Rubber Band Engineer: All-Ballistic Pocket Edition: From a Slingshot Rifle to a Mousetrap Catapult, Build 10 Guerrilla Gadgets from Household Hardware - Hardcover

Akiyama, Lance

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1631597388 ISBN 13: 9781631597381

Verlag: Rockport Publishers Inc., 2019

Inhaltsangabe

In its  new pocket-size format with a rubber-band closure, Rubber Band Engineer: All-Ballistic Pocket Edition is a fun-filled book of backyard projects that's perfect for gifting.

Shooting far, flying high, and delivering way more exciting results than expected are the goals of the gadgets in Rubber Band Engineer: All-Ballistic Pocket Edition. Discover unexpected ways to turn common materials into crafty contraptions that range from surprisingly simple to curiously complex. 

Through vivid color photos, you'll be guided to create slingshot rockets, unique catapults, improvised darts, and a clever crossbow. Whether you build one or all 10 of these designs, you'll feel like an ingenious engineer when you're through. Best of all, you don't need to be an experienced tinkerer to make any of the projects! All you need are household tools and materials, such as paper clips, pencils, paint stirrers, and ice pop sticks.

Oh, and rubber bands. Lots of rubber bands.

Grab your glue gun, pull out your pliers, track down your tape, and get started on the challenging, fun, and rewarding journey toward becoming a rubber band engineer.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lance Akiyama is the author of four books in Rockport's Engineer series: Rubber Band Engineer; Duct Tape Engineer; Launchers, Lobbers, and Rockets Engineer; and The Zoom, Fly, Bolt, Blast STEAM Handbook. Lance is the Science Curriculum Manager for Galileo Learning (STEAM camps for Pre-K to 8th grade), for which he designs STEAM-based lessons and projects for K–8 students. He has been developing hands-on engineering projects for kids since 2011 and working in education since 2006. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

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Rubber Band Engineer

From A Slingshot Rifle to a Mousetrap Catapult, Build 10 Guerilla Gadgets from Household Hardware

By Lance Akiyama, Timothy Samara

The Quarto Group

Copyright © 2019 Lance Akiyama
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-63159-738-1

Contents

INTRODUCTION, 
HANDHELD SHOOTERS, 
MANY-THING SHOOTER, 
PVC SLINGSHOT RIFLE, 
CROSSBOW, 
BOW AND ARROW, 
IMPROVISED DARTS, 
RUBBER BAND ROCKET, 
MINI SIEGE ENGINES, 
PYRAMID CATAPULT, 
ENHANCED MOUSETRAP CATAPULT, 
FLOATING ARM TREBUCHET, 
DA VINCI CATAPULT, 
Material Sources, 
Acknowledgments, 
About the Author, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

HANDHELD SHOOTERS

> MANY-THING SHOOTER

> PVC SLINGSHOT RIFLE

> CROSSBOW

> BOW AND ARROW

> IMPROVISED DARTS

> RUBBER BAND ROCKET

MANY-THING SHOOTER

The Many-Thing Shooter earns its name from its versatility: It can be built from many things. It can also launch many things, including candy, beads, and pieces of cork, to name a few. Every material in the shooter can be replaced with another household item, making this one of the most imaginative, adaptable, and quick-to-build projects in this book. Experiment with different projectiles and rubber-band combinations until your Many-Thing Shooter becomes your go-to DIY sidearm.

TOOLS + MATERIALS

DUCT TAPE

SCISSORS

PAINT STIRRER

SPRING-TYPE CLOTHESPIN

RUBBER BAND

SMALL BINDER CLIP

BOTTLE CORK (OR PROJECTILE OF YOUR CHOICE)

CUTTING TOOL (OPTIONAL)

01 > Make the trigger. Cut a 6" (15 cm) piece of duct tape and split it lengthwise. Use the two pieces of tape to attach the clothespin to one end of the paint stirrer, making sure the pinching tip of the clothespin faces the middle of the stick.

02 > Use the binder clip to clamp the rubber band to the other end of the stick. Fold the binder clip handles down. Using a binder clip allows you to quickly swap out rubber bands with different shooting power or replace broken ones.

03 > Choose your projectile. For indoor shooting, try disks made by cutting a synthetic cork into quarter slices approximately 1/4" to 1/2" (6 mm to 1.3 cm) thick. These corks are dense enough to shoot a good distance and maintain a fairly accurate trajectory but not so dense that you'll break a window. Ideally, the projectile should be slightly wider than the trigger so the rubber band can hold it in place.

04 > You're ready to shoot! Squeeze the trigger open with one hand. Use two fingers from your other hand to stretch the rubber band into the open trigger. The rubber band should remain stretched taut when you clamp the trigger onto it.

