Introduction: Car Catapult
Grab an illegal street sign made from corrugated plastic, cut, bend and make a toy car launching ramp which will gravity catapult your toy cars fast enough to knock down plastic army men or card houses.
I made a very small ramp for this i'ble so it would show better.
You can make the ramp much longer and steeper.
This is designed so it folds flat for storage.
You can add more track by using plastic drinking straw bits as joiners between tracks.
Just like some space probes use the Earth as a gravitational catapult to hurl them into space, this simple ramp uses gravity to zoom your car along.
Little kids enjoy a portable ramp, especially if you can aim it to knock things down.
I made a very small ramp for this i'ble so it would show better.
You can make the ramp much longer and steeper.
This is designed so it folds flat for storage.
You can add more track by using plastic drinking straw bits as joiners between tracks.
Just like some space probes use the Earth as a gravitational catapult to hurl them into space, this simple ramp uses gravity to zoom your car along.
Little kids enjoy a portable ramp, especially if you can aim it to knock things down.
Step 1: Tools
* metal-edged ruler
* cutting board
* pencil
* craft knife
* scissors.
* cutting board
* pencil
* craft knife
* scissors.
Step 2: Mark and Cut
Using the photos as a rough guide, mark the sheet of corrugated plastic with a pencil and a ruler.
The track should run in the same direction as the corrugation lines in the plastic.
It should be wide enough for your favorite toy cars.
Cut only halfway through the plastic on the dotted lines.
Cut all the way through on the solid lines.
Bend the side rails with the half cut on the outside corner of the bend.
For the T shaped base bend towards the cut instead.
Now bend the backstop pieces and link them together with the slits.
Use the scissors to round off the pointy corners of the track and base.
The track should run in the same direction as the corrugation lines in the plastic.
It should be wide enough for your favorite toy cars.
Cut only halfway through the plastic on the dotted lines.
Cut all the way through on the solid lines.
Bend the side rails with the half cut on the outside corner of the bend.
For the T shaped base bend towards the cut instead.
Now bend the backstop pieces and link them together with the slits.
Use the scissors to round off the pointy corners of the track and base.
Step 3: Closeup of Ramp Cuts
Here are the basic cuts:
Two long halfway through cuts for the side rails, lined up with the corrugations.
A Tee shaped ramp base.
Two back stop pieces which link together and also hold the ramp base in place.
Two long halfway through cuts for the side rails, lined up with the corrugations.
A Tee shaped ramp base.
Two back stop pieces which link together and also hold the ramp base in place.
Step 4: Stop Street Spam and Recycle
You can recycle illegal plastic street spam from public property and make toys.
Never take a private sign from private property.
Do not remove election signs. This will make people very angry.
Look for get-rich-quick scams, phony insurance, and dating-site signs tacked to telephone poles, or sticking in the ground on the sides of public roads.
You can visit Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam to learn more about this growing blight of visual pollution.
Never take a private sign from private property.
Do not remove election signs. This will make people very angry.
Look for get-rich-quick scams, phony insurance, and dating-site signs tacked to telephone poles, or sticking in the ground on the sides of public roads.
You can visit Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam to learn more about this growing blight of visual pollution.
Participated in the
Homemade Holidays Contest
