Rubber-band Powered Butterfly

This little widget doesn't take much building, and will flutter across a room.

_{(No video because I ran out of bands in prototyping, and I need to get this posted before the deadline.)}

Step 1: Materials and Tools

The materials you need:

• Three paperclips. I used large ones that opened out to 15cm long, but I see no reason why this wouldn't work with ordinary clips.
• An elastic band, sized to match your clips (the ones I used were 6cm long).
• Paper - stiff and light for preference.

Tools:

• Pliers (two pairs could make life easier).
• Glue or tape.
• Scissors or craft knife.

Comments

[awesomecreations]

I have made some basic rubber band helicopters using pen tubes for a "frame" and they worked quite well, but just not for very long. The blades did not have enough drag to allow for longer flight duration and both ends spun freely, instead of one end fixed to the frame. one problem with the pen tube is that the band gets knots in it when winding and unwinding and gets stuck. Nice Instructable!

[Kiteman]

Thanks for that!

[awesomecreations]

You're welcome.

[GofishRC007]

Its cool but it needs more pics and instructions , its to hard to understand

[chubawabu]

and the amazing kiteman does it again! Amazingly designed instructable, nice one

[Kiteman]

Thank you!

[muchensmile]

Ok, i've made one of these, now it flew somewhere and i lost it:)
How do they work? Mine just jumped out of my hands and fluttered, is it just a rubberband heli? The *wings of the butterfly acts like the blades?

[Kiteman]

Pretty much, yes - the top wings twist like a propeller, and the bottom wings stay flat to resist the reverse spin (a bit).

[4sdmk4]

This is great... making it for VBS with the kiddos... couple pointers... do not use coated clips, they need to be bare metal... mailing labels work for a quick and easy wing (just fold them in half over the clip and shape them) ... and if you use a large clip for the body and small clips for the wings the weight is reduced and flight is a little better.

[canucksgirl]

Nice ible! :)

See I knew you didn't need a 3D printer and all that mumbo-jumbo to get it to work (the rubber band and paperclip method works great!)

[cRimeTHor]

yeah.. how does it works?... think impossible to fly....

[IITO]

how to play that thing ??? -_- i still dont understand...

[IITO]

to hard for me ... -_- ...
i still dont have the thing for make that so i dont understand XD

[R and R]

Well I have tried this three times now and it just isn't working for me. Do y'all have different elastic bands down there? It would be really cool to get this going for my kids, but as of yet, I am still at the crash and burn stage. Any suggestions or tweaks? Thanks for this awesome sight. I'm like a kid in a candy store here, not sure where to begin!

[Kiteman]

Er, thin paper makes it lighter, make sure it spins freely, and really crank it up - it doesn't take off from your hand, you have to throw it.

[tim1]

thanks for letting me know!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[tim1]

this is so awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that I will make it!!!!!!!!!!!! But how do you wind it up?????????? Please tell me n=in a comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kiteman]

You hold one set of wings in one hand, and twiddle the other pair around with one finger of the other.

[artistalight]

I want to do..:( i cant see pdf :( equal is a very brilliant proyect :)

[Kiteman]

Thank you.

Unfortunately, PDF files are only available for pro members.

[jeffconnelly]

I can get them, but I've also been a member since before "PRO" memberships came along.

[jid4611]

thanks

[jid4611]

could you use a cereal box? I don't go to many stores with 60 lb cardstock in them

[Kiteman]

That's fine - it's just harder to decorate.

Any stiff-ish sheet will do it.

[supersmeady]

for the loop one it is easy to use a safety pin.

[randomguy1]

thanks works great and is heaps of fun

[Kiteman]

Cool, thanks for commenting.

[briwood]

This is an awesome project for kids! I spent sometime creating a template for wings which I have tried to attach here! Make sure that you attach carefully as to not foul the mechanical movement. I Let my nieces color the wings with sharpies, then cut them out and attached them- used 60 pound card stock and a pretty heavy rubber band. worked great- bands have about 6 good flights in them( after the first 2 or 3) so have extras! great fun on a rainy day. Thank you for making me the coolest uncle in the family!

[Kiteman]

You're welcome, and that template deserves a patch!

[azuro]

hey! Where's the video?Good instructable though. ;->

[Kryptonite]

Well, I guess it's about time for a video now, wouldn't you say so, Kiteman?

[Yerboogieman]

I have a ton of ripstop nylon, and want a HUGE kite, how would i build one without sewing?

[Kiteman]

You can glue or weld it as well.

[iTraceur]

Weld it? Yeah, good idea, make a massive one out of sheet metal and the worlds largest rubber band, and fly around. In fact, i'm going to do it now! ( iTraceur's last ever comment )

[redneckjaybyrd]

There's also a such thing as plastic welding too!

[iTraceur]

WHAT?!  BLASPHEMY!!  How dare you even suggest such a preposterous thing!  STONE THE GNOME!!!

[Yerboogieman]

JB weld.

[Hycro]

There is also such a thing known as "sonic welding" that's used in factories to fuse pieces of plastic together without glue, such as for plastic handsaw handles, and some cheep screwdriver handles use it too.

[scarabeetle101]

 That thing's awesome - they use a high pitched sound which matches the resonant frequency of the plastic, which makes the plastic vibrate so much that the friction between the two parts makes them melt together. Interestingly, it was also the inspiration for the "Mosquito" security devices used around some shops to disperse crowds of youths.

[nutsandbolts_64]

Is there any easier way to do this? Beehard44 and I made it, but we got a big epic fail and were face palmed.