05 > Wedge the projectile between the two sides of the rubber band directly in front of the trigger. This will prevent the projectile from falling out as you prepare your shot and ensures that the projectile receives the full force of the rubber band's elastic energy.

06 > Scan your surroundings for something fun to shoot at. Things that fall over, make noise, or shatter (so long as they're not of value to anyone!) are great choices. Avoid shooting point blank at hard surfaces — your projectile might ricochet back at you.

PVC SLINGSHOT RIFLE

This high-powered slingshot is incredibly accurate and reliable, yet it's very simple to build and to modify. Unlike typical slingshots, this one comes with a satisfying triggered release, allowing you to effortlessly line up your shot before letting loose. This is what rubber bands were made for!

TOOLS + MATERIALS

PVC PIPE CUTTER OR HACKSAW

42" (1 M 6.5 CM) OF 1/2" (1.3 CM) SCHEDULE 40 PVC PIPE

TWO 1/2" (1.3 CM) PVC ELBOW CONNECTORS

TWO 1/2" (1.3 CM) PVC TEE CONNECTORS

TWO 1/2" (1.3 CM) PVC END CAPS (OPTIONAL)

PVC PRIMER

PVC CEMENT

BLACK SPRAY PAINT (OPTIONAL)

4 CABLE TIES

TWO 7" (18 CM) RUBBER BANDS

CARDBOARD TUBE

DUCT TAPE

LARGE BINDER CLIP

2 LARGE CRAFT STICKS

SAFETY GLASSES

01 > With the pipe cutter, cut three 2" (5 cm) lengths and three 4" (10 cm) lengths from the 42" (1 m 6.5 cm) PVC pipe. Set aside one 4" (10 cm) piece for the slingshot's grip and the remaining 24" (61 cm) length of pipe for the handle.

02 > Choose a well-ventilated area in which to work and protect your work surface from the primer and cement before starting. Apply primer and then cement to both ends of each piece of pipe and inside the openings of the connectors. Assemble the other short pieces of pipe, the connectors, and the end caps by simultaneously pushing and twisting the components together.

03 > Insert the 4" (10 cm) pieces of pipe into one end of each elbow connector. Use a 2" (5 cm) piece of pipe to connect each of the elbows to a tee connector. Use the remaining 2" (5 cm) piece of pipe to join the two tee connectors, turning them perpendicularly to each other. Optional: Top off the two 4" (10 cm) pieces of pipe with the end caps.

04 > Your slingshot will look like this. Allow the cement to set according to the manufacturer's directions.

05 > Affix the remaining 4" (10 cm) piece of pipe to the base of the slingshot as a grip. Attach the 24" (61 cm) piece of pipe to the tee connector for the handle. These two pieces of pipe don't require cementing.

06 > Strap both ends of the rubber bands to the slingshot wye with cable ties. The cable ties should be spaced at least 3" (7.5 cm) apart. This configuration prevents the rubber bands from twisting upon release.

07 > Cut a 2" × 3" (5 × 7.5 cm) rectangle from the cardboard tube. This will form the slingshot's "sling." If you're using plain cardboard, roll it so it curves. You could also fashion a sling from just duct tape, but the tube offers a helpful premade curved shape.

08 > Position the rubber bands around the curve of the sling. Secure the sling to the rubber bands with duct tape, and then test it by pulling it back. There should be even tension in each of the four rubber-band strands.

09 > Make the trigger. Attach the large binder clip to the end of the slingshot handle with duct tape. Press the binder clip open. Further secure the trigger by wrapping tape around the slingshot handle and the inside of the binder clip.

10 > Stack the two craft sticks and bind them together with duct tape. Attach the sticks to the trigger's upper binder-clip handle with tape. This will give you more leverage, allowing you to release the trigger easily.

11 > Test fire! Load your projectile into the sling. Small, round, evenly weighted objects like corks and hard candy work best.

12 > Pull back on the loaded sling. Open the trigger and insert the sling. The slingshot is loaded.

13 > Fire away! Release the sling by grasping the trigger handle.

CROSSBOW

This project requires some determination to complete, but the payoff is worth it. The crossbow makes a satisfying snap when the trigger is pulled, and it can launch bolts more than 100 feet (30 m)! You can power this crossbow with a piece of string or with a rubber band.

TOOLS + MATERIALS

6 PAINT STIRRERS, 12" (30.5 CM) LONG

PENCIL WITH AN ERASER

RULER

DRILL WITH 1/8" (3 MM) BIT AND 3/8" (1 CM) BIT

UTILITY KNIFE

HOT GLUE GUN

TWO 1/8" (3 MM)-THICK BAMBOO SKEWERS, 12" (30.5 CM) LONG (WIDTHS CAN VARY SO...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Rockport Publishers Inc.
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2019
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1631597388
• ISBN 13: 9781631597381
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 128
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar