Water Balloon Launcher

trekkie00 · Post by **trekkie00** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:52 pm

I have searched the site and have not found any posts about the design of WBLs that use elastic or another strechy material to launch water balloons without air pressure. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about their construction.

I was considering using a "cannon" type, with a piece of 4" w. x 2' l. PVC pipe to serve as the barrel. I would (somehow) attach either a lot of rubber bands or elastic bands to the outside, with them able to reach about 1' into the chamber. I would then smear glue over the outside and attach another, wider PVC pipe to secure it. I would attach a handle to the elastic inside of the PVC chamber to allow it to be pulled back.

Do you think this will work?
What do you think the range will be?

Thanks!

SSCBen · Post by **SSCBen** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 11:39 pm

I don't think that would work, mostly because it sounds too messy and there are simpler designs available. I would just use the normal slingshot designs, you might have success looking up slingshot designs on Google. WBLs essentially are spud guns, elastic WBLs are slingshots. You may also want to buy something like a wrist rocket slingshot and just try that. That should work well too.

wetmonkey442 · Post by **wetmonkey442** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:27 pm

WOW! I perfected that design about a year ago! No one else takes it! No! j/k.

Actually, a really logn time ago, a did perfect my own design which would be a lot less messy.

trekkie00 · Post by **trekkie00** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:30 pm

Just out of curiosity, wetmonkey442, could you describe yours for me? I am brand new at building waterwar stuff; the most I ever tried was to repair a broken reservoir cap. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

RacerSoaker445 · Post by **RacerSoaker445** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:13 pm

If you are looking at air pressure by any chance, you might be interested in This.

wetmonkey442 · Post by **wetmonkey442** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:24 pm

EDIT: Sorry there are a lot of spelling mistakes

Okay, it's quite simple, and someone would ahve thought of it eventually. It starts out like yours did, with a four inch or even better 5 inch wide peice of PVC. I would make it about 2 feet long like yours. then take two bungee cords (not the wrapped in fabric kind but the rubber kind with metal hooks). Make sure you get them to be about 1 foot to 1 1/2 feet long. Take out a drill and drill two holes of equal size, and length from the top about an inch from the lip of either end of the PVC. take out two bolts that are a bit bigger than that, and screw them into the holes, but NOT too deep. Make sure it is not more than a cm or two into the, pipe. THen if the screw feels a little loose, epoxy it in. Try to get as tight a fit as possible though. Okay, now for the really hard part. You are going to have to cut two parralell oblong slits into the side of you PVC. Make them about an inch high.Make them about 1 foot long, with the edge of one about 2 inches away from the lip of the opposite end of the PVC. Try to make them as clean as possible, and completely parralell. They need to be almost perfeclty side by side on opposite sides of the pvc (they should be stretching down the length of the PVC not around.) The take your two bungee cords and loop one of the metal hooks of each one cord around the two bungee cords. The cords should now be just dangling on the inside of the pipe supported by the bolts. Now get a wooden dowel a bit smaller than the height of the slits. I reccomend using a dowel with a diameter of 3/4 inch or highe, but not over 4/5 inch. This is your charging lever. cut the dowel so that it is about 6 inches wider than the peice of PVC. Sand the edges of it. Get a peice of playwood, or other thin plank of wooden and cut it into a circle with a diameter half na inch smaller than the dimeter of the PVC. Then isert the dowel through one of the oblong slits and out the other. Now take the circle of wood, and nail it as close to the center of the dowel as possible. ( this next part is unneccesary, but helps. Get a tuppwerware lid (you know the plastic kind) and staple gun it to the disk of wood.) This next part can get a bit hard. Make sure the dowel is as close to the bolts (farthest down the slits) as possible. reach in, take the other hooks of the bungee cords and lopp them aroudn the part of the rod that is inside the gun. This is hard, because there is nto much of the dowel between the wodden circle, and the edge of the PVC. Once it is hooked around, test it before using it by pulling the edges of the dowel that stick out of the wood, as far back as you can and then releasign them. If the metal hooks of the bungee cords don't come off, thats good, but if they do, then this simple trick will sove it. Get some needle nose pliers and bend the edges of the metal hooks aroudn the bolt and then around the dowel. If the metal hooks around the bolt keep comign off, don't push the bolts farther intot he PVC. This might rupture a balloon that is coming. Inbstead, take the golts out, and screw them back in at an angle away from the bungee cords. they shoudl stay on now.

How to Use:
Fill up a water balloon (not bigger than the peice fo PVC (why I reccommended 5inch PPVC if available (you can use bigger balloons))), and slide it down the PVC pipe. Once you know it is resting at the bottom against that circle of wood, pulled the charging lever back, as far as you can. When you let it go, the balloon should fly out and continue on for many feet (depending on how strong you are).

Tips:

If the balloons explodes before reachind the end of the barrel, this could be due to several reason:
a) The baloons sXPBackfire-esqueed the ends of the bolts and exploded. This is solved by coverign the end of the bolts it hot glue.
B) the baloon hit the side of the barrel and exploded due to firction. This is solved by coating the inside of the barrel with vaseline.
c) the baloons explodes before exiting the barrel. This is due to another reason, probably, the balloon wasn't completely resting on top of the cricle of wood. Make sure you are holding the launcher at a 45 degree angle during all of this, so that the balloons doesn't lip out, or lose connection with the circle of wood.

Do Not....
Make your balloons wider than the peice of PVC.
Use nails instead of bolts.
use any machien to help you pull the charging lever farther back than you yourself can.
shoot at soemone closer than 20 feet away.
shoot at eyes or face (we know this).
not have fun.

trekkie00 · Post by **trekkie00** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:41 pm

I would like to build an air pressure WBL, but I am rather low on funds. Also, we don't have a very big area to use it in. I'm just looking for something that may be able to launch over our one-story house. Thanks anyway, RacerSoaker445.

You are going to have to cut two parralell oblong slits into the side of you PVC. Make them about an inch high

When you say this, do you mean when you set the pipe down, the holes are 1" above the ground? Or, the holes are in the middle and they are an inch wide?

I hope you don't mind if I use your suggestion of 5" pipe. And maybe a few more ideas.

I'll try to take pictures of the steps, and make a list of materials I used.

Thanks again!

RacerSoaker445 · Post by **RacerSoaker445** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:17 pm

Please, Call me Racer.

The Air Pressure WBL I made cost under $40, and it'll shoot farther than over the house