In this tutorial, we'll take a boring clothespin and transform it into a powerful match shooter for matches and toothpicks that can shoot them into apples and dartboards.
Step 2: What is a match gun?
A match gun is a must-have for your tabletop weapon :) This little pocket gun can shoot matches 20 feet away and stick toothpicks into apples as well as dartboards.
Moreover, this pistol can be assembled very easily with virtually no cost.
Step 3: What you'll need
All you need for a clothespin crossbow is:
- Wood glue
- Simple clothespin (wooden with a metal spring)
Additional things that can help with assembly:
- Waste paper
- Wooden lists
- Wooden toothpicks
Step 4: Create a small crossbow
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To create the gun, you will first have to remove the spring and place the wooden pieces of the clothespin back to back so that their notches are in the center.
Make a mark on the top of the clothespin at the notch about 1/2 inch long and another mark at an angle on the bottom of the clothespin (see pictures for clarity).
For convenience, I colored the areas that need to be cut with a blue marker. Take a knife and carefully cut off all the blue colored areas.
The long channel cut in the center will be used as the barrel of the gun, so work it until the match glides along it without difficulty while both parts of the clothespin are pressed together.
The angled mark marks the spot where you need to make a small notch. This notch is needed to hold the spring when you move it from its original location.
Step 5: Glue the Wooden Pieces
It's time to glue the gun body together.
Cover the flat parts of the wood with a layer of glue and press them together. I applied a mound of glue to the paper and then carefully ran the flat parts of the clothespin over the mound, spreading the glue evenly across the surface.
After 5-10 minutes the glue should be set firmly enough to install the spring.
Step 6: Put on the spring
When putting the spring on, I found that it worked best to first place the top hook over the outer notch, then bend the spring "open" so that the second spring hook could slide into the center cavity.
The spring should snap into place without any problems. The gun is now ready for use.
Step 7: Ammo Options
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The gun is designed to fire matches, so they must slide well down the barrel.
If the barrel is too narrow, you can widen the hole using a thin drill bit.
To load our gun, simply insert a match and push it until the spring reaches the rear notch. The pistol will cock automatically and be ready to fire. If the trigger system doesn't work as expected, don't get discouraged - just work on it and adjust it until the pistol starts to cock. Each pistol is slightly different from the others, so each one needs to be modified separately.
You can hold the device like a regular pistol and when you are ready to shoot, simply pull the trigger. You will be surprised how powerful such a small spring is, it unfurls in a split second and fires charges up to 6 meters away.
Now you can try shooting with toothpicks - just remove one of the sharp edges, making it flat. From a distance of about 15 cm, the gun will have enough power to stick a toothpick into an apple. Of course, the closer the gun is to the apple, the deeper the toothpick will go into it.
Step 8: Simple Improvements
If the barrel of your pistol is too large and difficult to shoot, then feel free to modify it until it suits your needs.
Now you know how to transform an ordinary clothespin into an interesting little tabletop gun.
Every grown man was once a child. And the greatest entertainment in those happy times of childhood was playing with friends in the yard. It doesn't matter what the game is, the main thing is to play. What did you play most often? Of course, there were skirmishes, war, partisans and much more - it’s impossible to list everything. And if there was an opportunity to shoot from something, then this was the ultimate dream of any boy! Slingshots, crossbows and other delights of the boys’ world simply excited the imagination. And if you blow something up all over the yard, then that’s the height of bliss! What if it is possible to shoot burning matches at a decent distance? It was, as they say now, “The Hit of the Season”! We will tell you about one of the types of boyish fun. It's called a scarecrow.
A scarecrow is a device that produces noise. The main purpose of its creation is to scare someone. In fact, a scarecrow is considered to be a children's toy in the shape of a pistol, which, when used with caps, makes a loud popping sound. But there are also so-called “adult” scarecrows - blank cartridges, for example.
However, there are also many ways to make a scarecrow at home. What can this product be made from:
- from a copper tube and a piece of plywood;
- from clothespins;
- from a metal tube;
- from a bicycle spoke;
- of two bolts and a nut;
- from dowels, etc.
