A
B
C
D
E
F
G
MATERIALS
Metal tubing, 2½"– 3" long
I used 2"-diameter copper, but anything under
½" should work fine.
Sheathed wire
3c. Cut a length of wire about 2" long, stripping the
sheathing at both ends.
Alligator clip
Hot glue gun
Glo-plug, 1.5V or 3V
available from
starlight.com
3d. Solder one end to your alligator clip, and solder
the other end to the remaining prong on your
switch (Figure G).
Soldering iron and solder
Nut threaded to match
the glo-plug I used ¼- 28
jam nuts.
Tubing cutter (optional)
or have them cut it at
the store
AAA battery holder single
for 1.5V glo-plug or double
for 3V glo-plug
Flash cotton and flash
paper made of
nitrocellulose, from
any magic store
3e. Cut a small square out of the heat-shrink tubing
over the nut at the end of the firing pipe, exposing
the metal below, to which you’ll attach the negative
(black) lead from the battery pack (Figure H). A
more clever maker would solder this wire to the nut.
After crying many tears, I slipped my lead under
the edge of the heat-shrink hole and hot-glued it in
place. It’s surprisingly durable, but hardly optimal.
Large binder clip
big enough to snugly
hold pipe in place
Heat-shrink tubing ½"
diameter
Momentary pushbutton
switch, open
3g. Test your shooter (Figures J and K). The glo-plug
should light up in less than 1 second. If it doesn’t,
check your connections. You should be able to see the
glow out of the pipe, without looking directly down it.
Photography by Joel Johnson
3f. Screw in your glo-plug. Insert the batteries.
Attach the alligator clip to the rear prong on the
glo-plug (Figure I).
90 Make: Volume 13
