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Homemade CD Shooter?

Posted by Cliff on from the careful-you-don't-take-someone's-head-off dept.

Rinisari asks: "I've recently come into a very large amount of defunct, yet still structurally intact, CDs. I did some searching about on Google, but turned up nothing on my goal: A Compact Disc Cannon. Has anyone ever built a device for shooting CDs in a horizontal or vertical fashion? I'm thinking almost something like one of those foam disc shooters..."

6 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. Clay Pigeon Chucker by jtev · · Score: 5, Insightful

    CDs fit perfectly into a clay pigeon thrower, not the mechanical type, but the spring loaded type you use to throw them by hand realy far. I don't know how much this helps though. Clay pigeons are cheap, but I guess if you realy want to take out frustration on AOL this works.

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  2. Hmmm... by coyote4til7 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Buy the gadget you linked to, disassemble it and figure out how they did it?

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  3. CDRoms shatter and 'explode' - be careful by wimbor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As you can read in this slashdot article CDroms break up when they are spun to fast. When a CD launched from a cannon hits a wall, you can bet that the flying debris can seriously injure you... I would be VERY careful...

  4. Re:I don't see why you can't build one.... by smatthew · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Aha - but while the foam disc gun uses stiff wheels, and flexible ammo..... just use flexible wheels with the CD. Some medium density rubber which can compress slightly... should work.

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  5. Some sugestions. by gmiller123456 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't think you'll be able to copy the "foam disk launcher" design as it uses a spring, and you have to pull the trigger to reset the spring for firing. Since a CD weighs much more than the little foam discs, you're going to need a spring you won't be able to set with your fingers.

    Like everyone else, I'd recommend the use of an electric motor. The simplest design would be two rubber cylinders placed vertically, one powered, the other spinning only because it's touching the other. But the trajectory will be a bit unpredictable because the CD won't be spinning.

    To get spin on the CD, you could use just one spinning cylinder, another cylinder placed the width of a CD horizantaly from the other.

    I'd skip the idea of a loader for now, and just load them by hand. The loader will require very precise construction so that you can just grab one CD at a time. So, unless you know someone you just have to hurl 50 CDs at in 10 seconds, I'd just skip it.

    For the motor, you could start with a small drill for prototyping, then move up to a router for more heavy duty stuff. But I don't see anyway to avoid the eventual need for the motor from a gas powered lawnmower (or a truck).

  6. Ouch! by Wookie+Athos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My first reaction was along the lines of "Man, that's asking for trouble". It'd be a fun toy to make, but once you fire a few disks you'll get an understanding of how dangerous this is. I know I'm not the only one to comment on this, but what the hey...

    My experience is only with hand-thrown CDs (at a distance of 15m or so) but:

    • If one hits you and it "only hurts" you were probably lucky.
    • CDs can easily embed themselves in plasterboard walls.
    • They shatter easily on impact, and yes those shards are SHARP.
    • They're REALLY hard to aim. They're not as stable as a frisbee, and can wobble and twist in mid-air. It's not a nice feeling when you see one drifting off-target and towards an innocent target (e.g. a child or your boss's boss).

    Sure, you can have fun designing a machine, but it's a downright dangerous result you're looking for. Can't you exercise your brain with a safer problem?

    Like nuclear fission... ;-)