Since I was I child, I have envied those people that could ping a rubber band, with precision, across a room and initiate a rubber band battle. My dad was a master at it and I had teachers (in the days when they could flick you with chalk and ping you with rubber bands without it being labelled child abuse) who were experts. Similarly, my husband can ping a rubber band with panache and has taught my son how to do it with equal skill. Me? I always end up with a rubber band in my own eye!!
Today, though, is the day I can potentially start planning my revenge.
Oh yes!!
The 3D printed Rubber Band Blaster (RBB-32), which as of about an hour ago at time of writing, has gone live on Kickstarter seeking $500 in funding.
There must be others out there who are excited by this too. There are five backers already (not including me) who have tipped the campaign over 20% of its goal.
So, the designers and engineers among you might not get too excited about this one, but for me, this is exactly the type of thing that I think 3D printing is brilliant at, and the smiles — well, they’re a bonus.
The project is the brainchild of David Dorhout of Dorhout R&D LLC, who it turns out, spent at least part of his childhood engaged in rubber band battles and coming up with non-3D printed ways of blasting multiple rubber bands until:
“Fast forward a number of years and one 3D printer. I originally bought my printer for all of the normal responsible things: Printing gears, enclosures, robot legs, etc. However, one day I was reminiscing with a friend about our epic building sessions and how it would have been great to have had a 3D printer. The idea for a small Gatling blaster popped into my head and you now see the results.”
After doing a beta test selling the fully assembled RBB-32 David discovered he would never even break even unless he did it full time, which was not in his long term plan, however, demand was high enough to warrant a KS campaign whereby people could make their own. Kickstarter also enables him to share the fun and to make it affordable and accessible — if the campaign is fully funded David will share the stl files and buy the additional parts in bulk to send out. For anyone that wants one but doesn’t have their own 3D printer, he has partnered with 3D Hubs for local fulfillment.
There are a couple of reasonable footnotes too — David requests that backers be honest and do not post the .stl files online or pirate them. This is a campaign operating on trust — be nice if everyone buys into that. Also, and I think this is with the HSE in mind, the campaign states that the “Rubber Band Blaster (RBB-32) is not a toy and is for ages 13 or older and only under adult supervision. Be safe!” I agree with the last two words, but my 9 yo son will not be liking the age restriction very much, particularly considering he learnt to ping a rubber band, successfully, aged 3! My ineptitude with a rubber band is a long-standing family joke ….. not for much longer!!
