Introduction: Rubber Band Shuffleboard
I've had a lot of time to kill during the Covid-19 shutdown so I decided to make a game I'd seen on YouTube. It looked fun and looked not too hard to make. It looked perfect to make an Instructable out of so here I am. I changed a lot of the decoration from the original video I saw so feel free to personalize it in any way you'd like. Hope you like it!
Supplies
All you really need for this game is:
- Cardboard Scissors
- Rubber bands
- Wooden sticks like toothpicks
- Some kind of strong glue (Hot glue recommended)
- Something to use as pucks (Or you can make them from cardboard)
- Sheet of clear plastic (Optional)
- An hour or two
Step 1: Base
I've found that the dimensions of everything don't need to be perfect but the perfecter the better. So, the base dimensions are 18x30 centimeters. After you cut this is probably the best time to decorate it, you can look at the scoring I used or you can do your own. You can also size up the dimensions or you can size down.
Step 2: Walls
The side wall dimensions are 30x3 centimeters you want to make two of those. Then you want to make the top and bottom walls which should both be 18x3. You then mark the half way point on the strips (longways) and then glue them to the base where you marked them so that half of the wall is above the base and half is under the base. Then you have to make the middle divider wall. The dimensions are 1.5x12 and you glue that right down the middle at the bottom or, like I did, you can trim off a little bit of that so that the last slot feeds into the starting point.
Step 3: Rubber Bands
Now It is time to add the rubber bands. For this you need a minimum of three rubber bands and five toothpicks or other wooden sticks. You will now measure eight cm down from the top of your current structure and cut out a little sliver of the top half of the wall then force a toothpick into the cardboard, then repeat on the other side and in the middle of the top wall. Make sure the toothpicks are sturdy then loop your rubber bands all to the upper middle toothpick to form an upside down v shape. I'd recommend using three or four thin rubber bands or 1 or two thick ones. I'd also recommend using hot glue to strengthen the toothpicks. You then want to do the same toothpick placing thing at the bottom of the structure on the middle wall and one directly to the right of that one. Next, you string the rubber band through those toothpicks and you now have a launching mechanism!
Step 4: Roof and Cover.
For the roof sort of thing you want to cut out a 8x18.5 centimeter rectangle. Next, you want to mark out two straight lines from the lower corners of the rectangle both into the upper middle of the rectangles. Make sure that you leave little space at the top so the shape you have just created doesn't snap in two. The cover is just plastic wrap or plastic cut out of a ziplock or any clear sheet plastic you can find or, like I did, you can just use a piece of cardboard. You can put in over the whole game except for the launcher or you can just put in on the beginning so that the pucks don't shoot out of the game.
Step 5: Step 6: Pucks and Further Decoration.
For the pucks you can really use anything that is small and round. I'd recommend using bottle caps or checkers, but if you don't have those you can always make them out of cardboard or any other materials you happen to have. Then you can decorate the whole game further. Go with a theme or maybe add a place where you can put the pucks, do whatever you want! Be creative!
Step 6: Check Out This Awesome Video!
Starting at 16:35 is the project just taught, but the other projects are just as cool!