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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..."

3 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.

    --
    That which is done from love exists beyond good and evil
  2. 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...

  3. 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... ;-)