Making the ULTIMATE Nerf Dart? (An Adventure in Foam & Silicone Casting) 

Did y'all know we have *4 channels* now? This main one, plus: 🎮 Evan and Katelyn Gaming ru-vid.com (us playing games and chatting, enhanced by epic editing and a heavy dose of memes) 🎙️ Evan and Katelyn Podcast ru-vid.com (chatting about life, RU-vid stuff, and playing games you can play along with) 😹 Evan and Katelyn Too ru-vid.com (still figuring this one out 😂)

‘Just the tip’ ‘It’s floppy’ ‘It’s so much more firm’ ‘This feels really good’ Katelyn ‘believes in the hole’ Are you sure this project wasn’t just one massive excuse to get as many innuendos into a video as possible? xD

The NIC (Nerf Internet Community) had used 1/2in closed cell foam backer rod with a different ways to make the heads. Granted these would be cut to about 1.5in, but the smaller size meant better aerodynamics and flight. There's glue domes: a metal BB embedded into a small hole in the top, with a hot glue dome over it. Slugs: a #6 washer (with or without the embedded BB) with a felt pad ontop. Silicone domes: silicone caulk cured with cornstarch in molds. We'd use these for our homemade blasters for higher FPS game events. Cheapest way to get darts is 3rd party ones from China ;)

"I'm out of ammo." *looks down barrel with finger on the trigger* "Me too."

I wanna test them!

Now, make a "better" blaster designed to shoot the "better" darts

Never has anyone proved like you all how much it is to remain a kid at heart.

You need to make a sign for your work spaces that just says “mold release?”

"tell me when and I'll zoom in dramatically" *Funk flex airhorns* I died. I love you guys.

This was very myth busters esque, but with an Evan and Katelyn twist I love it!

This was a blast to watch!! Friends making stuff just because and having a good time doing so.

Cut a section of 1/2in (12.7mm) Foam Backer Rod, hot glue a #6 washer to it, hot glue a felt foot to it. Cost of project: $0.15 per unit for mass production. Also, it's all about the fit. You want a slightly tighter fit for spring-powered blasters. Also, for that Nerf Maverick REV-6, stack five pennies behind the spring, it'll give you more power.

Wonder if the silicone tips were to sticky grading onto the barrels and slowing things down

I think a factor you guys might have overlooked is the friction between the foam you poured and the inside of the barrel? The hole in the middle is probably important, because the pressure cause the dart to bulge a little, making a better seal with the barrel. But if the friction is too high it slows the dart down a lot. That's probably why the rifling was such a failure, too, it couldn't seal.

One thing to note, the actual Nerf darts have a little white weighted piece near the orange tip.

Loved the name tags, "realist", "agreeable human", made us laugh

As involved as I am with the Maker scene and manufacturing in general, I sometimes forget how amazing it is that we have consumer tools that have advanced so much in the last 10 years.

Nerf darts center hole is designed to expand from air pressure creating a gasket along the outer wall. Also you guys need to get your center of pressure behind your center of gravity.

I was not expecting such professionalism in the making if these Nerf darts 😂😂😂

Loved seeing all of the different types of material, and all of the attempts...only to fail. But that was still a huge win because...learning! Fun ride, you guys!

Does Bob know you are abusing his head? Or that you even have it? Ha.

Bottom line, if it's not woodworking I don't watch these maker channels. The one exception is you guys as you make your show interesting, educational, informative, and most of all FUN.

I think maybe the different materials have different amounts of friction sliding through the barrel. Probably the floppy ones were adhering to the barrels too much - maybe check out how grippy the silicone tips are too, compared to what the real darts are like? Fun video you guys - thanks for sharing it :)

Meh, they're all a little small for my taste :)

I'm thinking that the fluting you put on the shorter head dart was allowing air to escape around the dart instead of creating pressure behind it. Also, making the homemade darts about the same weight as a Nerf one will help. Finally, if you get some 17/32" brass tubing the darts should fit snugly inside it, as the diameter of a Nerf dart is about 1/2" (.503"). Thank you guys for such a fun and awesome video! I've wanted to try making my own darts but lack a the equipment to make molds.

Next challenge!: Make your own air blaster! Like with the Super soaker!

Doing HVZ I've experimented with a lot of home made nerf dart designs. You can buy half inch round foam by the roll, cut it down to the desired length, and add a dab of hot glue to the end. We modified our guns to take 1.5" darts and they worked much better than the originals even without the hole in the back of the dart.

Its cool that you not only show perfect builds but show the whole projects. So much fun to watch!

Evan doing his best camera man John impression 1:06 Top tier

You forgot to put tiny holes on the tip so it can glide through air

Try coating them with a little baby powder or potentially lubricating the barrel (worse of he two ideas for clean up and dirt attraction reasons). The biggest problem you are facing is friction leaving the barrel. The durometer of that silicone seems very likely to grab...

