Altoid Catapult

This is my first instructable, so if you feel it necessary, tell me i suck bad at explaining stuff, and ill try to improve it.

This is a catapult built into an altoid can. It uses pretty common items:

1x Altoid can
2x Clothes Pins (ones with springs)
2x Toothpicks
2x Rubber Bands (Preferably small ones)
1x Assorted piece of flat wood.

Tools Needed:

Hot Glue Gun
Small Metal Saw
Plyers
Scissors

First thing you should know is that not everyone of these things turns out perfect, or even useable. If you dont think any of the things I used to make this is perfect, do not be afraid to change it. The one that i made during this instructable turned out to be a flop, because i tried some new methods, compared to the last one. Ill try to include notes to help you make a beautiful catapult.

Step 1 Prepare Fulcrum

In this step you need:

Toothpicks, or whatever round piece of wood you used (i used a "bamboo skewer", which turned out to suck) Try to use something as thin as possible

Clothes Pins.

First, Remove the metal spring things from the wood of the pins, and strech them out a little, so the legs are about 1/2 an inch apart when they stand up.

Next, cut a piece of the toothpick that is just a little longer than the width of the can. Now, shave the toothpick down so that it fits smoothly into the hole of the springs. Shave it down with whatever you feel like.. scissors, file, teeth... and make sure to clean up the mess.

Comments

[peanutbutterman]

can u use a c-clamp to hold down the altoid tin?

[Heywasup]

ur pics arnt good get better ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;l

[chanmantheone]

its aren't not arnt

[Zrowny]

And it's it's not its.

[MadBricoleur]

LOL two way whammy.

[Heywasup]

cool

[toogood]

if those altoids are made in britan ,why can't you get them hear?

[mchs60chip]

That's weird i can generally find these at the local grocery stores and pharmacies and i live in the U.S. on the west coast

[11richie21]

maybe they just say they are but they lie to charge almost 2 bucks each on them! idk...

[sharlston]

you can try morrisons where the toffee and things are thats where i get them from

[stin6516]

try putting a hole in the bottom to tie the rubber band to

[dodo91]

The video doesn't work. it says its a private video. I have to be your friend to watch it!

[agent69akasexy]

all fixed.

[dodo91]

thanks for the fix. it looks good, and this is AWESOME!

[N1CK4ND0]

YES!! Another altoids tin project!!! lol I've made so many things out of altoids tins, I'll have to add this to my collection ASAP.

[MattSwan]

why not try making the fulcrum more centered and lower in the can so that you can put the lid back on and sneak it into your pocket during class?

[Your Average Guy]

"You suck bad at explaining stuff" ok i told you, happy now?

[Your Average Guy]

very good now do you want a cookie?

[pyro8]

This is pretty good for a first, it's a little confusing but pretty good. After all if haven't even made one thing yet. LOL!!!

[soccermuffin]

I used a filed down nail as my fulcrum to support the arm of the catapult, it seems to be more stable than toothpicks.

[clwatkins10]

u need better pics :(

[D4c3y11]

Those eyes are green =/

[engineer_01]

I dont get it can you put more pictures at the rubberband part.

[yellow elephant]

i dont have wooden clothes hangers. what else can i use?

[agent69akasexy]

Hmm. Thats tricky. But i suppose you could use any piece of wood with a tooth pick sized hole in it. The clothes pin's metal parts are the only thing used, they stand up straight and harness the axel through their holes. P.s. You can get 20 clothes pins for a dollar at the dollar store.

[yellow elephant]

can i use the springs of a pen?

[i_need_fire]

eeeewwwwwwwwww duuude what is up wit yo face p.s. i an see a buger up in ur nose

[Monkeybo1]

Very Nice! 5ive stars! *****

[theRIAA]

so does the tin close?

[agent69akasexy]

it closes if you remove the axel (suggested). You can store it inside there along with everything else.. it helps keep it discrete. if you wanted to be extra sneaky, you could print out a picture of mints, and put it over the whole thing, so atleast throw people off if they open it really fast.

[Black Sheep]

omg awsome please video it because mine is crap and i want to see how it should work

[PetervG]

Video!