PVC Dart Shooter and Darts

PVC pipes can be used for a infinite number if things, but today I'm going to show you how to use one to make a dart shooter. This project came upon me at dinner when I saw some kids shooting spitballs through straws. I thought to myself, what if I made a big version of that? Thinking this through, I decided that I should abandon the spitball part but keep the straw idea and enlarge it. I decided to make it out of PVC as it is easily up-gradable and is usually found lying around the house. So without further ado I present the PVC Dart Shooter.

Before you start this project you're going to need

Materials

• A 2-3 foot long PVC pipe
• A connection piece for your size PVC pipe to larger pipe
• Post it notes / Sticky notes (Small pieces of square paper will also work)
• Duct tape
• Scotch tape
• Nails

Tools

• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Now that you have gathered all of your materials it is time to start assembling them. First take the connector piece and attach it to the PVC pipe. If it is to large you can wrap duct tape around in in order for it to fit snugly. If it is too small you can connect the two by taping them together. The main goal is so that no air slips through, as that would cause a loss of power. To make sure there is no air escaping you can glue around the seal with either hot glue or any other type of strong sealant.

This step is completely optional but it will add tons of character and color to the dart shooter. I just simply used silver duct tape and rolled it lengthwise around the outside. I then added bands of colored and black tape to add effect. You can customize your own by buying or mixing variants of tape or just buying a cool pattern tape from a hardware store. This tape can be used to camouflage your dart shooter however you could also spray paint it if no tape is available.

When making the darts it's important to decide what you will be using them for, if its just for accuracy against an inanimate object you can choose to use a nail since it helps the dart stay straight, but if you intend on shooting it at people I highly recommend you use tightly bound paper wads of mini-marshmallows to avoid injury, as these darts go pretty fast.

To make a nail dart you need to take a post it / sticky note and wrap it in a cone shape around the nail. Once in the proper shape tape the sides together to keep it in position, then apply hot glue down the cone to seal the space between the nail and paper. Once you have done this wait for the glue to harden then test if its the correct size for the tube. If it's too big you can cut the edges of the cone till it can enter the tube (MAKE SURE TO KEEP ENOUGH SO THAT PRESSURE CAN BUILD UP, if not then you will lose power when trying to shoot it). If the cone is too small try again with a larger sticky note.

This is a video of the dart being shot

Good Luck!