"A kid was pegged in the head, with a lawn dart; Now they're all off the shelves at the K-mart"
-"Lawn Dart", Ed's Redeeming Qualities.




And so it was that the fate of one of America's most popular backyard games was sealed.


Until now!



While lawn darts are still illegal to sell in the US, UK, and elsewhere, you can certainly make your own. And if you have no idea how, guess what? We've figured it out for you.

Those of you with fond memories of lawn darts, as a civilized and gentlemanly pass time of many youthful summers (perhaps we're showing our age a bit here- these things have been illegal for quite a while....) will be pleased to learn that once again this gem of recreation is available to the masses.

The masses will have to be a wee bit handy, though, and ready for a SLIGHTLY beefed up version of this classic: ZK Macro Zarts are over two feet long, and weigh about a pound each!

Since it's not legal to sell these any more, we only provide you with the instructions to build your own. It will require an couple hours, and about 30 bucks worth of stuff from your local hardware store (I'm not terribly fond of Home Depot, but it happens to be where we got all our supplies while developing this project, so I know they have all the necessary components...)

Though we at Zerothousand do strive to make our offerings as simple and widely accessible as possible, we also think it's high time you all got yourselves a kit together of basic tools and such, especially if you are planning on patronizing our website with any frequency.

You can skip ahead and download the Zart Plans & Instructions right away:

download .sitx archive
download .zip archive

Included are several photos that should help in assembly, especially the fins.

If you're curious to know what's involved before you download, here is a quick material list:

Tools:

  • Drill, with 1/4" bit
  • Hacksaw
  • Scissors
  • X-acto knife







Materials:

  • Duct, gaff, or masking tape, 2" wide
  • about 6" of 1/4" heat shrink tubing
  • 8 x 5" medium weight zip/cable ties
  • 2 x wire coat hangers, or other similar stiff wire
  • about 20 feet of brightly colored rope (the cheap plastic stuff is fine)
  • Plastic, cardboard, or heavy paper- thin enough to cut with scissors/razor blade, and roughly 2 square feet worth. Ideally, use polyethylene- the stuff sold as roll-up camping cutting boards. It's flexible, strong and easy to cut. You can also use styrene (those hideous florescent orange/black/white no tresspassing signs are made from styrene) which is easier to find, but more brittle, or simply cut up a few cereal boxes if all else fails.
  • 2 x 48" tomato stakes, 3/8" thick. These are found in the gardening section- they are hollow steel tubes with a coating of weird, ribbed green plastic on them.
  • 4 x 4.5" long, 1/2" interior diameter steel pipe nipple (double ended, with exterior threads)*
  • 4 x internally threaded PVC cap*
  • 4 x PVC reducer/adapter piece (has barbed, bunsen burner hose-type narrow end, and the wide end is internally threaded*

    *Pipe fittings above should all fit together, and the tomato stake should snugly fit into the narrow end of the reducer- experiment with the thread/diameter compatibility while you're shopping if you're not sure.

  • 8 x 2.5" long, 1/4 diameter steel machine screws
  • 4 x wingnuts for same
  • 8 x washers for same (important that the washers will fit inside the PVC cap, but not be so small that they will fit inside the pipe)
  • 8 x neoprene sealing washers, or any other rubbery, compressible material you can cut to fit inside the PVC cap.
Instructions for assembly are printed on the blueprints- basically you cut out the fins using our template, cinch them onto the tomato stakes with zip ties, and shove that into the pipe fittings, with a bit of drilling, shrinking, and tightening thrown in.





As with many things, lawn darts can be dangerous if not used carefully. By even viewing this page you automatically agree that you 1)Are 18 years or older, or visiting this site with the permission and/or guidance of a parent or legal guardian. 2)Agree to hold blameless ZeroThousand Industries, its members, authors, or any associated party, from any result associated with, inspired by, or vaguely connected with the information provided on this site, in any manner what so ever. 3) Waive any and all rights and perogatives, legal or moral, to persue or endeavor to persue any action against ZeroThousand Industries et al. 4) Agree that the information provided on this site is in compliance with 4.1) e-CFR, Title 16, Part 1306, 4.2) 15 U.S.C. 2058-2060, and 4.3) 53 FR 46839, in regards to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Comission classification of LawnDarts as a Banned Hazardous Product, specifically 1306.2 prohibiting sale, and 1306.3 specifiying lawndarts. 5) That we aren't actually selling anything, and we're only giving away information. . .not lawn darts. 6) That you read all this garbage and despite the tendency of our constitutional babysitters to overly legislate us into a nerf-based world, you take all responsibility upon yourself for any actions related to even /looking/ at our site and 7) That we are awesome.


Zarts are licensed Creative Commons NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
Creative
Commons License