Shooting from the Hip with a 3D Printed Card Shooter

Not all 3D printed shooters are as controversial as Cody Wilson’s 3D printed firearm. One particular project that fits the bill is a card shooter created by Jeffery Kerr that he created this summer for no reason other than the pure enjoyment of it. As the mentor for his local high school’s robotics team, he found himself in the possession of approximately 5,000 printed trading cards that had been created as an advertisement for the team’s last project. Rather than sitting around playing 5,000 card pick up the old fashioned way, Kerr decided to create a shooter that could throw the cards. After all…why not?!?

A quick look at the video does, however, provide all the reasons why he should. Able to throw cards approximately 30 feet, this gadget combines all the fun of pulling a trigger with none of the nasty side effects. After loading the rack with a pack of cards, turning a crank on the side causes the cards to come flying out, creating a satisfying spray of rectangles in any given area.

The mechanics of creating this toy are relatively old fashioned despite the high-tech 3D printed container. Kerr explained:

“I’ve really been into designing mechanical toys lately. I’ve been purposely avoiding motors and electronics and instead exploring the old-school world of purely mechanical machines. The crank is connected to an eccentric feed wheel that feeds one card per revolution. The drive wheel at the business end is geared up by 25:1 to reach speeds of more than 3000 RPM. Pulling the trigger drops the deck onto the feed wheel, and then watch the cards fly!”

Imagine the impact that a sidearm like this could make when you walk into the bridge club next Tuesday! Simply remove it from the holster (what. you didn’t think you were going to need to create a holster?) and shoot a round of cards at your astonished friends!

Left handed?

No problem – simply mirror all of the parts and you’ll be shooting with the best of them.

It’s also an excellent project for trying out a new printer…or just finding an excuse for using an old one. As such, Kerr has shared the files on Thingiverse so that everybody can be armed. He used it as a project for a MakerGear printer that he had just added to his inventory and, of course, already has plans for a newer, better version.  In total the print took approximately 10 hours to complete.

“This is my first real printing project on my new MakerGear M2 printer. I am incredibly pleased with it,” he says. “I was able to spend my time wrestling with the design rather than wrestling with the printer. The card shooter is almost all 3D printed parts, and I tried to keep the other required parts to easily obtainable stuff (O-rings, 608-type skate bearings, screws) that required no additional fabrication. I’m pretty pleased with the results. The cards will fly 30 feet or so. I’m still planning a few tweaks to eliminate the occasional double-feed, and also to make the last few cards feed properly.”

He is quick to warn that at 30 mph and a distance of nearly 30 feet, you should never point your card shooter at a person or animal – you could put an eye out!

Keep your eyes open though because the best card sharps might just be bringing one of these into your neighborhood.

Let us know if it’ll be you in the 3D Printed Card Shooter forum thread at 3DPB.com.