Vortex Cannon Build

Inspired by BrainCandyLive I decided to make my own garbage can vortex cannon. First, I needed some ideas on how to go about construction. I checked out this Instructables and Steve Spangler's website and combined the two. The build was very easy and including shopping cost under $30 and only a few hours of time.

The materials I used were a golf ball, 24" bungee cord, duct tape, heavy duty garbage bag, and a big garbage can. I chose black duct tape just so it looked better on the darker garbage can. You also need a box cutter knife and some sand paper (if you want).

I cut around the pre-made circle with the box cutter to make a big circular opening. The downside of using this particular garbage can is I didn't have much control over the size of the circle.

I found the inside of the circle to be a bit rough for my tastes so I sanded it down. I also sanded any rough spots along the top of the can to prevent them from possibly ripping the bag I was going to put over it.

You can make your vortex cannon with just a flat sheet of plastic. I decided I wanted a knob and bungee to be able to pull back and let go. Which is better I don't know, but I worried that after repeated use the plain sheet might get too loose to use. Here, after cutting the bag to a flat sheet I laid it over the top of the can and put a golf ball in the middle.

I twisted the bag around the ball and tied it with some nylon string. I made sure there was enough overlap around the can to tape down. I also at this point cut off excess bag. 

I put down four initial pieces of tape to hold the bag in place where I wanted it. I cut slits where the handles were since I would be using these to hold the cannon.

Next, I ran duct tape around the can, taping down the bag. I folded over the bag in some places and tried to get as flat a surface as I could. The can and duct tape loved attracting dust and grime in my garage and was a pain.

Finally, I ran the bungee from one side to the other while looping it around the golf ball.

That's it! Done!

I like S. Spangler's version of using a shower curtain. I believe it would have better elasticity; however, the garbage bag was available and inexpensive ($4 for 5 bags). I am also not sure I would use the bungee if I had the shower curtain due to the added elasticity. Perhaps I will make another just to experiment. The bungee pops off the golf ball more than I'd like. I'll figure out some way to attach the bungee better.

Best part of the build was the short build time. Two days after seeing one on stage my students could see one in school.