Cap Rocket

A cap rocket is a simple tool for aerial mayhem that only takes a couple of minutes to build.

Step 1 Materials:

2 large bolts
1 nut
Shoelace
Toy gun caps (paper or plastic)

Comments

[nutsandbolts_64]

 Could you use something other than shoelaces? Like, say, yarn?

[trike road poet]

Just so you know, the amount of 'propellant' you put  in the space between the bolts determines the force involved in the 'parting', and it takes surprisingly little to bring the bolts to a high enough velocity to cause serious harm.  You will have neither control of the parts as they separate, nor the results!  The reason I think you need to consider this as a project is I know from my own stupid experience the potentials involved here, that and the reminder of the scar on my brother's head where the bolt hit him and put him in the hospital with a concussion. 

There is serious danger in this kind of thing, and if things go bad, 'I'm Sorry' is sort of lame when you've hurt people.  If you have to do this, drill a hole thru the bolts and tie a STRONG nylon cord from bolt to bolt to keep them together as much as possible.  Remember also, what seems a petty incident can get you in serious problems if something happens, and the cops decide to treat this as an explosive device.  Then you get to meet the Feds, and that will be no fun at all!

[Colonel88]

Artillery! Lob it over your enemies wall!

[chocolate kitkat]

i put one on a crossbow

[ctz]

I tried it with shavings off a strike anywhere match but that doesnt seem to work very well, what would work better

[Tombini]

Divet, you are showing people how to construct a bolt bomb I know people that have been hospitalised from making these!

[taterkiller]

try this with a shotgun shell

[spaz13]

I have one question about safety. What if the bolts come apart when the pop cap pops?

[nathan9117]

it is a sik rocket it worked fine 4 me if u do it corectly

[aflacgoose]

Great idea.

[Fredward Sr.]

Nice Pics, good instructable, works better with 3-4 paper caps shoved in hole.
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[Your Average Guy]

Tat is an awesome idea. Very clear instructions and great pictures. I'm totally going outside and doing this right now!

[g chord]

this thing is AWSOME thank you sooooo much

[Matt9]

where do you think I could get the materials??????????

[Matt9]

WOW, that is so kool I am definitely going to try that

[g chord]

SWEEEEEEEEEEET -Napoleon Dynamite

[slipondajimmy]

Wow I use to make these in my younger days with matches.

[mnb]

These are also called Bolt Bombs

[MisterHankie]

where do u get caps? do the caps have mercury fulminate in them?

[Gilly001]

This looks awesome. I was just wondering, how exactly does it work? I mean, does the heat inside ingnite the cap? Anyways, I'm definitly gonna try this!

[liam552]

when the bolts land, they compress and smash the cap and one end flies off, you can do it with gunpowder,flash powder, match powder or any other friction sensitive explosive.

[LayneDiy]

nice im gonna look for those materials.

[G.A.Pster]

hmm what's up with all these weired characters in my post?

[G.A.Pster]

That one’s a baby, on mine I use a nut that’s like 2 inches across. much bigger bang ;D. It’s the white tips on strike anywhere matches that work the red stuff doesn’t do anything. It’s more potent than capgun roll caps. I like using the shoelaces like a bolo so you can throw it higher, that's a good idea I’ll have to try incorporating that on mine.

[threecheersfornick]

My dad was telling me about these a few days ago... he used to make them with match heads.

[jonnyboy323]

Do you know if they were strike anywheres or normal?

[codykage]

i used to use safety matches to make mine. just make sure the bolts are tight.

[threecheersfornick]

He said he scraped all of the flammable stuff (accelerant?) off of wooden matches and put the dust in the nut. From his description, they where strike-anywhere -- but I'm not sure if there is a non-strike anywhere kind of wooden match.

[masterochicken]

There is, but those don't work.

[stonehenge360]

what happens when it hits the wall?

[microman171]

The whole thing explodes. If I remember correctly one of the bolts gets shot out and make a massive bang.

[masterochicken]

Not with caps. If you use something a bit more more explosive then it becomes a bolt bomb.

[Robot Brain]

Wouldn't that be dangerous for a radius of ??? feet?

[Divet]

The loudness of the bang depends on how many caps you have managed to stuff into the rocket. It's not powerful enough to remove any fingers or toes.

[agent harmsy]

(cue maniacal excited teenage laughter) SWEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!

[Evanator44]

dude that is a awsome idea but i made a really loud cap gun out of knex and i used up all my caps. u said paper ones work? Evanator44

[threecheersfornick]

I'd say paper ones are even more likely to work -- their's no plastic to blunt the shock.

[nagutron]

Nice photos. Did you take them yourself? If you did, you should do an Instructable on how to take good macro photos like these; lots of people on the site don't know.

[threecheersfornick]

There's this... http://www.instructables.com/id/SP1CZLMF23Z36AP/ ...and there's an instructable on making a light tent that I'm too lazy to find.

[Divet]

You can get some good macro photography results by shooting outside in the shade. If you're inside, shoot right next to a window, use white bounce cards, a tripod and a fast film setting on the camera.