Introduction: Pilot G2 Pen Cannon- for the Pocket Sized Contest
In this instructable I will show you how to make a pocket sized bb cannon out of the popular G2 gel pen made by Pilot. The building process takes about ten minutes and less than $5. I apologize in advance for saying clicky piece, I do not know the true name for it, if there is one. The "clicky piece" is the piece at the top of the pen that you "click" to open and close the pen.
PS- I made this instructable for the pocket sized contest, so please tell me if you like it and what I can do to improve it, for this is my first instructable. Also, I will be publishing an instructable later on about crusader finger puppets.
Step 1: Materials
To build the bb cannon, you need:
- Pilot G2 pen (commonly found at Staples, Office Depot, etc. in packs of three or five)
- airsoft bb's or other ammunition (i.e.- small wads of paper, or other small objects you find around you. Be resourceful!
- saw (I recommend a small toothed saw) (opt.- if you don't use the saw, the inside pieces of the pen will fly out when fired, but you can put the pen back together and still use it as a normal pen; if you use the saw, the pens only purpose is a bb cannon and does not work efficiently as a pen anymore)
-clamp
Step 2: Disassembling the Pen
1) Unscrew the middle section of the pen
2) Remove spring and then set it aside for later (You might have to bang the bottom half of the pen on the table to get the spring out).
3) Take the ink cartridge and use it to poke out the two pieces at the top of the pen (the part that you click to open or close the pen and the piece below it that rotates the ink cartridge)
Step 3: Assembling the Pen Cannon (part 1)
Before you start this step, decide what you want to do. Do you want to use the G2 pen as a bb cannon and a pen, or are you willing to sacrifice the pen and just have a bb cannon? Ok, now that that's decided, lets move on.
1) Take the clicky piece, the other part that sat below the clicky piece in the pen, and the spring.
(Those first two pieces you took out of the pen earlier by poking them out with the ink cartridge)
2) Now place the spring in between the clicky part and the other piece.
3) The part of the cannon you just assembled is called the firing mechanism
Step 4: Assembling Pen Cannon (part 2)
Ok, so now the Pen Cannon itself is finished, but if you decided to sacrifice the pen, then follow this step. By following these steps, you can add accuracy to your shot, a few more feet to your range, and keep the pieces inside the pen. This step makes the pen no longer a pen, but a full-time pen cannon.
1) Take the lower half of the pen, and clamp it tightly to a table.
2) Saw off the translucent area below the finger-grip (When finished sawing, you should have the grip with the threads to screw back into the upper portion of the pen and a small translucent cone
3) Screw the grip back into the upper portion of the pen
Step 5: Loading/ Firing
Now that the pen cannon is finished you need to know how to load and fire it, right?
Loading
1) Drop ammo down the barrel so that it rests against the firing mechanism
2) Take ink cartridge and stick it down the barrel, using it as a ramrod
3) The firing mechanism should make a small click when cocked
Firing
1) Aim the pen at your target (please don't aim for a coworker's/ classmate's face! If you do I will not take responsibility for the damage!)
2) Press the clicky piece, and the pen cannon will fire, wreaking havok among coworkers/ classmates when they are hit by the bb/ other ammunition and are clueless about what just happened.
Step 6: Hints/ Tips
1- Aim slightly above your target, as the cannon itself is not incredibly powerful, so fiddle with arcs and ranges and trajectories, and see what works best for your type of mischief.
2- Try using different springs from different pens to increase power and accuracy
3- I recommend bb's as ammunition, because they roll away after hitting their target, so it is harder to figure out what happened , but you can experiment with rolled up pieces of paper and other items.
