Mechanical Pencil Launcher/ Gun

This instructable will show you how to make a simple launcher out of a mechanical pencil. It is very simple, and should only take a few minutes.

For this project you will only need a few things:

-A mechanical pencil

I am using a standard Bic mechanical pencil. Similar types should work as well.

-A rubber band

-Scissors

-Ammo (Not pictured)

Little prices of crumpled paper work great, although anything that you can fit will do fine.

Optional:

Glue (Not pictured)

Take off the lead guide/ tip. Next, press down on the eraser as if you were going to get more lead out. Press the chuck down against a hard surface until it breaks off. You may need to use scissors for this. You should now be able to remove the tube that holds the lead.

You should have these 3 parts of the mechanical pencil:

The lead holder, the spring and the body.

We won't need the spring, but I would keep it because it makes for great ammo. We will need to modify the body slightly. Use your scissors to cut off the end of the body where it gets narrower. Since it's plastic, you will probably need to scrape it with the scissors a bit before you can cut it off.

You can now put the lead holder all the way back in the body (Not halfway like in the picture. Oops!). Once you have done this, attach the rubber band to the end of the body near where it was cut. You can use glue, or some duct tape for this part. You can even just tie it around the body, but it will need to be held when operated. Finally, put the other end of the rubber band around the end of the lead holder (where the eraser goes) on the other side. If you want you can keep the eraser and cut out a part for the rubber band to go into so it is more secure.

Now just load your ammo into the body, pull back the lead guide and let it fly!