Monday, April 29, 2013

Zombie Go Boom Cooperation

I have been a follower of the Zombie Go Boom guys for a long time. Gotta love Zombie destruction tests!

Their heads have been getting better and better - the current iteration is really getting there.

Gorgeous, won't rot, simulate flesh, skin, blood, and bone - just amazing!

They sent me two of these and I tested the first one. Commercial slingshot didn't do much damage (if any). Homemade one, lots better.


Saturday, April 27, 2013

RUB15 homemade crossbow upper receiver for M16 / AR-15

Here are the first pictures of the build...

Will do a pure arrow shooter first, just to learn what works and what doesn't.

Removed the upper receiver and also the trigger/hammer assembly. Then I made a base plate from 18mm multiplex. Added a trigger and my usual lock, used a nail that I can bend into shape.

The lock works like a charm!

I will use two 16mm steel tubes as "barrel" and "rail" parts. The draw is 100% inline with the rails. I plan to make a cocking slide for fast action. This crossbow will be quick.

No changes to the original M16A1.





Friday, April 26, 2013

Upcoming coverage on German TV

The German TV network "MDR" will cover me in their format "Außenseiter Spitzenreiter", on May 1st (9:15 PM GMT+1).

See the details on the MDR homepage

The episode will be available online for a while, will post the link as soon as it becomes available. German language of course. 

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Mini Magazine Shooter

The spring has come. Once again we can spend some time outdoors!

Of course one must ALWAYS have a slingshot around. But on a Sunday morning walk with the family, a bulky Moorhammer isn't appropriate. So I always carry a mini slingshot.

Ammo is another concern. I actually loved LW's magazine idea

See his original model

so much that I decided to make another mini, with that mag design included.

5 rounds of 8mm steel! Held in place by a 3mm neodyme. Orange Osage on 9mm multiplex, finished in Linseed.

I put on very short bands, just 10cm active length. Kept the bands a bit wider so the 8mm still have decent power.







Friday, April 12, 2013

The Bar Fight Dominator

Had two days off, made the ashtray shooter.

It is chambered for the 75x30mm Ashtrays. Those weigh 245 gramms (0.56 lb) each. The weapon holds four of them in the clip, 1 more in the chamber.

A pump action shooter that you put against your chest and the draw back with both arms. Thanks to the specifically designed mechanism that isn't very hard.

The ashtrays land with a mighty force! Video coming up Sunday.


Enlarge this image Click to see fullsize


The thing also has a mounting for broken off beer bottles, as bayonets.


Enlarge this image Click to see fullsize


The magazine is gravity fed. This weapon is surprisingly accurate!


Enlarge this image Click to see fullsize

Word from the Gates Foundation

I had messaged the Bill Gates foundation and told them that my "condom gun" isn't a serious competitor, just a piece of comedy, and they got back to me today.


Here is an excerpt from their mail:

....We wanted to let you know that your video has drawn the 2nd most amount of traffic to our site since March 22, second only to the Gates Foundation website.... By creating a fun video, you were able to draw so many viewers to this topic, and we hope that one of these applicants could have a solution that could really help save lives. Thank you for sharing this opportunity with the world and for bringing people’s attention to this important topic.

If you wouldn’t mind sending us your mailing address, our team would like to send something as a token of our appreciation.

Wow! I feel like a hero now.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Reddit IAMA on the 10th

Reddit is a huge bulletin board style website, immensely popular. It is also called the "frontpage of the internet".

The members create posts about interesting things they find on the web, and other members can up- and downvote the post. If a post makes the front page, it is very popular - and will be even more popular soon, thanks to the participating members.

Some of my videos have been featured on reddit, and the last one (condom gun) even made the top of the front page. Yay!

Reddit also has a way to interview people online. They call it "IAMA". One of their users posted a request for me to be interviewed:

See the request over at Reddit

Of course I will gladly be available for questions.

So on Wednesday, April 10th, I will be answering questions live from 8 PM GMT+1 (EST+6). So that would be 2 PM NYC time.

Looking forward to that!

UPDATE: The AMA is over, it was lots of fun. I typed three hours non stop. We even made the reddit front page!

Here is the entire discussion:

See the Jörg Sprave AMA on reddit



Sunday, April 7, 2013

Bill Gates Calls, I shall answer!

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation offers 100,000 USD for projects that improve things around condoms.

Read about it on the Foundation Website

"Application of knowledge from other fields" is explicitly called for. Bill looks for "attributes that increase ease-of-use" and designs that make it "easier to properly apply" a preservative.

Of course I HAD to come forth and help the visionary billionaire on his lofty quest. Therefore, this video brings to you the world's first condom applicator slingshot gun!

See for yourself.



Please keep in mind this is comedy and NOT a serious project. :)

Monday, April 1, 2013

At last. A pump gun slingshot tutorial.

So many people wanted blueprints and tuts for my pump actions.

But of course the Oreo one is useless, and the cardboard one is flimsy and weak.

So I decided to make a really nice one that shoots M10 hexnuts. Those are very cheap (I buy 100 pcs for five Euros), last forever, and have the right weight. About 10 gramms is ideal for a pump gun, as draw length and weight is limited if you want to be able to fire quickly. I made one a long time ago for 20mm steel balls, but those are too heavy, three time as much as the M10 hexnuts.

Also the weapon is pretty thin, just under 30 mm wide and 80 cm long.

The magazine fits 40 rounds!




The mechanism is really the same as for the Oreo shooter - but I put in a rare earth magnet to hold the "active" nut in place. Nice, you hear a clicking noise when you repeat, and then you know everything's fine.

I have a set of blueprints and also a private how to video online:
See the related post on my forum