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Topic : "Tutorial: The lost art of the paper dart" |
Novacaptain member
Member # Joined: 09 Jan 2001 Posts: 906 Location: Sweden
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2003 6:18 pm |
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Alright kiddies! Last month i showed you how to prepare a feral chicken for food using a knife. Today I will dispense some very much less gruesome information.
Disclaimer:
I do not take responsability for your actions. So if you poke your eyes out, kill your neighbors dog, break your thumbs off or cause any other sort of unpleasantness to yourself or others - it's your own fault.
That said, here comes the step-by-step revelation of the lost art of paper-dart manufacture and use.
I had a lot of spare time in my last year of highschool and i managed, through many redesigns and prototype constructions, to produce this highly accurate, long-range (about 50 meters with favorable conditions), low cost and extra-fun paper projectile system.
Requirements:
Paper
Manual dexterity
Targets
Take a piece of paper (almost any size works). It works better if you have a failed piece of art on it...because then you can convert your own frustration into frustration for someone else...thus giving the whole thing a theraputic value. Make sure the paper is rigid enough to stay folded (unlike newsprint).
Rip two strips of paper off on the long side...or cut them if you have scissors or knife. You can also fold the paper prior to ripping to get a more even edge to it but it works either way.
There you have it...two strips of paper!
Now take one strip and roll it like this from one of the corners. Make it as tight as possible.
Rollin rollin rollin, keep em doggies rollin, RAWHIDE! er, right. Anyways...roll that paper into a cone with a TIGHT tip.
This is what a true paper dart artist's rolled paper-cone looks like. Yours will look better of course...
Now flatten the cone by pressing on it (do not slide your fingers along it because it will probably have some adverse effect on the delicate but TIGHT rolling you've just been doing). One of the reasons for this is that the paper will stay tight and rolled while you repeat the steps with the second strip of paper.
So in the end you have two tightly rolled and flattened paper cones.
Since there always is some insonsistency in our rolling one of the cones will be a little thiner and longer than the other. Take whichever is thinnest and insert it into the back end of the other.
Push it in a little (but be careful not to bend them) The end result should be this. I am here pointing at the rear cone that sticks out from the back of the tip cone.
Now unroll the backside cone as far as the tip cone will allow. This will create a spiral shaped of stabilizer that will keep the dart on its intended trajectory. This is the view from behind. Leave it like this and trim a little off if it makes too many loops.
There you have it...The paper dart in all its glory.
Paper cuts are no longer the most dangerous paper-related injuries.
To effectively launch and hit things at a range you might like this method.
Hold the paper dart like this between your index fingers.
Invert the position so that the tip is forward. Take aim and by pushing your fingertips together and forward - launch the deadly paper-missile of doom.
Direct hit! Goodbye camera-assistant!
I thank you for your attention and hope that you have fun with this.
Note: the most effective way of reaching long distances is to fire at an upwards angle of 45 degrees (in vacuum) ( _.-^'^-._ ) _________________ It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice - Scooter |
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[Shizo] member
Member # Joined: 22 Oct 1999 Posts: 3938
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2003 11:05 pm |
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Hah.. i don't believe. 50 meters? Impossible.. |
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Matthew member
Member # Joined: 05 Oct 2002 Posts: 3784 Location: I am out of here for good
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2003 12:15 am |
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yeah 50 metres is amazing. Cool work. :)
Matthew |
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ceenda member
Member # Joined: 27 Jun 2000 Posts: 2030
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2003 12:59 am |
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Awesome!
What's tommorow's tutorial? Preparing the poison tip?  |
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Tzan member
Member # Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 755 Location: Boston MA
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2003 9:11 am |
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I think the next tip will be how to prepare the camera assistant for dinner. I hear they are good eat'n, tastes like chicken  |
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gLitterbug member
Member # Joined: 13 Feb 2001 Posts: 1340 Location: Austria
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 3:27 am |
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Awesome indeed! I made one right after I read the instructions and it works like a charm, way better than I thought! |
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Andromeda member
Member # Joined: 18 Jan 2000 Posts: 708 Location: Lower Ward, Sigil
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 9:57 am |
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Quote: |
So in the end you have two tightly rolled and flattened paper cones. |
oh .. paper cones .. i rolled them up so tight they werent cones .. rather two REALLY REALLY tightly rolled paper cylinders, and i cant insert one into the other ... _________________ �This be my website� |
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Max member
Member # Joined: 12 Aug 2002 Posts: 3210 Location: MIND
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 11:13 am |
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cool idea man!
First time I got a kinda big dart. Broke after two flights.
Second time I have done it better. This really works!
I'll try to make a new record...let's see - 51 meters?
:::-------------->
PS: the "failed pice of art paper" works better, you're right |
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jr member
Member # Joined: 17 Jun 2001 Posts: 1046 Location: nyc
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 3:52 pm |
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good stuff, toamrow, flaming bag of dog poo at the door of your enemy!  _________________  |
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Rat member
Member # Joined: 10 Feb 2002 Posts: 851 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 9:31 pm |
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Yay! Something to do during science!! *grins* _________________ ~Gio
afterglow |
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Andromeda member
Member # Joined: 18 Jan 2000 Posts: 708 Location: Lower Ward, Sigil
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2003 5:27 pm |
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BAH i give up... i cant stick one at the back of the other ...
got frustrated and took one of my really tightly rolled cones, covered it in superglue, smoothed the edges, filed the end so it becomes a sharp point and threw it at stuff around the house before throwing it into my neighbours window...
i missed ...
thing cant fly. _________________ �This be my website� |
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Novacaptain member
Member # Joined: 09 Jan 2001 Posts: 906 Location: Sweden
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Posted: Sun May 25, 2003 6:01 am |
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hehe i'm glad some of you managed to make your own...suggestions and improvements on the design are welcome. Anyways...50 meters with *Favorable conditions* ie. Standing at the top of a 12 storey building with the wind in your back. But seriously...these things can go far.
There actually IS a way to make it poison tipped too. If you roll a pin into the tip cone, the rear cone will hold it in place (and keep it from sliding into the dart upon impact). Works great on those cork/wood message borads. _________________ It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice - Scooter |
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starfish member
Member # Joined: 07 Feb 2000 Posts: 126
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2003 5:52 pm |
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Ninjacaptain strikes again! |
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