Homemade Hovercraft
- 1). Choose wooden discs about 1-inch thick; plywood works well. One disc should be about 4 feet in diameter while the other should be 47 inches in diameter.
- 2). Drill a hole slightly smaller than your bolt through the center of both discs. For instance, if your bolt is about 1-4-inch thick, use a drill pit 3/16-inches thick. Clamping the discs together and drilling them at once makes this easier.
- 3). Keep the discs clamped together and measure from the center of your larger disc to the edge. Make a mark halfway between the two points and drill a hole there the same size as the nozzle of your leaf blower or shop vacuum. For instance, if the nozzle is 1 1/2-inches wide, drill a hole the same size.
- 4). Unclamp the discs and lay the smaller disc on top of the plastic tarp. Cut a square of tarp about 1 foot wider than the disc's diameter. Fold the edges of the square up over the disc so that the folded edge of the plastic tarp lays 6 inches from the edge of the disc. Staple the edges in place.
- 5). Lay the larger disc on top of the smaller so the holes line up and flip the whole thing over. Center your plastic disc over the center hole in the smaller disc, making sure the plastic tarp puffs out evenly around the plastic disc. Place a fender washer on top.
- 6). Push your bolt through the holes in the plastic disc and washer so it punctures through the plastic tarp. Screw it tightly into place. Flip the hovercraft back over and slip a fender washer over the end of the bolt sticking up through the top wooden disc. Twist a nut down over the bolt so it is flush with the washer.
- 7). Set your leaf blower or shop vac on top of the hovercraft and slip the nozzle into its hole. Kneel in the center of the craft and turn the machine on; air from the machine should fill the plastic under the discs and make the craft float.
