The park near my house has lots of chestnuts and my kids have been collecting them like crazy (it’s actually their favorite post-school activity). We accumulated quite a hoard. I thought it would be fun to make a launcher so we had something to do with our new chestnut collection. I wanted to go with a very simple crossbow-style design (like the famous D2 item) using latex tubing and a leather pouch for holding the chestnuts. This is what I came up with. It launches chestnuts about 220 feet, and it’s simple enough to build in an afternoon. The frame is a 42 inch 2x2 and a spare IKEA bed slat for the crossbeam, glued and screwed together. A 3/8 inch eye bolt goes through each end of the crossbeam, and the latex tubing is tied to those and to the pouch from a leather shepherd’s sling. Tying the tubing was the fiddliest part. It has to be stretched while you wrap it with butcher’s twine, so I clamped a couple of scrap blocks to my workbench to hold it. I like this design because the tubing can be wrapped around the eye bolts to easily add more tension and power. The Trigger My favorite part of the design was that I decided to use an archery release like this one for the trigger. It provides a safe and reliable way to hold the tubing back, and it’s made to let go cleanly. I 3D printed a little housing that mounts the release securely to the back of the stock, and the release clips onto a loop of archery D-loop cord on the back of the pouch. Then I added a dowel for a rear grip and an old handle I had previously removed from my shop vac. How Well Does It Work? We tried it at the park and it works surprisingly well. Aimed at about 35 to 40 degrees, it sends our chestnuts (on the small side, about 10 to 15 grams) about 220 feet. Thanks to the archery release, we haven’t had a single misfire. I got curious and did some rough math. To go that far with air drag, the chestnuts are leaving at somewhere around 85 to 100 mph, which works out to about the same energy as a paintball. So safety glasses are important and you never point it at anyone. You can find the 3D print on Printables and a full build guide on Instructables. Make sure to always use it with adult supervision :)

Akua Carbundum Platemaking Gel is a great new product that allows you to make high contrasted, textured intaglio plates. The gel can be screen printed onto a plate and printed with Akua Intaglio Inks. Drypoint Plastic makes a perfect plate with a wipe-clean surface. To make our own Caborundum Gel plate we used an exposed screen. A plain screen with an area sectioned off with tape also works well as the gel can be worked into when wet. A Thermofax screen may also be used. Peel off the top piece of film from your drypoint plastic and place your plate underneath the image on your screen. Scoop a line of Carborundum Gel along the top of your screen.  Use a squeegee to pull the gel down the screen and push it through the mesh. Hold the squeegee at a 45 degree angle and press quite firmly for best results. Be careful not to let your screen slide on the plate.  Let your gel dry on the plate – around 20 minutes on a warm day seems to be enough.  The Carborundum Gel can also be worked into whilst wet on the plate. We screen printed a large area of gel onto a plate using a screen exposed with a circle but you could use parcel tape to tape off a square or rectangle.  Whilst the gel is wet, work into it with brushes and other tools to leave marks. You can also press textures into the gel. When you’re happy with the plate, leave to dry.  When the plate is dry, peel off the back sheet of film. Before inking, soak the paper – we’re using Snowdon.  Roll a layer of Akua Intalgio Ink onto the plate.  Use a wad of scrim to polish the plate, removing excess ink from the smooth areas of plastic. Use a piece of cloth or tissue paper to wipe any ink smudges left on the plastic. Blot the soaked paper. Place the plate facing up on an etching press with dampened paper on top. Cover with blankets and put through the press on a tight pressure.  Ink up your textured plates and print in the same way.  Your plates can be washed up with a little water. If you want to reuse your plate for a new image, we have found that the gel can be gently removed with white spirit or Zest-It (these kind of plates are therefore not suitable for printing with traditional oil based inks that require solvents for clean up).  To print your own Carborundum Gel plates you will need: Akua Carborundum Gel Aluminium Screen (or Thermofax) Parcel Tape Squeegee or (Thermofax Squeegee) Drypoint Plastic Tools for mark making in the wet gel Akua Intaglio Ink Inking Plate or Glass Slab Palette Knife Roller Scrim Cloth or Tissue Etching Press Paper to print onto such as Snowdon Tray to soak paper Blotting paper Zest-It or White Spirit (optional)

Brand Patronage, Witchy Scents & Cute-washing

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