How to Make a Clothespin Gun

Intro: How to Make a Clothespin Gun

In this instructable I will be showing you how to make a precision classroom weapon. It takes a lot of time to create, but if you take your time and make it quality by following my steps, I promise you will be pleased with the results. This will shoot either toothpicks or matches.. this particular model will not shoot the strike anywhere ones but i will soon put up an instructable for one that ignites them when you fire it.

STEP 1: Gather Materials

To get started you are going to need to gather some materials that you might have laying around your house.

1) Super Glue
2) Quick Dry Spray (optional)
3) Terrorist Knife =]
4) Wire Cutters (optional)
5) Two Wooden Clothespins
6) A File
7) And Last Of All You Need WAY Too Much Time on Your Hands

STEP 2: Getting Started

Now it is time to get everything ready and disassemble your clothespin. Be sure you keep the metal spring because it is important.

STEP 3: Carving Out the Internals

In this step you are going to need your file and your handy little knife. Using your knife, you are going to take out all of the parts like they are shown in the picture. Be sure to take your time and make it nice, because later on when you are finished you will not be able to access this area to fix any problems. You are also going to have to cut off a little bit of both ends of each peg.

STEP 4: Glueing

After you have finished your carving you are going to need put the spring back on like shown in the picture and make sure your holes and slit things line up. If they line up you are going to glue the two pieces together and use some of your spray to quicken it up and make it dry stronger. If you want to you can take a piece of another clothespin and attach it to the top to make sure the spring does not pop out of place. This also makes it look cooler also.

STEP 5: Sanding

Now you are going to want to take some sand paper or a really fine file and do some sanding to smooth out the edges and blend everything together. This will take a lot of time if you want to make it look nice and professional.

STEP 6: Your Done

Now that you are done have fun but be SAFE. Do not fire this at anyone because it might hurt you. You can also make different designs like i did on another instructable on another account. I made it look like an ak 47 and it turned out okay. To fire this you have to push the non red part of the match back into the hole until the spring locks into the notch and then push down on the spring and it will fire.

Comments

[AlphaWolf]

LMAO Terrorist Knife HAHAHAHA I do not have one bc im not a terrorist

[Catking]

Mine doesn't stick together one pans upward

[knex_mepalm]

i really wanna make this but my dad says im too young for projects, now to sneak some stuff, i got the glue, the file and the time, now to sneak out some knives

[Infernx1]

LOL. don't cut yourself.

[Jetmaster360]

How do YOU know it can be used for constipation

[zoe123456789]

how to make it

[nobrain_nopain]

"Do not fire this at anyone because it might hurt you." made me laugh.
(☞ YOU, not the person you are firing this at.)

Don't get me wrong - the Clothespin Gun is a nice idea especially for a proud uncle like me who is always happy to find reasons to do "childish stuff" :^}

[itzthor]

How do you do the cocking mechanism on the one with a pistol grip?

[ajjay]

How do u make the ak one

[Jake2607]

Great guide. I've already made a few.

[JATDO]

Why do you need the second clothespin?

[samarai]

to glue that thing onto the top.. it secures the spring from popping out. If you look at the picture you can see it

[Gigodorias]

I actually didn't need to use the second clothespin. If you hold down the spring while cocking it, instead of using an extra one, it saves a lot of time and work.

[JATDO]

ahhh I see but couldn't you use anything to secure it?

[samarai]

Yeah but I wanted my design to be completely of clothespins, so thats what i used

[davidnvn]

Is there a way to carving out the wood on the clothespin? I kinda stabbed myself trying, and it's going REALLY slowly Nice designs, by the way.

[Gigodorias]

I actually used the regular cone-shaped sanding/deburring tool on my Dremel. I made a base, or a small root in the wood, then used sanding paper like a maniac.

[Wafflicious]

I use a small jig saw

[samarai]

You could probably use a dremel tool if you used the right attachment but other than that I don't know.. I just used the box cutter to carve it out

[racecar96]

i have one of those do you meen the saw add on