PsychoGenetiX Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Let's start out with this: I've made BIG progress. So it's been about a month of refining what we came up with in the previous thread: The arrows have gained an extra inch in length (on the thin side), the little tails at the back (fletchings) are angled so the arrow would twirl in the air to create balance, and I'm even working on a technique to put FOUR fletchings on them instead of two. I've come to the point where, with my crappy, and I mean REALLY CRAPPY rubber bands, can shoot ACCURATELY across the house, which is around 17m to say the least. Accurately, I say, because the arrow just arrives there because that's where I aimed it. But it doesn't exactly hit and penetrate what I was aiming at. It's more like a poke at that range. A painful poke. And of course it's not as accurate as 5 meters away. But today I ordered pizza. And pizza is the last place where I expected to find what I was looking for: Really awesome rubber bands. The kind we talked about in the previous thread? The packaging ones that stretch super far and come back super hard. This is the new design of the crossbow compared to the size of a CD, at the top right you can see one of the two badass new rubber bands I found: I found one of those, a BIG one, stretched around my pizza box. I folded it in half, stuck a piece of micropore tape on it and shazam: I have weaponized LEGO. It is around twice as powerful as the crappy rubber bands I used, and oh lord does it come back hard. It's so powerful, I would say it launches arrows that weigh twice as much as the old toothpicks, even faster. It takes 1/6th of a second to travel 5 meters. That calculates into 108km/h, or 100fps in crossbow terms. The time it takes for the arrow to travel to the target from the moment you pull the trigger is near-instant. You can almost hear the sound of the rubber band hitting the back of the barrel and the sound of the arrow stabbing an inch deep into packaging styrofoam at the SAME TIME. It is so powerful, that when I missed a shot I managed to BLOW A HOLE THROUGH MY HARD PLASTIC WINDOW SHUTTER. And break the arrow in half. The old design couldn't handle the power of this rubber band, which is why the crossbow went through an overhaul. It's much sturdier with limbs twice as thick and new parts I got from three new sets of Technic that I bought with money I earned from Graphics Design in the beginning of the summer. I have also replaced the old cardboard I used (since the arrows now punch completely through and keep going a little...) with packaging styrofoam: the blocky, bubbly, white stuff that TV's and Toasters come packaged in. The new rubber band is so strong it is actually able to resist the trigger mechanism, so the whole thing behaves differently: The crossbow WANTS to fire. Let go and SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER ALREADY. I also came up with an idea from youtube to make a ramming arrow with a blunt end that can break stuff. I'll see where I can go with that. YOUTUBE VIDEO ANOTHER YOUTUBE VIDEO And here is a side view in HD: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McJobless Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I'm verty excited to see this...one request though, could you possibly make an instruction manual on how to assemble one of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addictgamer Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I applaud thee for they ingenuity. No, really, I do. This is just awesome! I'll be gleefully awaiting these pictures you mentioned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aLPHA Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I made a crossbow like this once that launched bamboo skewers. I just made a bow out of a stick and strong string and attached it to a 2x4. It used a manual release mechanism (my finger) but it was capable of embedding the arrow a few good centimeters into a piece of wood :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apemax Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Very cool. I have to say well done. Can't wait to see some pictures of it to see how it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tauka Usanake Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I want one. I really REALLY do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aLPHA Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Do what I did then. Get a wood dowel about 1 Cm thick and about a meter long then turn it into a bow using very strong string. Duct tape it to a piece of wood and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychoGenetiX Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Updated original post. I also have some bad news. I used the two new rubber bands so much today that they got worn out and eventually torn up. I think I'm gonna go to that pizza place and buy me a bunch of those though. I'm verty excited to see this...one request though, could you possibly make an instruction manual on how to assemble one of these? I would. In fact I already made it in Digital Designer. But it still needs some refinement and manual on how to actually USE it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addictgamer Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 *Sees videos and pic* It looks deadlier than the old. Judging by the facts, it is much deadlier. Could you by any chance upload a video of this crossbow in action, after grabbing those new rubber bands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychoGenetiX Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 *Sees videos and pic* It looks deadlier than the old. Judging by the facts, it is much deadlier. Could you by any chance upload a video of this crossbow in action, after grabbing those new rubber bands? Yeah. This one is with one of the two that I got. The arrows in this video are crappy except the one that was a direct hit and the one that sadly wasnt because I shot it aiming through the camera. Fresh rubber bands that haven't spent 30 minutes stretched around a pizza box would probably not wear out as fast and be a little stronger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addictgamer Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Oh, awesome. It's even better than the image the OP's description gave me ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychoGenetiX Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychoGenetiX Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 I went to that pizza place and got like 20 more of those epic rubber bands. Bumping with content: YOUTUBE VIDEO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addictgamer Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Another shot? It's a great shot. It seems to be even faster than the first time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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