|

Rubber Band Gun

ByBruce Sharp

Naughty Fun

Making a rubber band gun is a bit of a dilemma. Is it an encouragement for naughty behaviour? Is it a precursor for violent solutions to problems?

As a child, the rubber band guns I made were delicious! Mum didn’t like them; that made them more fun! I didn’t shoot dogs or people; the ethics I have were already well entrenched. Do I presume the right to deprive children of the fun I had? Nah, let’s make a rubber band gun.

So, if you trawl the web you will bump into lots of exciting things. But, most exciting is a maker who created a semi-automatic from chop sticks! It is exciting because its simplicity eloquent!!

Here is my version, created for a kids’ woodwork session. It makes a woodwork project out of a post banquet game.

The semi-automatic secret is in the way the bands are loaded. It is REALLY clever.  Do the trawling yourself. The designer deserves to be discovered. You will enjoy your own act of discovery.

The bands seem to be in a bit of a tangle. As each shot is fired, the next band positions itself, ready for launch. I wish I’d had this when I was ten.

Similar Posts

  • |

    Simple machines

    ByBruce Sharp

    Simple Machines Blogging takes time and my recent past has involved a sick wife and a new grandchild. Suburban life is rich with texture. It can make blogging take a back seat. Following is a report of a nice afternoon in my shed with my son! My disabled friends haven’t been ignored, the next blog…

  • |

    Clock of Success

    ByBruce Sharp

    The greatest gift from a teacher is success, for success fertilises the desire for more success and nourishes self esteem. A student, typically, is the hardest assessor of their own work. So, the creation of work where students feel their own success is the art of teaching. This piece of work began with the donation of…

  • |

    Clocks Finished

    ByBruce Sharp

    Each clock is a joint project. Each clock is a reinforcement of personal skill in dexterity, patience, and communication. We are delighted by ourselves and with ourselves! Our plan is to put these on sale at a local hardware shop. It is fair to say that all of us had fun: clients, carers and volunteers.

  • |

    Wooden Cake

    ByBruce Sharp

    How can a woodworker be involved in cake decorating? My wife is a traditional cake decorator. She does the fancy thing with icing and makes sugary lace and that kind of stuff. An event called for an art deco cake. It could have been made from icing, but in that era much of the furniture…

  • | |

    Without a Workshop

    ByBruce Sharp

    Work with my disabled friends depends heavily on efficient batch production. For reasons not worth recounting my workshop is out of action for about a year. So, work with my friends has stalled, horribly! To maintain our hands together relationship I need to invent stuff that requires very little wood machining.  Here are two pieces…