by Ken Denmead
My older son plays Little League baseball, and it seemed to me that a cool idea would be to build some kind of neato baseball cannon for fun and practice. I had visions of hooking up some kind of PVC tube construct to my compressor and launching baseballs hundreds of feet into the air for some righteous outfield practice. I started doing some research on the Internet to find out who had done what before me, and learned that most of the work in this field has been done with more . . . explosive means toward launching the projectiles.
There were some versions using compressed air, however. The problem was that they all tended to use expensive valves and pressure chambers, which put the project out of the specs I was trying to keep all the GeekDad projects within. I needed to take a step back and reevaluate the project.
One day, watching my son at practice, I noticed that while they used regular baseballs for most of their drills, there was another kind they used in some cases. A lightbulb (LED) went on over my head: I’d build a Wiffle ball launcher!
Wiffle balls are so much lighter; I figured I could do something with manual compression. My boys and I went down to the local big-box home improvement store and dug through all the pipe and fitting they had. We returned home with 3-inch PVC, 4-inch and 6-inch drainpipe, a couple of rubber reducers, and, would you believe it, a toilet plunger. The concept was that I would build a compression chamber out of the larger pipe, which would reduce down to the 3-inch pipe. A Wiffle ball would be loaded into the 3-inch pipe and rest at its base on screws that had been drilled inward. The plunger fit just about perfectly into the 6-inch pipe and, the idea went, if you pushed the plunger upward quick enough, it would build enough pressure through the reducers to launch the Wiffle ball a significant height.
Yeah, well . . .
It was a complete failure. Being a civil engineer, I may have a basic grasp of certain areas of physics, but obviously my pneumatics needed updating. The boys and I were undaunted, though (well, maybe lightly daunted), because I had a fallback. I still had a compressor to work with.
We took apart most of the original build and instead devised something with a forechamber sealed mostly with duct tape. It had a small hole through which I could poke the end of the hand valve from the compressor’s hose. With about 60 psi built up, it couldn’t fail.
And again, so much for my memory of college physics. The Wiffle ball did actually make it out of the tube, but it flew in a very low arc, just a couple feet, and bounced on the ground. It was underwhelming, to say the least. I looked at my boys, they looked at me, and we all started laughing.
Time, and the cost of materials, made trying anything else prohibitive, so I asked them whether they were okay with calling it a fail. They were. They told me we’d tried our best, we’d improvised, explored the possibilities, but just couldn’t make it work. And then they ran off to play with their buddy from across the street.
So I apologize to everyone reading this book who may have turned to this chapter, looking for a cool project to launch projectiles. It isn’t here. I do firmly believe that it can be done, and probably in some way that’s not too far off from what we tried. With another couple weeks of research on the Internet and fine-tuning a design, we probably could have made it work. But we couldn’t, and it didn’t, and that’s okay. We tried, and we learned—both about what wouldn’t work and about the necessary humility in any project where you’re making it up from scratch. And I’m actually glad my boys and I could share that.
To make the long story just a little longer, my point is this: Be ready to fail. Indeed, when it comes, embrace failure as the learning experience it usually is. Don’t get angry. Don’t pound the workbench. Don’t let your frustration get any bigger than a shake of the head and a rueful laugh. Show your geeklet that failure isn’t an end but rather just another step toward ultimate success. Because patience and determination are vital components to the geek personality, and teaching that to your kids is as valuable a project as anything else in this book.
Appendix A
Resources and References by Chapter
The instructions for the projects in this book are intended as a starting point for creativity and customization rather than a comprehensive guide. If you’re interested in more information, and in sharing your variations on the projects in this book, the first place to go online is www.geekdadbook.com, where there are project pages and forums set up with an active, moderated community seeking to explore all the possibilities. Furthermore, the resources for many of the projects represented here are available online, and there are also alternative instructions on other Web sites. This appendix collects a list of links for each project to help you and your geeklets get as much as possible out of your creative experience.
I would like to extend special thanks to Phil Torrone and Marc de Vinc at www.makershed.com for supplying many of the electronics materials used in the projects. If you and your geeklets are interested in learning electronics as hobbyists, www.makershed.com and Make Magazine are THE places to start.
Another big thanks go to the folks at www.thinkgeek.com, who also supplied some materials for this book. www.thinkgeek.com is like the Toys-R-Us for geeks. Check it out!
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES BY CHAPTER
Make Your Own Cartoons
Everything Photoshop, including a Web-based editor, is available at www.photoshop.com.
Likewise, you can find the great Mac image editing program Pixelmator at www.pixelmator.com.
And for free on all platforms, you can use GIMP, available at www.gimp.org.
The program I used on the Mac to create the sample comic is Comic Life Magiq, easily found at www.plasq.com/comic-life-magiq.
The Coolest Homemade Coloring Books
A great online resource for FREE print-it-yourself coloring pages is www.patternsforcolouring.com.
Create the Ultimate Board Game
There is a dedicated section of the GeekDad book Web site for the board game at www.geekdadbook.com.
A great site for more fun is www.boardgamegeek.com.
Electronic Origami
You can buy the pen at www.frys.com/product/2931025.
The LEDs are available at www.makershed.com or http://sparklelabs.com/index_store.php.
You can find many more great origami folds at www.origami-club.com.
Cyborg Jack-o’-Lanterns and Other Holiday Decorations for Every Geeky Household
The electronics mentioned are available at www.makershed.com.
Windup Toy Finger Painting
For an extensive selection of windup toys, try www.tintoyarcade.com.
Paints should be available at your local crafts store or at www.michaels.com.
