3D Printed Loom Launcher

Adrian van Wijk says his Loom Launcher represents the “world's first 3D printed, mechanical, multi-shot, self-priming, rubber-band launcher.” Designed to be 3D printed in a single run, he says the idea came to life when he saw a vintage rubber band gun made using 19th century tools. With that as his starting point, and 27 prototypes later, the Loom Launcher was born. And now, the Loom Launcher is available on Kickstarter. You can read the whole story here: http://3dprint.com/91673/loom-launcher-kickstarter/


Below is a look at various designs of the Loom Launcher:
http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload...r-band-gun.png

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Adrian van Wijk says his LoomLauncher is the world’s first 3D printed, mechanical, multi-shot, self-priming, rubber-band launcher – and it’s all designed to be 3D printed in a single run.

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well given that I already have a multishot, mechanical, self priming elastic band gun in my workshop, that I printed in one go - I'd have to say He's wrong :-)
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:603697/#files

Just use my barrel adjuster and you can shoot any size elastic or loom band you like :-)

So quite why he's put something like this on kickstarter, is beyond me.

The harry potter wand designs are quite neat.
But in what way is this a kickstarter project ?

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What makes this design unique is all the parts are printed in one go with a laser powered 3D printer, and the energy needed to make the mechanism work comes from the elastic bands you load into the launcher,” van Wijk says. “I’ve worked with many mechanisms (even patented a few) and have never seen anything like this before, so I want to share it with everyone.”

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Guess he just wasn't looking very hard as it's been available since december 2014 :-)

the triggers pressure from the loaded rubber band is different from almost all I have seen. Most I have seen have another rubber band that adds the tension to the trigger outside the ones loaded to be shot.

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Originally Posted by schmots

the triggers pressure from the loaded rubber band is different from almost all I have seen. Most I have seen have another rubber band that adds the tension to the trigger outside the ones loaded to be shot.

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i bought mine from chinese site more than 3 years ago.. there is no second rubber band for the trigger.. it's only mechanical...

http://www.dx.com/p/classical-rubber...9#.Vd3-GBZj7V8

http://www.dx.com/p/classical-multi-...4#.Vd3-YhZj7V8

or this one

Attachment 7055

or this one (2 years ago) with all the template to 3d print it...

https://github.com/GavilanSteinman/rbg

Attachment 7056

all the oldest rubber-band pistol use this trigger system .. nothing new under the sun.. apart the look...

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

well given that I already have a multishot, mechanical, self priming elastic band gun in my workshop, that I printed in one go - I'd have to say He's wrong :-)
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:603697/#files

Just use my barrel adjuster and you can shoot any size elastic or loom band you like :-)

So quite why he's put something like this on kickstarter, is beyond me.

The harry potter wand designs are quite neat.
But in what way is this a kickstarter project ?

Guess he just wasn't looking very hard as it's been available since december 2014 :-)

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Hey curious aardvark thanks for your keen eye and skeptic approach, a man after my own heart.

Crowdfunding is a great new way for creative and technical people to fund and test ideas. If you can find an audience that is inspired to support the ideas, I say all the power to you. I encourage and support the testing and validation of ideas in a free market. A beautiful thing is that only ideas people are willing to support will grow, and that's amazing. The quality of the ideas is determined by the support.

I've differentiated my design in a number of ways.

Last time I checked, 3D printed guns had exploded on thingiverse.com. When i started developing Loom Launcher there was just one other elastic band gun and the download count was quite small.

My DIY design is typical of a filament printed gun on thingiverse.com, with the exception that the DIY is optimized for a fast build time, and to print on ultra low cost 3D printers like the MakerBot Mini. (apart from the above your criticism is well received.)

My designs that are printed using SLS are quite unique, at least with regards to 3D printed rubber band shooters. There is no other printed multi component mechanical assembly with moving components that is printed in one part with no assembly required that shoots mini rubber bands, none! It comes out of the printer finished, no sanding, no assembly, its 100% done. And an added bonus: it uses up all those rainbow loom bands that many parents have lying around the house.

The project goal is to move the idea of 3D printing beyond the 3D printer enthusiasts, and into the hands of every day people, most of whom have never used a 3D printed part. With the advances (or expiration of patents) SLS printing is providing really high quality 3D prints that are almost competitive in quality and price, a change that is vastly different from just 1 or 2 years ago.

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Originally Posted by fantasygraph

i bought mine from chinese site more than 3 years ago.. there is no second rubber band for the trigger.. it's only mechanical...

http://www.dx.com/p/classical-rubber...9#.Vd3-GBZj7V8

http://www.dx.com/p/classical-multi-...4#.Vd3-YhZj7V8

or this one

Attachment 7055

or this one (2 years ago) with all the template to 3d print it...

https://github.com/GavilanSteinman/rbg

Attachment 7056

all the oldest rubber-band pistol use this trigger system .. nothing new under the sun.. apart the look...

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Thanks for taking the time to post. The innovation here is not the rubber band gun. My contribution is the reinvention of the Anchor escapement mechanism, an invention from the mid 1600s. This is the first time a commercial product is available that uses this mechanism that is printed as one part *with no assembly required*, and to me that's totally exciting.