Page 46 - 15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius

Chapter 3 ■ Ping-Pong Ball Minigun 27

Be wary when buying your ping-pong balls, as
T OOLBO X
the international standard size of balls since the
year 2000 Olympic Games is now 40mm. Prior ■ Hacksaw
to that, 38mm balls were the most popular, ■ Scissors/craft knife
especially in China. Plus, 38mm balls travel faster ■ Epoxy resin glue or hot glue gun
and can take more spin. This caused controversy
at the time, as some saw the introduction of the
bigger balls as a way of giving the non-Chinese Assembly
competitors an advantage. This is clear evidence
The Evil Genius still has a yard in which leaves
of the Evil Genius at work in the world of
must be blown, so as we mentioned earlier, this
table tennis.
project does allow his leaf blower to revert to its
Plenty of people still sell 38mm balls (often original use in the fall. Better yet, it is an easy
from China), but check before you buy. You will project to construct, since it is a simple design.
also find “plastic” ping-pong balls on eBay. These
The project adds three barrels to the leaf blower
are made of soft plastic, and tend to be made to far
that are made of plastic wastewater pipe. These
looser tolerances than proper celluloid balls. So
help channel the ping-pong balls, increasing the
even if these types of balls are advertised as
accuracy of the gun. There is no complex
38mm, they may not be exactly 38mm, so try and
magazine or trigger mechanism; instead, the
avoid these, unless you already have some samples
magazine is hinged onto the side of the leaf blower
to try in a pipe.
and the balls are simply tipped into the leaf blower.
It is also a good idea to take a ball along with
When used as a gun, the leaf blower is held
you when you go to buy the pipe.
upside down to allow balls to be poured into the
In addition to the parts just listed, you will also aperture where leaves are normally collected.
need the following tools:
The leaf blower used by the author is shown in
Figures 3-2, 3-3, and 3-4. Unless you have the
same model, you will probably find that your leaf

Figure 3-2 Leaf blower, side view