- 1. Pull the upper part forward until the spring ends up with its protrusion in the factory groove. Once you have done this, you must pull this part back until the protrusion of the clothespin is in the groove that you made.
- 2. Now you must select a projectile and load it. This is easy to do: slightly lift the top part. Matches or paper clips are best used as projectiles in this case.
- 3. Then we pull back the spring until the trigger bar is released. After this there should be a shot. If so, hooray! You did everything right!
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The clothespin scarecrow, or, as it is also called, “Matchshooter,” was invented a very long time ago, when the Soviet Union still existed. A whole era of children was amused by this type of “weapon” when they played war with friends in the yard. The design is so simple, and the materials for its manufacture were so accessible to everyone that only the lazy or those who had never heard anything about it made a scarecrow from a clothespin. Compactness, ease of use and reliability have made the device very popular. Another feature is that it could fire both regular and incendiary shells.
Nowadays, the clothespin scarecrow is no longer popular. One of the main reasons is that in Soviet times, clothespins were made of wood with a weak spring, but now they are made of plastic. Another important factor: now children have so much entertainment (the Internet, games, movies) that they are not even interested in doing something with their own hands. And with the development of the Internet and social networks, you rarely see school-aged children playing something in the yard.
However, there are still enthusiasts! It is for them that we wrote this article, in which we will tell you in detail how to make a scarecrow from a clothespin with your own hands. So let's get started.
Now let's move on directly to the description of what needs to be done to create this miracle weapon.
First stage
Disassemble the clothespin into three parts - you should have two wooden bases and a spring.
Second phase
Using a penknife, you need to process both halves of the clothespin base, which is not at all difficult. First, cut out a gutter on one of the wooden bases. Take your time, otherwise you might cut your fingers! Then divide the other half into two parts.
Third stage
Now carefully pull the spring back towards the groove so that its protrusion fits exactly into the groove. Then you need to attach the short part to the long one. To avoid mistakes, you should focus on the factory chute. The final stage: when everything fits as it should, you need to fasten all the parts with an elastic band. All is ready! As you can see, making a scarecrow is not at all difficult!
The next thing we absolutely must do is test our creation. This is the most enjoyable stage, isn't it?
Checking the product
To do this, perform the following steps:
What to do if the device does not work?
The reason may be that the second part of the spring is not held in place. What should be done? It is necessary to deepen the groove in which the spring is held.
You won't believe it, but even such a simple device can be upgraded! Yes, yes, don't be surprised. Now we'll tell you how.
We glue a strip to the bottom of the scarecrow, which we cut out of a matchbox. We cut out a fragment where there is sulfur for lighting matches. As a result of this improvement, the match will light up at the moment of firing.
Safety precautions for use
Since the scarecrow's projectile can have a range of up to five meters, never use it at home or in other areas. You should also not aim at other people, children or animals. Also keep the crossbow away from flammable objects. It is highly advisable to wear goggles to protect your eyes when using burning projectiles; caution is a good idea. Happy using!
Nowadays, you can buy almost any children's toy in the store, although their quality and usefulness are very questionable. And Soviet schoolchildren often made their own toys. For example, a match shooter. This homemade product shoots close, but is quite simple to make.
To make a match shooter, you will need a thin felt-tip pen and a powerful spring. By the way, the spring can be removed from the lighter. Or from the mechanism of an automatic ballpoint pen.
Using a hacksaw, cut the felt-tip pen into two equal parts. Then remove from it the writing tip, the rod, and the plug, which is located on the top of the felt-tip pen.
Insert a small metal (or plastic) plate into the spring. This must be done so that when using a match shooter, the match does not fall inside.
Take the bottom of the marker and place the spring in it. Seal the top tightly with the cap.
So, the match shooter is ready. To start using it, insert a match into the hole, press it with your finger and quickly release it. The spring will unfold and push the match out. The firing range of this homemade weapon is about five meters and depends entirely on the length and elasticity of the spring.
