Introduction: Cracker Chucker.
A simple device to throw small cheesey crackers great distances. You know, like you always wanted to.
Step 1: Materials and Tools.
You will need corrugated card, glue (I used hot-glue) and assorted sharp things.
Step 2: What to Do (part the First)
Corrugated card comes in a variety of thicknesses. Use a handy micrometer to compare the thickness of your cracker and your card. As you can see, the cracker is about twice as thick as the card, so the middle layer of card will have to be double thickness.
Cut four strips of card. The exact dimensions are not critical. My strips ended up as almost two feet long, because that was the size of the card I had, and about two inches wide because I had a two-inch wide piece of timber that I could use as a ruler.
One end of the card will be the handle, so round it off. The other end won't be the handle, but you can still round off one corner.
Step 3: Make It (part the Second)
The two pieces that will make up the middle layers of the chucker need to be cut down to make the slot that the cracker will run in.
Again, dimensions are not critical (look at the photos to get an idea), but I left a curve of card at the far end of the chucker to give a "flick" to the cracker's flight.
Glue the layers together. I used hot-glue because it was quick, adds an element of strength to the structure, and I had already switched the thing on when I walked into the shed. Make sure that the cracker runs smoothly down the slot.
When the layers are firmly stuck, trim the ends for neatness' sake.
Step 4: Use It
Put the cracker in the slot at the handle end and give the thing a flick.
The style you use is up to you - over-hand, sideways - but remember, folks, even a cheesy snack can cause pain at high speed.
48 Comments
12 years ago on Introduction
nice pocit knife
13 years ago on Introduction
Something to do at lunch XD
14 years ago on Introduction
I like the idea and the cracker in the micrometer is just somehow -- comic.
A buddy of mine used to wing "Mini-Cheddars" (I don't care for them myself, cheese doesn't do me any favours) about and they flew in the most bizarre way -- they sweeped and swerved often a long way from the direct route, making nigh-on impossible motions, BUT they nearly always hit the target, they were super-duper-deadly-lethal. They are a must-try in this contraption!
8-D
Anyways, my ol' buddy would've loved this 'ible!
Right the next bit is just off-topic (and dross in general) and I have had far too much caffeine today and seem not to be able to stop typing, for fear of getting normal-looking fingers, instead of the vaguely concave ones that typists have.
I remember back when I was at school (don't get me started going on about the morons who spoiled it for me, especially science -- we never did practical! 8-( and I was in the wrong set. It's my favourite subject -- there are so many different sciences, it's deliciously varied!)
While I was doing my GCSE's one question said "Name three subatomic particles." So I did and I thought "I'm not putting the obvious ones, sod that!" and so I put gluons, quarks and electrons, I later found out I only got a mark for electrons, that's just crap!
Sorry for the off-topic ness of it all, caffeine has many a strange effect on the weak minded apes known as humans. Come to think of it, did you ever see an image of a spiders web when it's doped on caffeine?
It's here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caffeinated_spiderwebs.jpg
Fascinating!
15 years ago on Introduction
OK, Kitewife is fed up of having cracker shrapnel in the garden. Has anybody made one of these and actually measured their range? (BTW, this is the first Instructable I have done that I have seen turn up in those changing images on the homepage. Gosh.)
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
With the original cardboard one I made, my range was 40-50 meters. With the new aluminum one I made, the range is closer to 65 meters barring the wind. Also, after getting hit with an errant cracker I can say, they are moving pretty quickly and leave a monster of a welt. Exercise cracker-caution.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Cool, thanks!
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
you did the jet engine out of the jar right? cuz i saw that on the changing pics thingy
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
Yes, that was mine. I must just blink at the wrong time or something!
14 years ago on Introduction
Okay, ran a box of crackers through it before it fell apart. I think my choice of cardboard was a little off. So, undeterred, I headed to my shop and started searching. I came up with an aluminum version. I simply took a piece of sheet 20 gauge aluminum and cut it 2 foot by 8 inches, then put it on my break and put two ninety degree bends in it a quarter inch apart so it came out like a thin piece of 'c' channel. I then put a 2 foot by 1/4 inch piece of rubber down the inside spine to give the cracker traction so it would have some spin. Then wrapped the handle in some heat-shrink so the aluminum edges wouldn't cut. I'll tell you, it worked so well, i immediately made a second one for my brother-in-law.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Wow, thank you for that! Why not make another, take photos as you do, and then post your own instructable?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
I would have, but I didn't want to yank the focus of someone else's 'ible, simply because of a material change, lol. However, if you say it's okay, I might just do that.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Fine by me.
15 years ago on Introduction
they actually sell things that do this, exactly. it's used for skeet shooting practice. instead of using clay pigeons to shoot, crackers can be used. it's more eco-friendly and much cheaper.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
all the clay pigeons iv ever seen are made out of fertiliser and break down on the ground
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
They sound like environmentally-friendly substitutes - they really did used to be made of clay. I used to know a chap who made clay pigeons - he actually worked in a coke factory, and the left-over gunk was moulded into the "clays" under great pressure, and painted clay-coloured afterwards. They were tough enough to survive a couple of firings and a winging by a pellet or two - he used them as coasters, but didn't wash them, because hot water made them sticky.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
A freind and i found a clay pigeon range not too far away, once, so, we found one, UNDAMAGED on the floor (and they're brittle. They redefine brittleness) So, we picked it up and took it home, and, on the way, we thought, "Hey, it it's made of clay, it's heat-resistant, right?" So we got the idea of using it to cast metal. The moment the flare from hte torch hit it, part of it burst into flames, with big black smoke....
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Most commercially made clay pigeons are actually made of asphalt pitch. It's very flammable and the smoke is highly toxic. Not to mention if you stand in the smoke it will make your skin burn. A lot of commercial roofs are poured from liquid pitch. Very nasty stuff.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
No way! Ha, I bet my version is cheaper! (Is "skeet shooting" the American name for "clay pigeon shooting"?)
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Skeet shooting is basically trap shooting here in US. -PKT
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
That's what it's called when you shoot clay pigeons?! I live in America and never really knew what skeet shooting was. I knew what clay pigeons were since I was like four.