Making the 2009 Shmooball Cannon

Larry Pesce wrote in to let us know that he’s posted his build notes for this year’s Shmooball Cannon:

Shmoocon (hosted by the fine folks at the Shmoo group, an independent security “think tank”) is a small hacker/security conference in Washington, DC, typically some time during the month of February.

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They provide a foam stress ball (aka a Shmooball) at registration for each attendee (and offer more for sale, proceeds going to charity). The organizers encourage you to throw them at the presenters when you have a point to make, or when you think that you’re being sold a bill of goods.

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In 2007, a group of folks unveiled their Shmooball cannon at closing ceremonies and unloaded at Bruce. It was multi-shot, made from PVC and a 2-stroke leaf blower. It was a great concept, but it was smelly and not incredibly efficient.

This is when I had thoughts of doing better. In 2008, I created a version that was much like a shoulder fired grenade launcher. In 2009, I decided I needed to take it up a notch.

This is the story of the building of the 2009 Shmooball cannon.

Building of the 2009 Shmooball Cannon [Flickr set]