This cracks me up. I like the lack of overview and gradual buildup combined with the guesswork in the thread. With the video reveal thrown in, it’s like a conceptual art piece.
This cracks me up. I like the lack of overview and gradual buildup combined with the guesswork in the thread. With the video reveal thrown in, it’s like a conceptual art piece.
Excellent use of internet, beer, and ingenuity. Will stay tuned for future iterations. The phrase "mouse rail gun" really put a smile on my face, and this is coming from someone who generally loves all creatures.
Can you fire multiple projectiles or is this a single shot unit? If single shot I would like to see you build some kind of a 'revolver' to be able to fire multiple rounds in rapid succession.
In reply to Gunchsta :
Single shot only but a magazine feed or revolver would be cool. The 3/8" steel tubing was sitting on my desk right next to the #2 pencils. Look~at~that, it fits in the bore. Cheap ammo.
Didn't 'field test' it last night... fell asleep in my chair. 
Apparently, your great grandpa had the same idea back in 1880.
Components on the build board could be packaged into a plastic 50 cal ammo can to be portable. Tight fit but it oughta go.
Maybe smaller propellant tank for portability.
Or... paintball mouser? That could get messy.
Paintball plus marbles.
Or paintball plus eBay 5/8 ball bearings.
Or eBay ball bearings plus speaker magnets, a couple of metal bars, and a really big capacitor.
In reply to oldopelguy :
I like the way you think...
oldopelguy said:Paintball plus marbles.
Or paintball plus eBay 5/8 ball bearings.
Or eBay ball bearings plus speaker magnets, a couple of metal bars, and a really big capacitor.
Yikes... that's escalating.
Maybe outdoors, not in the kitchen.
I like it tho... it's science. 
1st confirmed kill 5:25 a.m.
yessssss
Sweet. Was it a blunt force trauma? I'm guessing a pencil eraser doesn't penetrate very well, but who knows with enough velocity.
In reply to T.J. :
Yea, most likely blunt force trauma, no blood or mess.
Eraser was ground to a point, no penetration tho. Thinking head/ shoulder hit like in the toothpaste test the way it spun. Wish I had a cam setup. Used a small piece of bread for bait to lure the critter into the sensor beam.
Second shot a couple hours later and no body found. Tank pressure was at 40 lbs, down from 100 so there's a leak in the system, mouse got stung tho. Hope it didn't crawl off in a corner and die. More thorough search later... or wait for the stench of death.
Need to leak test the air now. After crawling around I seen the kitchen floor needs cleaned real bad, shop vac time.
Gonna hafta order some more beam sensors, uses are endless. Maybe some Rube Goldberg trap kinda thingy. In the yard ambush for nuisance critters w/ 5/8 ball bearing like oldopelguy said, just watch out for the UPS guy.
The Mouser works, it's fun tinkering again and I ain't freezing my ass off in the garage. Beer time!!
Because berkeley a mouse!
You guys kill me, I’m sitting here watching a mouse rail gun while feeding my daughter her bottle.
You can stick a short sewing needle in that eraser... just saying.
I’m thinking airsoft bb’s might fit too?
We used to make our own darts with long sewing needle and thread wound around until it fit snugly in a straw. Little dab of Super Glue to hold the thread and some fuzzy blanket or cottony fuzz tail for a flight to keep it straight.
Ye Olde "Anarchist's Cookbook" had directions for blowgun darts that involved sewing pins run through 4-5 strands of yarn then through the pencil eraser.
A section of 1/2" PVC and you had the makings of adolescent mischief.
In reply to Crackers :
I know that book well
Found the air leak was from both push connect tube fittings, the fingers would allow the tube to pull out under pressure, wtf. Wouldn't matter connected to a compressor but no bueno w/ the portable air tank, air pressure went from 100 to 40 overnight. Man, it sounds crisp at 100 psi. If there's no better connectors in the shop it's off to Lowes Depot for compression fittings.
Subscribed and watched a bunch of Shawn Woods videos last night on YouTube that Floating Doc suggested. That's some medieval E36 M3... I see more builds comin' up. I'll pick up an extra bucket today at HD for a bucket roller trap for the garage.
Been considering the flechette/ needle tip, dunno about the kitchen tho, maybe the basement. These critters can bleed a lot for being so small.
Mouser should be back in operation this afternoon.
Gonna need a night vision cam w/ motion sensor too. 
Changed out the push in tube connectors w/ compression fittings from HD, they have a sleeve fit in the tube inner, seems pretty stout now. Found a better ball valve for the air tank too and installed. Charged the air tank at 100 psi and no leak down after 3 hours.
Ground some more eraser tips to a bullet point. Got to thinking about the flechette/ needle tho... needs to be something easy.......
How about a rusty tinning nail through a cigarette filter. Fits the bore perfect!
I would not wanna be hit by that at 100 psi
What about a hollow point eraser? 
Not sure what happened here. Obviously another miss. The report from the shot wasn't as robust as the eraser tips, kinda muffled. The filter takes up the whole barrel ID. Had to roll it to get it to start in the barrel so no blow by. I thought the ID sleeves in the tube connectors restricted flow... but it did stick it in the backstop over six feet away, only backwards. No blood tho.
Tank is holding pressure, so that's fixed.
Get me a projectile length measurement and the ID of your barrel, I'll print out some darts to try.
They will inevitably end up traveling heavy end first.
You are probably pretty close in diameter to actual dart tips. Otherwise, a box of copper jacket bullets for reloads in whatever caliber you need is probably under $20.
What happened to the rest of the pencils that you took the erasers off of? Sharpen to whatever point you want to try before you cut the dart off.
For less lethal, cut a straw into 1" chunks and fill one end with a hot glue gun. After the glue cools slice and flare out the empty end like a shuttlecock to seal against the tube walls and stabilize flight.
If you have thick callouses you can do the same thing with some poly rope: Burn/melt the end and roll it to make the dart head, then cut it off a little bit back and unravel the strands a bit. Repeat.
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