Gadgets

Altoids Tin Catapult Will Make You Feel, And Act, 10 Years Old Again

By Dan Nosowitz on July 10, 2009 at 3:00 PM

Here’s an Instructables to bring back the obnoxious kid that lives not so far down in all of us: Learn how to turn one of those miniature Altoids tins into a tiny catapult. It’ll be fun for nobody but you.

We like Instructables like this one because not everyone has a damn laser cutter lying around, and this one only requires materials you’ve likely got lying around anyway (coat hanger, rubber band, spoon, etc.). The creator promises it’ll only take about 10 minutes, and we promise it’ll be fun for at least 11. [Instructables]

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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)

  • SigmundTheSeaMonster
    July 10, 2009 at 9:47 PM
    Altoids "The Curiously Strong Trebuchet"

    SigmundTheSeaMonster

  • Unspellable
    July 10, 2009 at 9:41 PM
    @bosskev: Yeah, it's all 'fun' and 'games' until someone gets a mint in their eye!
  • baller3643
    July 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
    Do you think that someone would get rich if they sold this???

    baller3643

  • Con Seannery
    July 10, 2009 at 5:22 PM
    @Bill Nye's Secret Male Lover:
    There once was a man with a rhyme.
    Which seemed pretty good at the time...
    Your lyric was witty,
    Your execution...just shitty,
    You messed up and left out a line!

    Con Seannery

  • Con Seannery
    July 10, 2009 at 5:09 PM
    @bosskev: Could I start a franchise?
    Con Seannery: Unoriginality, Inc.

    Con Seannery

  • ngc6027
    July 10, 2009 at 4:08 PM
    @bosskev: Ah, you got me there. It sounded cool at the time :)
  • Bill Nye's Secret Male Lover
    July 10, 2009 at 4:05 PM
    @Xterm11_is Rhyming:
    It's true, you can rhyme,
    but your grammar's atrocious.
    I mean know harm,
    't is only my neurosis:
    I am not a smarm,
    but flame 'll be ferocious,
    for your writing's sublime
  • Zander
    July 10, 2009 at 3:48 PM
    @bosskev: You know it.

    Zander

  • bosskev
    July 10, 2009 at 3:44 PM
    @Xterm11_is Rhyming: Nice, Xterm11. And, in any case, I've been doing that since way before 2002.

    BOSSKEV: Founder/Owner, "Wet Blanket Emporium"
  • Xterm11_is Rhyming
    July 10, 2009 at 3:33 PM
    @bosskev:
    bosskev: Ruining everyone's fun since 2002
  • derilium
    July 10, 2009 at 3:28 PM
    @bosskev: What if you launch the mint into their mouth and it gets lodged in? And then... (another possibility :)

    derilium

  • vSanjo
    July 10, 2009 at 3:28 PM
    @bosskev: I don't even think it'll function well as that, taking a second look at it. If the thing has no way to stop, it's just gonna launch it fast at the floor.
  • vSanjo
    July 10, 2009 at 3:27 PM
    This get I must. Takes 10 minutes. Fun for 11. But in those 11 minutes, you'll manage to go through everything available at arms reach - pen.. lid, battery, hamster, coins. Just to 'test the strength'.
  • bosskev
    July 10, 2009 at 3:26 PM
    @ngc6027: OK, let's see. You can:

    1) Launch a mint into their mouth.
    2) Or you can...uh...

    Nope, the possibilities are a bit short of endless. But still fun.
  • ngc6027
    July 10, 2009 at 3:16 PM
    This is perfect. If someone is talking to you and has bad breath, you can just launch a mint into their mouth. Oh, the possibilities are endless.
  • Albert Lee Blundell
    July 10, 2009 at 3:14 PM
    Yes, I can use this to steathily catapult mints into the mouths of the lesser citizens who forget to brush their teeth and whatnot. Evil ne'r do wells will be more aware next time.

    Albert Lee Blundell

  • Whydoesthisalwayshappentome
    July 10, 2009 at 3:13 PM
    I wonder if this will work for the larger altoids tins.
  • Xterm11_is Rhyming
    July 10, 2009 at 3:11 PM
    This Altoids tin, will not make,
    me act as though I'm ten
    for when I, was that old,
    I was smarter than Jason Chen

    When Jason Chen was ten years old,
    he could barely count to 3.
    I knew the rate of change,
    of position equals V.
  • NurseDave
    July 10, 2009 at 3:02 PM
    ooh ya! My cubical needs one of them.

    NurseDave

  • BlueToast
    July 11, 2009 at 8:51 AM
    @bosskev: Smartass!

    BlueToast

  • psychiccheese
    July 11, 2009 at 7:25 AM
    @Con Seannery:
    I scrolled down, looked and said HEY!
    Are all these threads rhyming today?
    (I'm not complaining)
    While quite entertaining,
    We're off topic again, by the way.

    psychiccheese

  • drewkkake
    July 11, 2009 at 7:10 AM
    It looks like an Altoid in the launcher, but do the others look like Mentos, the Freshmaker! to anyone else?

    drewkkake

  • Whydoesthisalwayshappentome
    July 11, 2009 at 6:19 AM
    @Bill Nye's Secret Male Lover: Whatever you do, don't do the nantucket one please.
  • Elasticity
    July 11, 2009 at 12:56 AM
    Haikus are easy, but sometimes they dont make sense, refrigerator
  • Sticks Calhoun
    July 11, 2009 at 12:36 AM
    @theblackdog: If you're going to that much trouble, you might as well just smack 'em.
  • Ho0ber
    July 11, 2009 at 12:22 AM
    @SigmundTheSeaMonster: Altoids "The Curiously Strong Torsion Engine" would be far more accurate a term. Nonetheless, your warping of the slogan is quite amusing.

    Ho0ber

  • theblackdog
    July 11, 2009 at 12:13 AM
    @bosskev: You can also pull back the spoon, put it next to their head or hand and smack them with it
  • Jonhy
    July 13, 2009 at 2:21 PM

    I understand this is a little off-topic, but if someone could figure out how to hurl "hot poptarts" with this, they could probably take over the world.

  • derilium
    July 10, 2009 at 3:30 PM

    haha i agree with the laser cutter! i hate it when i find an amazing project and i need one of 'em

    derilium

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