“Let’s just snip that off and keep the rest on” 😯 circumcision “My rod popped out”

Punished Props Academy! You collaborated with Jazza and now with Evan and Katelyn, you guys are the coolest ever!

The darts are great, but what about upgrading the blaster instead of the bullet? Something with the psi to fire the dart.

It’s been almost four years and Lord Draconical promised he’ll test silicone half darts. Where’s our silicone half darts, Drac?

I love how excited they get over nerf darts

NERF is an acronym for non-expanding-recreational-foam aka NERF

What an epic video. Moulds! 3D printers! Shop safety! Nerf (kinda) - easily the best display of the Make/Fail/Make/Fail/Success! ethos ever seen. Well played everybody!

On nerf darts the tip is lightweight rubber and is hollow but they were using solid silicone.

The real hero of this video is Brittany. For keeping her finger off the trigger with that awesome trigger discipline pose. Also.... But a solid pool noodle, cut into stios with a bandsaw, sand with a 4*36 for proper shape and standard drill for the center hole. But then again that isn't great for a RU-vid channel when you have access to foam and a 3d printer.

I remember watching E&K in the very beginning where there were only a few Patreon supporters and although I can’t assist myself, I’m so proud of you guys that there are so many people who support you on Patreon !! Love you guys!! Keep up the amazing content !!

I think Glitter would help

I would try it without the spiral cuts on the foam, because I think it’s making it harder to fit in the gun. Also the tip might be heavy. I put bb’s into the tip of a nerf dart one time. One or two bb’s made the dart hit harder, but not go as far, but three or four was too much.

Since you guys are working on your own darts, it would be really cool to see you all make darts that look like the type of bullets that would come out of all the modded nerf guns Bill has. It would be really cool to see you guys design a dart that actually looked like a bullet plus the casing!

In the inside of the rubber tip it is hallow, same as the foam

Idk why but I cant stop watching these videos

This foam is the same as in the insulation business of heater pipes. I just don't get the diameter in the hardware store, but in theory, you can buy it by the meter and cut pieces off I guess.

I used to cut the foam near the rear of the dart at an angle, multiple times, and flare it creating small fletches that would impart a roll to the dart after it left the gun. I also used make blow guns that were lined with glassy tape at an angle, and small gaps between the strips of tape, that when rolled up, on the inside of the barrel, would create rifling that the dart could engage with. The blow guns were rolled from 11x17 paper with the breech end being 1 to 2 mm wider than the muzzle end. These things combined, and in the same direction of roll, did make for much faster and flatter shots.

First, you should've went with half-darts, since they're more stable in flight. Second, the rifling down the whole dart length let air escape around the dart instead of pushing the dart, and probably wouldn't help the dart to spin anyway. Honestly, just making the Nerf head without the hole would make it a hundred times better. Finally, as people commented earlier, the silicon tip probably gets stuck a little bit in the barrel.

Evan’s stance at 11:14 is priceless

Two of like the best RU-vid people are finally back together to make some silicone tips.

Try 3D printing the tip at 100% infill? or make the tip more dense, but try a stiffer but lighter foam. Maybe the foam is too heavy? but needs to be stiffer. :)

I just love the conversation that had to go on before the camera was turned on Bill= who’s going to be on camera the most? Katelyn= Me and you Evan and Brit= Wait why? Katelyn= cause we’re short enough to fit in frame Evan Ana Brit… Fair enough

Even and kaytlen are shook by how much foam the left in the conainers

Cool experiment! Nerf hobbyists have been tinkering with DIY darts for a while, and so far the most effective design comes from a guy who goes by Captain Slug (he also makes amazing 3D printed nerf blasters, you should totally check him out). His method uses 1/2" diameter foam backer rod, a #8 washer glued to the tip of the dart for weight, and a felt dot covering the washer for safety. The only catch is you have to cut and assemble each dart individually, so making a batch takes a while. Being able to fill up a bank of molds with foam in a matter of seconds would be a serious breakthrough in home dartsmithing technology, and I hope you keep experimenting with it!

This partnership between channels made the video very cool! Best, IC

THE SECRET: A smaller point with a lighter foam. Weight is a huge factor in nerf darts. The lighter the dart, the farther it will go. The hollow chamber is critical as well since it is being push by air. The hollow chamber allows more air to push against the dart, thus moving it farther.

