Do it Yourself - Build a Mouse Trap Car

A mouse trap car is a little vehicle made with a standard mouse trap and using the trap itself for energy. It is quite simple to make a mouse trap car from scratch and the materials needed are simple to come by thus here is a guide on building a mouse trap car of your own.

Required Tools
* Pliers
* Drill
* Saw (optional)
* Scissors
* Required Materials
* A mouse trap
* 4 eyehooks
* 6 balloons/rubber bands
* Epoxy
* 2 bic pens/metal rods (axles)
* 2 tops from pop cans/2 washers
* String
* 4 CDs/DVDs/plywood (wheels)

Instructions

Firstly drill 2 tiny holes into either sides of the mouse trap and screw the 4 eyehooks into them.

For wheels you may use 4 CDs/DVDs or you may cut 4 circles out of plywood using a saw. If you use CDs/DVDs, cut the top and bottom off 2 of the balloons with a pair of scissors and extend the middle piece over the edge of the CDs you will use for the back wheels to rubberize them for traction. You can still do this if you are using plywood however, this it is not a requirement.

If you use the pens for your axles, take out the top and bottom of the pen leaving just the bare barrel. The eyehooks you possess ought to sit closely over the pens or over the metal rods if you use them instead. It should not be so close however, that the axle is not able to turn liberally.

Create a hole in the center of one side of the axles, big enough to get the string through. Put the string through the hole in the axle and out one end of the axle. Make a knot in the end of the thread you drew out one end of the axle or knot it about something tiny and then pull it back into the barrel of the axle so that the knot is within the barrel (this is your back axle).

Next, push the front axle through the eyehooks on the front of the mousetrap (the side opposite to where the bait holder is) and use pliers to squeeze the pop can tops or washers onto the axle to keep the axle from shifting about too much or sliding out to the side. See to it that the washers are not brushing the eyehooks or the wheels will not rotate right. Go ahead and additionally put in your rear axle.

You may use epoxy to attach the wheels to the axles or you may wrap a balloon or some similar kind of rubber about the axle and next slowly place the wheels you are using on it. The balloons or rubber will function as a wedge and prevent the wheels from moving when the car is moving.

Now for the movement of the car; fasten the string in the back axle to the center of the jaws of the mousetrap (the U-shaped section which really catches a mouse) and lift the jaws rearward as if you are setting the trap. Hold the jaws tightly in that place and reverse the car until the extra string is totally wrapped around the back axle, set the trap as you would to catch a mouse and your mouse trap care is set to go.

Place it down and use something to release the trap and look at it go!

Tips and Warnings

Make the eyehooks as level as you can so the axle is not crooked when you put it through the hooks.

Remember to place the rubberized wheels on the back of the car, not on the front.

Be wary to keep your hands away from the jaws when you are setting the trap because carelessness can be really painful.