Create a Superhero ABC Book
As mentioned in the project, these are good sources for your heroes:The Superhero Dictionary (http://shdictionary.tripod.com)
Comic Vine (www.comicvine.com)
Marvel Universe: The Official Marvel Wiki (http://marvel.com)
And if your geeklets really love superheroes and RPGs, try introducing them to Champions at www.herogames.com.
Model Building with Cake
With the popularity of Ace of Cakes (www.foodnetwork.com/ace-of-cakes) and the success of Charm City Cakes (www.charmcitycakes.com), many local bakeries will build creative cakes to design.
If you need help doing it yourself, talk to your local baker. We were lucky that ours (www.amiabakery.com) let us come in and use their airbrush to get the roof tiles and shrubbery right.
Your local crafts store will probably have a baking section. We were able to find fondant and other supplies at the Michael’s near us (www.michaels.com).
Pirate Cartography
The original how-to for this project can be found at http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Make_A_Treasure_Map_From_A_Paper_Bag.
Parenting and Role-Playing Games
Check out the forums at www.geekdadbook.com, where we hope to build a storehouse of ideas and lessons learned from parents and kids using this game.<
br />
If you really want to get into RPGs with your kids, the home of D&D and a number of other great games is at Wizards of the Coast, www.wizards.com.
A Never-Ending Demolition Derby
While you can get LEGO sets almost anywhere, the best place to get loose LEGO is at your local LEGO store or on the online store at www.LEGO.com.
See the World from the Sky
Here’s my original source for information on the lifting ability of helium: www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/lift.html.
Great source for extra-large latex balloons: http://anvente.com.
When you’re ready to go to the next level, try the BlimpDuino at http://diydrones.com.
Best Slip ’N Slide Ever
You can find the plastic and hoses at your local hardware store, or online at places like www.hardwareandtools.com.
The peel-and-stick Velcro can be found at Walmart with the picture hangers.
Pool noodles are available almost everywhere that carries summer pool supplies.
Fireflies for Every Season
If you don’t have a local electronics store carrying simple LEDs, try www.frys.com/template/ecomponents.
You can get cool multicolor LEDs, batteries, and other awesome electronics kits at www.adafruit.com.
Video Games That Come to Life
For wooden hoops, check your local sewing/crafts store for inexpensive embroidery hoops.
Online, go to a store like www.joann.com and search for “hoops.” You should be able to find them as inexpensive as three hoops for a dollar.
Fly a Kite at Night
There are a variety of kite stores online, including www.coastalkites.com, www.intothewind.com, and www.kittyhawk.com.
I especially love the Star Wars kites available many places online, including www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/a52a.
Build an Outdoor Movie Theater
For more information on making your own outdoor theater, try http://backyardtheater.com.
The “Magic” Swing
The phone books should be dropped off at your door.
Rope and other fittings can be bought at your local hardware store or at www.hardwareandtools.com.
The video of the original MythBusters episode “Phone Book Friction” can be found here: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-phone-book-friction.html.
Smart Cuff Links
You can find all the materials for this project at your local computer equipment store or try www.frys.com.
Light-up Duct Tape Wallet
Much technical information was gleaned from the pages of www.ducttapeguys.com.
If you’d rather buy your wallet, try www.thinkgeek.com or www.ducttapefashion.com.
Crocheted Dice Bag of Holding
Try www.ravelry.com, a knitting and crochet community of online information and ideas.
The Science of Composting
www.planetnatural.com is an excellent resource for composting materials and information.
This project was inspired by the original GeekDad post www.wired.com/geekdad/2007/05/the_compost_bin.
Home Hydroponics
www.planetnatural.com is also an excellent resource for hydroponics materials and information.
Botanicalls kit: www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKBT1. This is an awesome kit to allow your plants to tweet you when they need watering!
Technical inspiration for this project came from www.hydroponics101.com and www.salviasource.org.
Build a Binary Calendar
This project was inspired by the twelve-cent coin calendar described here: www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/perpetualcalendar
Portable Electronic Flash Cards
Here are two Web pages that were invaluable in figuring how to access local files on the PSP browser: http://asserttrue.com/articles/2007/02/02/how-to-run-local-flash-content-on-a-sony-psp. It explains the local URL (one slash, not two). It also tells you how to run Flash on the PSP, which is another possible way to implement the cards. www.brothercake.com/site/resources/reference/psp. This site gives great information on the capabilities and limitations of the PSP browser, specifically regarding CSS and Javascript.
Wi-Fi Signal Booster
The Linksys WUSBF54G is one example of the USB Wi-Fi adapter mentioned in the project. You can find them all over the place.
There are a number of variations of this project online. One of my favorites is www.instructables.com/id/Wifi-Signal-Strainer-WokFi.
Cool LEGO Lighting from Repurposed Parts
The Arduino board and BlinkM unit used for the project come from www.makershed.com.
Ice Cubes Fit for a Greek
MoldRite is available from the maker’s Web site, www.artmolds.com/, or on www.Amazon.com.
Exploding Drink Practical Joke
The original DP & Mentos guys have a Web site at www.eepybird.com, where they sell specialty kits for getting really cool geyser effects like they do in their live shows.
Afterword: Pneumatic Wiffle Ball Cannon—Failure as a Project
Someone succeeded at making a pneumatic baseball cannon here: www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-build-a-pneumatic-tennis-ball-cannon.
MythBusters’s Adam Savage gave a great talk on failure at the 2009 Maker Faire, which you can watch at http://fora.tv/2009/05/30/MythBuster_Adam_Savages_Colossal_Failures. I was in the next building over at the time.
Appendix B
RPG Character Sheet
1 of 2
2 of 2
Appendix C
Projects Listed by Rank