Lance Akiyama

A friend of mine built a trebuchet at the family farm and tested it the week I visited. Building machines to shoot stuff around has never been my thing, but what the heck.

Here Mr. Lance Akiyama presents 10 launchers made from wooden paint stirrers, small blocks of wood, pencils, duct tape, PVC pipe, binder clips, and mousetraps. The launch action is powered by rubber bands.

I haven't played with paint stirrers for a while but I don't recollect their having much flex, and I am not overly fond of duct tape. But then, I was never one to build my own toys. The PVC slingshot, though, looks like a slick substitute for the metal slingshots I use (ineffectively) against feral tomcats in my garden.

"Rubber Band Engineer" was first published in 2016 and "Launchers, Lobbers, and Rockets Engineer: Make 20 Awesome Ballistic Blasters with Ordinary Stuff" came out in 2018. This pocket-sized, hardcover book with rubber band closure is intended to be a gift edition for someone who might want to carry this kind of book around in a pocket.

If you know someone like that then here's your gift.

I received a review copy of "Rubber Band Engineer: All-Ballistic Pocket Edition: From a Slingshot Rifle to a Mousetrap Catapult, Build 10 Guerrilla Gadgets from Household Hardware" by Lance Akiyama (Quarto – Rockport) through NetGalley.com.… (més)