Made A Crossbow Out Of Office Supplies

May 27, 2011 Filed in: Crafts
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“If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.”
  --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I found this project in a book and thought it would be fun to make.  I started with the following items, all of which should be available in almost any office:
  • -A pen
  • -A marker
  • -A clip
  • -Some rubber bands
  • -Tape
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The first step was to disassemble the pen.
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The most time consuming part was making a hole in the middle that could fit the tip portion of the pen.  It’s probably a lot easier with a drill, but most people don’t have a drill at the office.  I used a thumbtack to make the hole.
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Then I used a pair of scissors to make it larger.
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I also used the scissors to cut slits on each end of the pen shaft.
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This is what the main cross part looks like.
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I used rubber bands and a bit of Super Glue from Dave Lo to attach the pen and the marker together into a cross.
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I taped the clip onto the marker as well.
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I took another rubber band and fit it into the two slits I made.  The ink section of the pen goes through the little tip portion and presses back into the rubber band.  It’s then secured with the clip part of the crossbow.
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The first time I shot it, I didn’t think the rubber band was going to be tight enough to do anything, but when i released it, the “arrow” flew over the wall and bounced off another wall in the hallway.  I went to retrieve my ink arrow and one of my co-workers said, “I thought something hit me in the head.”  Whoops!



It works better than I expected and can be assembled really quickly.  I can definitely see the potential to make something much more dangerous here.
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