CD Hovercraft for tabletop hockey

Make a hovercraft from an old CD, a balloon, and a soda bottle top.

Comments

[voodoosteve]

aha nice that's a cool little experiment and fun too good look HOWTOONS!!!

[KATRAZ]

I think he does everything in cartoons because he/she is cool, creative, and is a leader not a follower  plus he is talented enough to do so.. or it could be that is name is Howtoons  get it-- how toons 

[Coffee bean]

First no offense bu why is every thing you write in comic. Next Can you make it so you use some thing instead of the ballon (likea a small fan). Thirdly, did you know that the schools don't block this site.

[Coffee bean]

anyone every go back their and look an old comment and say....that was stupid of me

[himynameslili]

wow, debbie downer for sure.

[JamesRPatrick]

I made an awsome rideable hovercraft with some plywood, a tarp. a leafblower. and some duct tape. It holds 330 pounds. It took about an hour to build and we already had all the supplies at home.

[prankster43709]

Haha we are making a couple of those in my science class and are gonna race them in the for fun.

[brainiac]

u got thet from myth busters

[mrskrissilynn]

We built one during my junior year of high school - 1997 - before mythbusters. Very easy to do. We'd stay after school and play on it. We could go as far as the extension cord would let us! :D

[JamesRPatrick]

Gas leafblower FTW.

[JamesRPatrick]

Nope, I built it before I saw that episode. I got it off a website. It has only one platform and only has upward lift.

[EnigmaMax]

it doesn't seem like it would last very long, since the balloon is constantly deflating.

[egreen767]

why comics?

[oldschoolstructure]

good idea, and the comic is very nice!

[bunnie benton]

gah

[Shifman]

Do you make all these comics?

[kennytatheguy]

i love these comic instructables

[vaiodon]

Yes, I reversed the original idea and glued the bottle neck (well just the thread down to the moulding flange) onto the CD so that the cap could be fitted to the balloon separately and used to inflate the balloon. I also glued a small piece of rubber-like material over the original CD hole making a couple of small holes to limit the air flow. The stuff I used didn't take the adhesive very well but I found I could just wedge it in the neck of the bottle with adequate effect.

[Christophera]

erm...u know for the balloon...(ok it sounds daft...but every time i see hover stuff with balloons it makes me wonder)...do i have to blow it up everytime...b4 i 'hover' it?

[_soapy_]

Yes, you do. That's where the hover effect air comes from.

[savagenarce]

Another use for old CDs - great! Any suggestions on how big the hole in the bottle top should be? Is smaller better than bigger? After all, we want the thing to float around, not take off like a rocket! And I like Vaiodon's idea of using a bottle with a built-in valve so that the balloon doesn't lose air while the rig is being assembled. From what you say, it sounds like you reversed the process - the bottle neck is glued to the CD and the cap is inserted into the balloon? If this is correct, how do you restrict the operating air flow to prevent the "rocket" problem as described above?

[tylerars24]

You should try to make a dry ice puck. take a CD, some sort of cylinder or container 3/4 full of dry ice and play with that. when the dry ice sublimates(turns into gas) it will make the puck float. they are used in physics to experiment with basic kinetics and such.

[Stivis]

it`s gooooooood idea,and funny ;)

[Julien Couvreur]

The PDF file displays as a blank page for me. The PDFs for other howtoon projects work fine though.

[themaster]

weird and even more weird

[maxyano]

a fun, easy project

[vaiodon]

I modified the design by taking a disposable bottle with a sports type snap valve top. I cut the bottle at the neck, just below the moulding collar and filed it back to a flat surface at the collar that I could glue to the CD (the PET bottles are blow moulded from an injection moulded stub and the collar just below the cap thread forms a boss for the blow moulding machinery). I then had a valve - the snap valve sport top, could stretch the baloon over it, inflate the ballon, snap the valve closed & re-screw it onto the thread without losing air. Must try the sleeve idea... LOL - I came home from work one day and my 6 year old had sanded half a dozen old CDs ready to glue my cut bottle threads (I'd impressed upon him the benefit of a well abraded surface for the glue to bite to)

[sharath]

The same idea is illustrated in: http://waterrocket.uh-lab.de/o_uses_hovercraft.htm. In addition, a paper sleeve is added to prevent the balloon from bending sideways.

[sharath]

nice project! I tried it and it worked