How To Build A Mouse Trap Car
Friday, January 25, 2019
Edit
Well, first I have to say, a mouse trap car is not meant to catch mice; I mean you could try to use it for getting rid of mice but IF you succeed, you'll have to build another one for obvious reasons.
Another important thing you must know is that those wooden mouse traps have a very strong and fast string - you could easily break a finger if you don't handle it carefully, especially if it has those metal "teeth" where the spring lands. For your own safety you should get one without the teeth (either that or use pliers to get them out).
Remember, this is just one way to build a mouse trap car - there are many ways to it. Just use your imagination and experiment.
This is what you'll need
OK. Enough chitchat, let's get into the actual mouse trap car building.
First thing to do is get the following tools:
1. a simple drinking glass (about 3 inch in diameter)
2. a coping saw
3. a hacksaw
4. a hammer
5. a vice (optional, but does make things a bit easier)
6. a drill and 3.7 mm bit
7. a pair of pliers
8. a jeweler's file
9. some filing paper or a flat file
10. epoxy putty
11. some super glue
Next, let's take care of the building blocks. You will need the following:
1. a wooden (this is very important) mouse trap
2. some plywood for the wheels
3. four eye-hole screws (they look a like the letter P) with the eye big enough for the metal rods to slide through.
4. two metal rods 4 mm in diameter. Their length should be the width of the mouse trap plus twice the thickness of the plywood plus 5mm.
5. some string
6. a couple of rubber bands
7. a pack of washers with an inside diameter of 4 mm (again so you can slide them on the metal rods).
Now that you have all you need, you can start building the car.
For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to refer to the end of the mouse trap where the metal frame of the trap lands as the front, and the end on which the frame lies when the trap is set is the rear end.
Building Your Mouse Trap Car
First, you've got to get rid of the unnecessary parts of the mouse trap. Use the pliers to pull out the catch that holds the trap open - don't throw it away, we're going to use it later. Also pull out the bait holder and the staples that held these parts in their place.
Now, take the eye screws and screw two of them to the front and two to the rear each about 1 cm from the edge. Do this slowly so that the wood of the trap doesn't split. Screw them in a way that you could slide one of the rods from side to side through the two screws at each end.
Take the drinking glass and draw four circles (around the glass) on the plywood.
Drill through the center of each circle with the 3.7 mm bit. The metal rods should not slide through the holes, but go through with some force.
After all the circles have a hole at their center, cut them out with the coping saw and smooth them with the filing paper or the flat file.
Take one of the metal rods and put it in the vice. Using the hacksaw, make a cut about half way through the rod and about a third of its length from one end. Use the jeweler's file to widen the cut so that the trap's catch (the one I told you to save for later) fits in perfectly.
Cut a 6-8 mm piece from the catch with the pliers and file off any burrs from the end.
Take a bit of each part of the epoxy putty and mix and knead them together until you get a homogenous piece of putty and before it dries apply it to hold the wire from the catch to the cut on the rod so that it only sticks out from one side and the other side of the wire ends exactly where the rod ends. Let it dry for 24 hours.
Slide the rod with the wire on it through the eye screw at the rear and put some washers on each side of it (to keep the wheels from touching the wood of the trap) and push the wheels on each side (use the vice if you need). Set the front wheels up the same way.
Tie a piece of string to the frame of the mouse trap and make a loop on its other end that will fit on the wire protruding from the rear axle but don't let the string be any longer than that. Cut any loose ends from the string.
Congratulations. You've completed your first mouse trap car.
To make it run, pull the mouse trap frame a bit so that you can put the string loop over the wire piece, and then start turning the wheels in reverse. What will happen is that the string will wind over the axle, pulling the trap frame back.
Now simply put the car on the ground and watch it go.
Another important thing you must know is that those wooden mouse traps have a very strong and fast string - you could easily break a finger if you don't handle it carefully, especially if it has those metal "teeth" where the spring lands. For your own safety you should get one without the teeth (either that or use pliers to get them out).
Remember, this is just one way to build a mouse trap car - there are many ways to it. Just use your imagination and experiment.
This is what you'll need
OK. Enough chitchat, let's get into the actual mouse trap car building.
First thing to do is get the following tools:
1. a simple drinking glass (about 3 inch in diameter)
2. a coping saw
3. a hacksaw
4. a hammer
5. a vice (optional, but does make things a bit easier)
6. a drill and 3.7 mm bit
7. a pair of pliers
8. a jeweler's file
9. some filing paper or a flat file
10. epoxy putty
11. some super glue
Next, let's take care of the building blocks. You will need the following:
1. a wooden (this is very important) mouse trap
2. some plywood for the wheels
3. four eye-hole screws (they look a like the letter P) with the eye big enough for the metal rods to slide through.
4. two metal rods 4 mm in diameter. Their length should be the width of the mouse trap plus twice the thickness of the plywood plus 5mm.
5. some string
6. a couple of rubber bands
7. a pack of washers with an inside diameter of 4 mm (again so you can slide them on the metal rods).
Now that you have all you need, you can start building the car.
For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to refer to the end of the mouse trap where the metal frame of the trap lands as the front, and the end on which the frame lies when the trap is set is the rear end.
Building Your Mouse Trap Car
First, you've got to get rid of the unnecessary parts of the mouse trap. Use the pliers to pull out the catch that holds the trap open - don't throw it away, we're going to use it later. Also pull out the bait holder and the staples that held these parts in their place.
Now, take the eye screws and screw two of them to the front and two to the rear each about 1 cm from the edge. Do this slowly so that the wood of the trap doesn't split. Screw them in a way that you could slide one of the rods from side to side through the two screws at each end.
Take the drinking glass and draw four circles (around the glass) on the plywood.
Drill through the center of each circle with the 3.7 mm bit. The metal rods should not slide through the holes, but go through with some force.
After all the circles have a hole at their center, cut them out with the coping saw and smooth them with the filing paper or the flat file.
Take one of the metal rods and put it in the vice. Using the hacksaw, make a cut about half way through the rod and about a third of its length from one end. Use the jeweler's file to widen the cut so that the trap's catch (the one I told you to save for later) fits in perfectly.
Cut a 6-8 mm piece from the catch with the pliers and file off any burrs from the end.
Take a bit of each part of the epoxy putty and mix and knead them together until you get a homogenous piece of putty and before it dries apply it to hold the wire from the catch to the cut on the rod so that it only sticks out from one side and the other side of the wire ends exactly where the rod ends. Let it dry for 24 hours.
Slide the rod with the wire on it through the eye screw at the rear and put some washers on each side of it (to keep the wheels from touching the wood of the trap) and push the wheels on each side (use the vice if you need). Set the front wheels up the same way.
Tie a piece of string to the frame of the mouse trap and make a loop on its other end that will fit on the wire protruding from the rear axle but don't let the string be any longer than that. Cut any loose ends from the string.
Congratulations. You've completed your first mouse trap car.
To make it run, pull the mouse trap frame a bit so that you can put the string loop over the wire piece, and then start turning the wheels in reverse. What will happen is that the string will wind over the axle, pulling the trap frame back.
Now simply put the car on the ground and watch it go.