I made this impromptu water balloon cannon for my kids to play with! It’s a simple quick project made to be fairly safe.
TOOLS LIST:
https://kit.co/iliketomakestuff/my-woodworking-tools
4″ PVC pipe (3′ long)
3″ PVC cap
1″ PVC pipe (2′ long)
I used a 3′ length of 4″ and 1″ PVC pipe.
I also used a 3″ cap which fits right inside the large pipe.
I traced the smaller pipe on the larger one, marking it a little larger than real life.
I marked a cross line several inches from one end.
I ran it through the bandsaw which cuts the line on the top and bottom of the pipe, to cut both lines.
I used a cut off wheel on a Dremel to trim the piece out.
I switched the wheel out for a grinding stone and cleaned off the corners of the cut. This is to cut down on friction.
I made sure the smaller pipe fit in the slot and moved freely.
Then I made sure there was enough space on each side for a hand, and marked the pipe.
I cut the small pipe along that mark then rounded over the ends on the disc sander.
With the cap, I used the belt sander to carve out a small dip in the top.
Then back to the disc sander with the cap. I sanded down the entire outside of the cap to make it’s diameter a little smaller.
When you cut the section from the PVC, it puckers a little, making the interior size a little smaller. Sanding the cap makes it fit better inside.
I drilled a small hole in the center of the cap. Drilling from the inside of the cap helps drive the bit to the center. I also drilled a hole in the middle of the smaller pipe section.
I ran a long bolt through a large washer, then through the cap from the inside.
I added the small pipe to the bolt and added a washer and nut to hold the pieces together.
This assembly dropped down into the slot cut in the larger pipe. Then I added some PVC cement to the open end and slid on a 4″ coupler.
Since the pipe had the pucker, I clamped the cut edges to the coupler while the cement set up. This helped maintain the correct interior shape.
I cut two pieces of old pressure treated 2×4 into sections about the same length as the pipe.
I drilled a hole through the coupler into the 2×4 below.
I connected them with a short decking screw.
I used some polypropylene strapping to hole the pipe down to the 2×4 on the front and back.
These straps cut very easily with a utility knife, but will hold up well outdoors and are not sharp like the similar metal strapping is.
I also had some used pressure treated plywood that I cut down to a smaller size, with one diagonal side.
I traced it and cut a second identical piece.
I screwed these to the sides of the 2×4 with decking screws. This gave lift to the front of the cannon.
I cut down two more short sections of 2×4 and screwed them onto the front edge of the side panels.
I used 4 decking screws each as these will receive a lot of force when the cannon is used.
On each of the 2x4s I drilled a hole and screwed in an eyelet. This was in line with the cut out in the pipe.
I carefully cut the hooks off of a 4′ long bungee cord.
I cut the cord in half and burned the ends with a lighter to stop them from fraying.
I fed the cord through each eye and tied them into a figure 8 loop knot. The other end of this knot can easily slip over the handle piece.
I adjusted both cords until they had mostly even tension on both sides.
The entire thing got sprayed black, which made it really look like a cannon.
On our playset, I drilled a hole in the railing.
I also drilled a hole roughly in the middle of the second 2×4.
I added two washers on the railing then ran a washer and bolt through the 2×4.
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About I Like To Make Stuff:
We have lots of projects including woodworking, metalworking, electronics, 3D printing, prop making and more!
These videos are our attempt inspire and empower others to make the stuff that they want to have. Hopefully you’ll see something here that will inspire you to make something that you’re passionate about!
Water Balloon Cannon // How-To | I Like To Make Stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqra2rr8Beg
I Like To Make Stuff
http://www.youtube.com/Iliketomakestuff
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