Ping Pong Ball Hand Cannon

Here's an easy to make ping pong ball launcher that you can build from stuff you may have laying around your house. It will easily fire ping pong balls over 25 feet.

You'll need:

• A toilet paper roll tube
• Ping pong ball(s)
• Two paper clips
• Two rubber bands
• Small plyers
• 3/4" clay marble (made from something like Sculpey clay) or a wooden ball.

Straighten the paper clips into this shape.

Lay the straightened paper clips on the tube near the edges like this. You want them close to the edges so they keep the ping pong ball from slipping out, but wide enough apart that the striker ball won't hit them.

Use a pencil to draw a line where the paper clips touch the tube.

Poke four holes about 1/2 inch from the end of the tube on each of the lines you marked in the previous step.

Insert the two paper clips into the holes you created.

Using utmost security precautions, drill a 1/8 inch hole through your clay marble/wooden ball.

Loop the two rubber bands as shown so they are knotted together. Next push the rubber band through the clay marble/wooden ball until the rubber band knot is jammed in the middle of the ball.

Loop one side of the striker on the bent end of the paper clips and use the small plyers to form a secure loop to hold it as shown.

Attach the remaining end of the rubber band to the other side of the paper clips bending loops to secure it like in the previous step.

Bend the paper clips slightly towards the rear of the launcher as shown in the picture to keep them centered in the tube.

Load a ping pong ball in your launcher tube, pull back the striker, aim, and fire!

See the YouTube video for a demostration.