Whoosh Boom Splat: The Garage Warrior's Guide to Building Projectile Shooters

by William Gurstelle

These are the homemade machines that you’ve dreamed of building, from the high-voltage Night Lighter 36 spud gun to the Jam Jar Jet, the Marshmallow Shooter, and the Yagua Blowgun. Including detailed diagrams and supply lists, Gurstelle’s simple, step-by-step instructions help workshop warriors at any skill level achieve impressively powerful results. With Whoosh Boom Splat , you can

- The Jam Jar Jet—the simple pulse jet engine that roars
- The Elastic Zip Cannon—a membrane-powered shooter that packs a wallop
- The Mechanical Toe—a bungee-powered kicking machine
- The Vortex Launcher—a projectile shooter that uses air bullets for ammunition
- The Clothespin Snap Shooter—the PG-17 version of a clothespin gun that fires fiery projectiles
- The Architronito—the steam-powered cannon conceived by Leonardo da Vinci
And many more!

In addition to learning how to make these cool gadgets, you’ll find sections packed with information on what makes each machine unique. Gurstelle describes the machine’s historical origins as only he with verve, fun, and the sort of quirky details his legions of fans love. Whoosh Boom Splat is a must-have for every extreme tinkerer.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2007

Reviews

[Smellsofbikes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reasonable, fun book o' projectile projects, including multiple-page discussions of the history and development of the original projectiles on which the projects are based. The best one is the potato cannon, using a tazer-based ignition system.

[Reads with Scotch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whoosh boom splat was a juvenile silly book. I enjoyed it and had fun making some of the projects. This would be a good tool to help fathers and sons spend time together.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I taught a Physics class last year, and we used a few projects from this book. They were very entertaining.