Building the Car: Step by Step Instructions
1. Gather your materials and tools:
- (4) records
- (1) 36 inch square wooden rod... about 3/8 inches thick
- (1) Victor mousetrap
- (1) hot glue gun with glue sticks
- fishing line
- (1) piece of thin balsa wood
- (2) circular pencils
-(1) metal rod (thin, lightweight)... about 24 inches long
- (4) metal washers that fit tightly on the pencils
- (4) eye hole screws that fit loosely around the pencil
2. Starting in the center of the record, measure alternating sections of 20 and 100 degrees. There should be 3 sections of both angles. Cut out the sections of 100 degrees with a Dremmel, starting from the sticker on the record, and ending about 1/2 inch away from the rim.
3. Cut the 36 inch wooden stick in half, and glue the mousetrap 2/3 of the way back (so that the mousetrap is farther away)
4. In each of the four ends of wood, drill a hole just smaller than the treads of the eye hole screws.
5. Next, place a dab of wood glue in each of the holes, and screw the eye hole screws in the holes.
6. Take the piece of balsa wood, and cut four circles, each about 2 inches in diameter from the wood. Take the four circles, and drill a hole just smaller than the pencil in each of the four circles.
7. Glue each of the balsa wood circles to a record, so that each record has a balsa wood circle glued on to it.
8. Next, place a record with the balsa wood circle down, onto a flat surface. Take one of the pencils and stick it into the hole in the record/balsa wood. Glue around the pencil, on both sides, with crazy glue and wood glue. When the glue is set but not completely dry, take the end of the pencil that doesn't have the record on it, and place it perpendicular to the table, and make sure that the record is perpendicular to the table. This is and essential step because if the wheel is crooked on the axle, then the car will not go straight, and will curve, which will decrease the distance that the car can go. Repeat this step for the other axel, but ONLY GLUE ONE RECORD TO EACH AXLE at this point.
9. Slip each of the axels, with one wheel on them, into one of the eye hole screws.
10. Slide two metal washers onto each of the axels, and then slide the axels through the remaining eye hole screws. Both of the washers should be in between the eye hole screws.
11. Glue the other two wheels to the axels, but make sure that they are perfectly straight and perpendicular, then wait for the glue to dry.
12. Turn the car over so that it is standing on two wheels, and glue each of the four washers about 1 centimeter away from the eye hole screw that is closest to it.
13. While the glue on the washers is drying, cut the metal rod so that it is about 24 inches if it isn't already. To do this, you can use a hack saw. Using a Dremmel, carve a notch about 1/8 of an inch thick into the rod, about 1/2 of a centimeter away from the end. Be careful not to make the notch too thick, or the rod will break in half.
14. Using fishing line, tie the metal rod to the arm of the mousetrap, either on the left or right side. Make sure that the side of the rod with the notch on it is not glued to the rod, and that it is facing upward.
15. Measure the length of the arm, and the length from the spring of the mousetrap to the back axel of the car. Add both of these lengths together, and add about an extra 6 inches (to tie the knots).
16. Tie a large knot or series of knots on one end of the string. This end of the string will be attached to the back axel. Tie the other side of the string to the metal rod. Make sure it is on very strongly and tightly.
17. The string will not be tied to the back of the axel, because that would create friction, so you want to create a loose knot. To make this knot, run the string through the space between the axel and the mousetrap, place the knot on the axel, loop the string around the axel, and then wind it up really tightly. You might need to keep your finger on the knot for the first couple of times that you wind the string, so that the string will actually start winding.
18. Once you have wound up the string so that there is a lot of tension in it, pull back on the arm, let it go, and watch as your car goes!
