Amphibious Bottle

The Amphibious Bottle rolls by rubber band power over water, tub, pool, puddles, lakes.

Just roll it away on the ground like a bowling ball to wind it up.

Use a 2 quart round plastic bottle.

Big 2 quart round Gatorade bottles work great.

Drill a hole in the center of the bottom of the bottle.

Any size drill you have handy from 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch is fine.

You can even use a soldering iron to melt a hole in the bottle.

Wear safety goggles.

Work on a proper workbench, not your kitchen counter like I did.

Using a pencil, marker, awl or nail, mark the approximate center of the bottle cap.

Put the cap back on the bottle and drill out the center.

Just like the last step you can also use a soldering iron to melt a hole in the cap.

Loop recycled rubber bands from your daily newspaper together to make a strong rubber motor longer than than the jug.

Wrap a stack of 15 pennies in reused and recyclable aluminum foil, and duct tape this weight to the center of the rubber motor.

Stick one end of the rubber motor through the cap hole.

Using a wire or string, pull the other end of the rubber motor through the bottom of the jug.

Screw the cap onto the jug.

Use toothpicks as cross-pieces on the jug cap and bottom to keep the rubber band from slipping back into the jug.

Adjust the two ends of the rubber motor so that the weight is centered from side to side and top to bottom.

You may have to pull the rubber band ends back and forth until this is right.

Now duct tape the rubber bands and toothpicks to the cap and bottom of the bottle.

Hold the jug like a bowling ball and roll it slowly away from you on the ground or floor to wind up the motor.

Now catch it just as it stops,

it is now ready to paddle through your sink or bathtub.

Tips:

• Experiment with different types of rubber bands for the motor
• Try different amounts of pennies for the motor weight
• Use hot glue to attach water paddles made from pieces of another jug.
• Post your improvements and ideas in the comment section.