Evans enthusiasm is so contagious XD

Think of the darts like a shuttlecock for badminton or pellets for an air rifle. The front end is weighted and the rear is just there to produce drag. To keep the darts stable, the center of mass must be ahead of what is known as the center of pressure, which is the point on the dart on which the average aerodynamic forces act. You can move the center of pressure by increasing surface area near the rear end, either through a long stick like with bottle rockets, a long tube like nerf darts, fins like those used on model rockets, etc. Another thing to note is that Nerf guns are designed so that the dart is only being accelerated in the first half inch or so of the barrel, this is because the first half inch of barrel is tighter to prevent the air restrictor from pushing the dart out of the barrel, once the dart passes this region there is room for air to escape around the dart. If your dart has a tight fit in the front half of the barrel, odds are it will get stuck without increasing the strength of the spring and improving the seal on the piston. My tips would be, use a very dense rubber for the head of the dart and a stiff but light weight foam for the rear of the dart, and size the dart so that it fits snug in the first half inch of barrel.

You need a denser foam and a hole in the middle of dart and the tip should be smaller than what Evan and Katelyn made and I think that the little grooves helped it not get to snug since the air is pushing it out

Rifling the dart tends to reduce performance, your best bet is to use the dense foam you had in the end, use a divet in the back of the dart head to center your center rod so it is not thinner on one side, and try to make dart heads from a lighter plastic or rubber. Good luck!

Maybe instead of silicone use a different type of foam for the tip of the nerf dart???

"I went to art school!" 😂😂 This video was a ton of laughs! I love the collabs you guys are doing! And we get to learn what (not) to do! After Show time!!! I heard it's going to be extra special... 😉

We need an animated gif of the wibbly wobbly nerf darts :D

I didn't read through too many comments, so others may have caught this too. I think the silicone tips need to be slightly smaller in diameter than the foam so they don't grab the barrel. If you look at the nerf ones, that is how they appear to be designed. I suspect the foam would slide more freely on the barrel than the silicone.

i feel like glueing a tac to the end of it would made it even more efficient

This is a great project where nerds and nerf combine!! I love the use of tools and computers and crafting supplies!! 🤗😍

Nerf does not really know what they are doing with their darts, that's why a lot of pro nerfers use off brand waffleheads, also rifling on the dart itself doesn't work well because the inside of the barrel is fairly smooth, however rifling has been done by worker(a nerf aftermarket parts company) by having rifling in the actual barrel like a real firearm since the foam grips into it.

Would love to see y'all do a video on Mold release agent comparisons. I have heard that Vaseline (sorry petroleum jelly), non-stick cooking spray, vegetable oil, and even butter can work as a mold release agent. Most, if not all, are cheaper than "Official" mold release agents. Maybe compare how each one is used for the different types of molds and materials being molded. Resin, concrete, foam, etc. Just a thought / suggestion! Keep up the great work!

I am loving this so much. You guys remind me of Adam Savage and his weird, fun wild experiments/builds xD

5:48 THAT LAUGHTER

On the silicon tips, try some graphite powder it'll be applying friction to the inside of the barrel (I think, I'm not too familiar with the properties). Graphite is easy enough to come by, it's the inner if a pencil. Hell put some on the full length of the dart.

For a little better results Nerf darts have a hollow tip to reduce the impact on the target

Nerf darts have hollow tips. If the silicone ones were filled in, that might have something to do with it

my favorite diy nerf dart was backer rod window foam with a metal bb 1/2" down into the tip and hot glue to make the weighty hard tip. not only do they shoot great but they are super cheap we get 1000 darts for about $20 and we use magnets on sticks to help pick them up without bending over every few feet after nerf wars. we have our darts measured distance farther then the original darts. you gotta have the weight in the tip

The problem is, that the best dart for flywheelers isn't necessarily the best dart for springers.

When i see transparent 3d print i cant stop myself from giving like. Well played, E&K, well played...

I think you should try testing your darts in some modified air blasters. Like Bobo was saying, we have been using homemade half length slugs in our homemade & powerful blasters. I would recommend a nerf titan, buzzbee xtreme blastzooka, buzzbee big blast, or a buzzbee Berserker (they all have massive air tanks). Attach a 1/2 inch CPVC Coupler to the air tank & use 1/2 cpvc pipe as barreling. Normal darts fishtail & wobble while in the air when shot from them. I think your heavier and denser darts would work well with them.

I loved the video and the nod to Bob Claget!

This video is full of innuendos , xd I LoVe It 😂😂

Try putting the molds in a vacuum chamber after pouring the foam

Those pink darts looked very similar to a dog's red rocket. Lol

Katlyn evidently looks down the barrel of the gun to check if she was out 😂😂😂😂😀

Think about bullet rifling. The bullet is able to grip the sides and accelerate the whole way because the bottom mushrooms out as it's fired. Nerf rounds expand through that hole in the middle which cause it to contain the air pressure and accelerate the whole time it's in the barrel.

Yeah you all had one flaw still remaining. The silicone. There is a reason the tips of nerf darts are made of a plastic not silicone.

