. If youre not quite an adult, I advise creating and using these projects only with adult supervision. If youre the adult supervisor, please pay attention every time you fire off one of the high-powered devices. Always use the same amount of caution as you did the first time.

The projects in this book that are deemed Extremely Dangerous have been marked with a WARNING SYMBOL and some information on how to stay safe while operating them.

Please read each projects directions and warnings carefully. Be sure to launch, lob, shoot, and blast off in an area where no one and nothing can be hurt. Be safeand have fun!

Disclaimer

The reader assumes all responsibility and risk for the use of the advice, information, and directions in or through this book. The Quarto Group; the author, Lance Akiyama; and any affiliated parties do not assume any liability for the content provided in, or available through, this book.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

Winston Churchill

Start your ballistic warm-up with this quick and surprisingly gratifying blowgun! The steps are simple, but take your time crafting the darts with care to get the most accurate shots. When youre finished, youll enjoy the satisfaction of hearing the thwack! of a dart piercing cardboard from 10' (3 m) away!

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

large milkshake straw

3 very small /" ( 2 cm) nails

paper clip

index card or similarly sized stiff piece of paper

scissors

clear tape or masking tape

hot glue

cardboard target or box

MATERIAL SUBSTITUTIONS

Large milkshake straw: You can use any tube that has an inner diameter of about /" (1.3 cm) and a length of at least 6" (15 cm). Depending on what the tube is made of, you may need a power drill to drill holes if you cant poke holes through it with a nail.

Very small /" ( 2 cm) nail: You can use other small finishing nails that range from 1" to 2" (2.5 to 5 cm), but be sure to use wire cutters to trim the length down to about /" (2 cm). (Always wear protective eyewear when snipping small items.) If the nail is too heavy or long, the dart wont work as well.

Make the blow tube.
Use a nail to pierce all the way through one end of the straw. Straighten the paper clip and thread it through the two holes. Center it and bend both ends along the length of the straw, as shown. Tape the ends in place. This will prevent you from accidentally inhaling a dart!

Make the darts.
With the scissors, cut a 1/" 1/" (4 4 cm) square from the index card. Cut a slit from one corner of the square to the center.

Cut a small piece of tape and set it aside. Form the paper square into a cone shape by overlapping the sides of the slit, as shown.

Continue wrapping the two sides together, tighter and tighter, until a pointed cone shape is formed. Use one hand to hold the cone in shape and the other to apply the prepared piece of tape. Wrap the cone tightly with tape.

Trim the bottom of the cone so the diameter is slightly smaller than the middle of the blow tube. Cut off the very tip of the cone and push the nail through the hole. Fit the nozzle of the glue gun inside the cone and apply a small amount of glue to keep the nail in place. Dont fill the entire cone with glue or the weight will throw off the darts balance.

Get ready to fire!
Set up a cardboard target on a wall or table and stand 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 m) away from it. Load a dart, tail first, into the blow tube. If it doesnt slide down, gently blow into the open end of the tube to push the dart toward the end with the paper clip. Take aim, and forcefully blow into the tube to send the dart flying!

MICROPULT

You know that sinking feeling when you need a catapult in a hurry and theres none to be found? What to do? Build a micropult! Its quick and simple, yet it packs a punch with a firing distance of more than 15' (4.5 m)! What sets this little lobber apart from other tiny shooters is its basket, which adjusts to neatly fit any small projectile. I used a wad of masking tape for my projectile, but a jelly bean or mini marshmallow would work just as well.