toothpick blowgun

by **Capn-chronic** Sat Jan 24, 2009 6:49 pm

With some trial and error, construct a homemade blow gun out of toothpicks, some cotton balls, and a straw! This is a very crude example of a blow gun, but with proper technique, the darts can fly up to 30 feet indoors accurately.

Please use this responsibly, I don't want anyone getting hurt because of someone reading this article.

Necessary Materials:

Variety of straws (A variety of thick/thin ones will do)
Handfull of cotton balls
ROUNDED Toothpicks (Not the flat kind)
Scotch Tape or Masking Tape
Picture of a Cotton Swab (As an example. Just find one on google. Search for Q-Tip)
First, get the straws and connect them. If they don't fit, or if they just slide apart, use some tape to mold them together. The next thing you need to do is attach cotton ends to the toothpicks. To do this, you must rip off a little cotton off the cotton balls and attach them by twisting them to the end of a toothpick. Since I can't really draw a picture, take up your cotton swab picture and study the cotton ends of it. That's how the end of the tootpick should look like. Experiment with different shaped ends for the best results.

Time to shoot something. Place the toothpick dart into the thinner end of the straws. Grab the same end with your fist and keep about a quarter inch of your hand beyond the straw so you can place your mouth over it and blow. DO NOT AIM AT ANYONE OR ANYTHING. Take your homemade blow gun and aim it at your bed or couch. Take a deep breath using your nose (So you don't unhale the dart and choke, I've had a friend choke on a spitball) until your lungs are filled up. Release it all at once through your mouth.

Chances are, on your first try, the dart will just spin wildly out of control. Experiment with the cotton ends, they're the ones that control the flight of the dart. Trial and error. That's the key word here. Trial and error.

You can also cause some annoyance in school using a modified version that shoots paper. Alas, the dry spitball gun. Most likely you'll have a cheap ball point pen that rests inside a hollow palstic tube. If you don't have one, just find one on the floor or just buy a pack from a store. Crumple up some paper balls that are tiny enough to roll around freely inside the tube. Put about 5 or 6 inside there the first time. With the same blowing technique described above, aim for an empty area and shoot it.

You've created a paper wad shotgun. Test and add/remove more if you'd like. Try putting on "attachments" like other pen tubes to the end of yours to improve distance, accuracy, and even noise.

Read the whole thing? Good. You've learned something new today.