Clever Mini-Matchstick Gun

Looking for a quick fun little project you can do for next to nothing? Why not make your own matchstick/toothpick launcher!

[Grant Thompson] the [King of Random] is at it again with another fun project that anyone can do — we just hope you’re responsible with it! All you need is some clothespins, a utility knife, and some form of munition — we like the flaming matches!

By cutting a few grooves into the clothespin, gluing it back together and re-configuring the spring layout, you can make a formidable mini-gun that can shoot upwards of 20 feet. Using a pointy toothpick it will skewer innocent fruits quite effectively too!

To see it in action and to learn how to make one yourself, stick around after the break.

[Grant] can’t take all the credit for it though, as it was originally inspired by [Samarai’s] Instructable the Clothespin Gun, which also has some neat ideas about modifications!

24 thoughts on “Clever Mini-Matchstick Gun

    1. I did this when I was a kid in the 70s. There is a *much* simpler version that ignites the match while it is being launched. Takes less than a minute to make and requires only one simple notch cut. I’m sure you can find plans on the interwebz. Unfortunately, most modern strike-anywhere matches contain so little of the strike-anywhere material that this no longer works reliably.

    1. I also remember it, but what about the people that havent? I havent seen anything about this in more than 5 years, but there ought to be some people on this site that havent heard of it yet

  1. oh just wait till both the tsa and nsa find out about this. no more cloths pins on airplanes for you plus a 3 day waiting period, maybe even a national registry for those trying to buy cloths pins……

    1. Don’t worry, the clothespin lobby will throw so much money at Congress and the media to push FUD about an “anti-clothespin agenda” that nothing will ever happen. (Well, clothespin sales will skyrocket in the mass hysteria, netting the clothespin lobby even more money, but other than that…)

  2. Неужели стрелялку из прищепки изобрели?! Помнится, в школьные годы мы такие точно делали – дай бог памяти, в 1978 году вроде как…

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