Page 45 - 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius

26 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius

resume its original use should there suddenly be Obviously, the most important part of this
any leaves to blow. project is the leaf blower. Various types of leaf
blowers are available: electric ones, gas ones, ones
WARNING! that just blow, and ones that both blow and suck up
leaves into an attached bag. The leaf blower used
This is not a real gun, and ping-pong balls will not by the author is an electric one, which also has a
generally damage humans unless shot at very close
bag for collecting the leaves. It is the aperture that
range, at the eyes, or swallowed.
the leaf collecting bag attaches to that is used to
However, a number of aspects of this project are
introduce the ping-pong balls.
dangerous.
If you have some other type of leaf blower, then
■ It uses electricity, and we do not modify the
as long as the air outlet is wide enough to
electrics of the leaf blower. However, you should
observe the safety instructions that came with accommodate a ping-pong ball and there is a spot
your leaf blower. in the air path where you can insert the balls, you
■ Do not put your hands or fingers into the leaf should be able to make something. So, read through
blower when it is on or even just plugged in. the rest of this chapter to understand the principals
■ Do not place your eye or anyone else’s into the of what we are trying to do and then adapt them to
gun’s line of fire. work with your particular leaf blower.
The balls need to be a good fit with the pipe.
They should fit into the pipe easily and run slowly
What You Will Need
through it if you tip it. If the balls are a lot smaller
The components for this gun are all readily than the pipe, they will not be fired out as fast as
available. Leaf blowers are all slightly different, so they could be. On the other hand, if they cannot
you will probably have to modify this design to move freely enough through the pipe, they will
work with your particular leaf blower. Before become stuck.
buying the parts, however, read through the whole That is why a 40mm internal pipe diameter and
project and try out a few tests on your leaf blower 38mm-diameter balls are a perfect combination.
to make sure it is suitable, and also to determine This ensures there is just enough space for our
roughly what length of pipe you will need. round projectiles.

P A RT S BIN

Part Description Source

Electric leaf blower Garage/hardware store
1
Barrels 1 ⁄2-inch NPS 40 drain-pipe Hardware store
(internal diameter 40mm) Home Depot SKU: 193844
Magazine Large plastic water bottle Supermarket
Projectiles 50 38mm ping-pong balls eBay
Expanded polystyrene, enough to make Waste packaging
two blocks that will fit into each end
of the leaf blower
Duct tape Hardware store