[Turtle]

Ok, spent the day with a good friend of mine and managed to grab some supplies for building. I pieced together a

pvc blowgun and we tried to make some darts but they didn't work all that well.

What I did, was buy some mariette connectors, and we drilled a small hole in which to insert some spring steel antenna

wire, using this as the dart. What was happening, on half the shots taken was the mariette was hitting the wood target we were

using, instead of the dart, and broke the plastic mariette and would render it useless.

My question is does this half to do with balance and weight? Why would the mariette hit the target instead of the dart? More

weight perhaps needed, aka, longer dart portion? Any help appreciated.

Turtle

 

[aToolMaker]

Im assuming your mariette connectors are used for electrical wire , right ? I call them wire nuts. Never made a good flying dart with one . As I remember too heavy on any shaft , and causes darts to flip. Use duct tape if you can for cones. Also, tapered mandrel can be made from two-part epoxy, for custom cones.

 

[Turtle]

Thanks toolmaker, yes wire nuts. I think you are right about it being too heavy. I'll grab some duct tape tomorrow and make
some cones from that since it seems so popular.

 

[aToolMaker]

I have tried many off-the-shelf items too , trying to keep it simple , but usually problems with flight or durability bring me back to ducttape again and again.

 

[superman365]

duct tape is the way to go

 

[Turtle]

Thanks again guys, picked up a roll of the thin stuff, so I now have all the supplies, including 300 bamboo

skewers (cheap).

 

[aToolMaker]

Best way to go now is make one nice cone ( 3 to 1 ratio ) so about 1.5" by 5/8", fill it with two-part epoxy and put a stick for a handle. Now you can have consistent cones every time. I put one square of tape sticky out ( lick two fingers, it helps ) and one square around to finish. Trim to fit.

 

[Turtle]

Thanks toolmaker, good idea about leaving a bit outside the cone for a grabber, I'd seen it on some of the vid's but hadn't really

thought it through about why there.