I have an idea as to why the darts don't perform as well... So I noticed two things about the performance of the dart in the last test. 1. The dart rotated. 2. The dart didn't go that far. Now these may seem like really insignificant details, but they are actually really revealing about the projectile motion of the dart. To clarify, when the dart leaves the barrel you see it immediately begin moving towards the ground, given that the dart is moving parallel to the ground initially, and is shot at a given height above the ground, a projectile under the influence of gravity will accelerate towards the ground at a speed of 9.81m/s or 32.2. ft/s. This is true for both the normal "Elite" dart and the redesigned "Floppy" dart. Because both darts will accelerate towards the ground at the same rate it also means that given the same individual firing the same gun at the same height both darts will reach the ground at the same time. Regardless of how fast the darts are moving (This is, of course, an ideal situation where air resistance is negligible. I'll get to that soon) Because both darts will reach the ground in the same time the difference in the distance that both darts traveled is dependent upon the speed the dart has exiting the barrel parallel to the ground. The faster the speed of the dart along the x-axis, the farther the dart will travel (Given that the dart doesn't meet its terminal velocity). What this reveals about the "Floppy" dart is that because it doesn't travel as far it shows that the potential energy expended by the spring in the gun to impart a force on the dart was used very inefficiently, and I think I know why. I think the design flaw here is actually in the "Rifling" along the darts themselves. When the spring compresses they way it imparts a force onto the dart is through the compressed air within the gun, as the air is forced out of the pneumatic tube the air is forced to find a place of lower potential (i.e. a place of lower pressure, which is outside the gun!) to do this the air passes through the barrel of the gun, forcing the dart out along with it. What I believe happened is that the "Rifling" on the darts created a sort of "tunnel" that allowed the air to pass around the dart far easier than it would behind the dart. This means that the air would travel along the path of least resistance, or along the rifling instead of behind the dart, and wouldn't impart as great a force against the "Floppy" dart as the normal "Elite" darts. And then the other thing I noticed was that the dart rotated. This seems obvious, but if we go back to conceptualizing the dart as a projectile undergoing projectile motion during flight we start to see why this is important about the flight of the dart. If the dart is rotating while in projectile motion it indicates the position of the center of mass of the dart, because while in projectile motion the object will only be able to rotate about its center of mass. In the video, you can clearly tell that the dart rotates about its center of mass, close to the center of the dart. For most weaponized projectiles, and many stefans (modified nerf darts) the projectiles center of mass is nearer to the front of the projectile. This positioning helps stabilize the projectile in flight and keeps the dart from "wobbling", which would cause a greater level of air resistance due to an increased surface area over which the air can imparts forces onto the dart during flight. So in conclusion, my design considerations would be: 1. Make the darts center of mass closer to the front of the dart to keep it stable in flight 2. Remove the rifling of the dart, to allow air pressure between the front and back end of the dart to be separated, and to make sure that the path of least resistance for the air flow to be behind the dart, and in the hole in the dart (closest point to the front end of the dart that the air can travel to) 3. Optimize the gun as well as the dart. Rifling might not be the way to go, but you can impart a spin in the dart using special flywheels that rotate the dart. www.drs-performance.com/shop/aluminum-fwc/ 4. Make the darts lighter - the lighter the dart, the greater your exit speed will be due to Newtons Second law If you made it this far, thanks for reading, also sorry about any typos they can be easy to miss.

ditch the liquid + mold technique for the foam and google "1/2 in. x 20 ft. Caulk Backer Rod" ... use heat + mold to straighten that foam... continue using silicone + mold technique for tip. Our biggest issue with creating darts used to be making the tip (weight, balance, consistency). You've tackled the hard part, just get the caulk backer rod and work with that as a base material... consistency is perfect.

I love how ye put faces on loads of things

Now time to make a giant one and a giant gun!

Foam is impact resistant jus FYI

Just when I think you guys cant get even more amazing you one-up my expectations. I love nerf and never thought I would see this on your channel. It was a great surprise. I love you two! Ill try to make a dart at one point!!

You guys are like the new, younger and half better looking Hyneman and Savage.

potato foam darts (like in flushable packing peanuts) would be the best for nerf since you could have a huge event, leave them on the ground, and they should dissolve in the next rain

Loving the descriptions of people predicting (pro hat wearer, thinking about cats, no hope left...) Wondering why you didn't use EVA foam dowels to make darts?

I believe the rifling is allowing to much air to escape around the dart. Try w/out rifling and I bet you get better results.

You guys made failing at a build look like tons of fun lol. I think the key is the exact foam Nerf uses, plus the finishing process. I have a sneaky suspicion there may be a "heat step" involved to seal the outside foam pores and also tighten up the inside as well. :P

I made a nerf dart and it worked it shoots more accurate

Something I saw was you changed the foam, but maybe try a lighter and less dense silicone?

Im currently visiting my aunt and I started this video with volume almost all the way up, panicked because out of context sounds, and then, luckily, read the comments and realized I need to just wear headphones

it’s just weight and balance guys. look into the characteristics of arrows