cardapult, the business card catapult

[clide]

Here is my latest project which is the subject of my first instructable. A business card that turns into a desktop catapult.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardapu ... -Catapult/

<img src="http://gbcannon.com/pics/cardapult/frontboth.header.jpg">

[youtube][/youtube]

[roboman]

That is incredibly awesome!!!

[suburban spudgunner]

Absolute genius...

A good way to advertise your skills...

[chartreusesnot]

clide, I was totally lurking your site after seeing this on boing boing, and saw the minipump series... could you post a cannon thread with inside pics of that?

[inonickname]

Awesome, going to go print it out and build one now! Impractical, but very unique and cool, great innovation!

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Great work clide, original and effective! Hell, I'd hire you

clide, I was totally lurking your site after seeing this on boing boing, and saw the minipump series... could you post a cannon thread with inside pics of that?

Look around theSpudtech archive

Animation of the internals can be found here.

[mark.f]

I saw this when you put it up for your site.

I emailed my friend and told him "this is what a mechanical engineer's business card looks like."

[inonickname]

Hey,

I finished my one (printed it out on white paper, used a glue stick to stick the paper to the shiny side of a cereal box- it should peel off with no residue).

Even when being cut out by hand the plans were precise enough to complete it and still have it function and fold together neatly. If you're building anymore, I can recommend a different glue. Try a 'balsa cement' used for well..gluing balsa together in model planes. Dries very fast and is stronger than whatever craft glue and bonds better to any shiny material (like the shiny side).

On the legs/supports I didn't build the axles, I found friction was enough to keep them in place securely.

It shoots a few meters (it's only a business card) with a small elastic band (you can get more with a stronger one, but I found it made the axles break.).







Thanks for sharing Clide, the plans (and the product) are very compact..but it seems too much effort unless you mechanized or at least specialized the production. Still, very awesome and very fun..

[starman]

Really great work Clide! That's the kind of thing that separates you from the pack.

You are probably already planning this, but I would build several of these and literally use them for biz cards.

[sniper hero]

wow this is awesome in class
I'll make one when I've got some spare time

[jimmy101]

Damn Clide, that's pretty slick!

When are you going to do a buisness card that converts to a spudgun?

[clide]

Thanks guys.

Thanks for the pics of your build inonick. Do most hobby stores have that balsa cement? I may give that a shot. On my cereal box version I actually pealed the shiny layer off any area I was gluing. That's why I went with only 2 legs instead of 3 on that one. The inner pieces are all missing their shiny layers, and 3 legs with their shiny layers won't fit.

I can get about 15 feet with a Tic-Tac with a comfortable rubber band strength. Any more and it starts wearing out the card pretty fast.

I have a cutting machine that makes construction time quite a bit more reasonable. I've made a batch of 10 of them that I plan on giving away in interviews

When are you going to do a buisness card that converts to a spudgun?

I don't know if it would classify as a spudgun, but I'm thinking about trying to make one that uses bellows and a barrel to launch small objects (same idea as those toy rocket launchers). Haven't made a prototype yet so I'm not sure I can make it work.

[starman]

Now we need a new section for cannons....Origami Cannons.... 8)

[inonickname]

Do most hobby stores have that balsa cement?

Yep, you should be able to get it in any hobby store that stocks things like balsa wood, modeling tissue or dope. Anything along those lines. Make sure you work with good ventilation as the fumes aren't pleasant. You could probably boost your production speeds rapidly with it..will literally be stronger than a glue pen or wood glue within seconds.

It's also clear, don't let the name mislead you.

And I agree, and improvised and offbeat cannon section would be cool.

[daberno123]

I'm trying to convince my mom that one of those machines is a necessity for her scrapbooking projects... for some reason she's a bit suspicious of me suddenly taking a great interest in her hobby.