Saw this on the web somewhere (do a search for "Gauss Rifle" -- I couldn't be bothered), and made my own. Got 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/2" neodymium magnets from K&J Magnetics and 1/2" diameter steel balls from Boca Bearings, and then a two-foot section 1"x1" poplar from OSH.
CK showed me how to use a router to cut the groove (and let me borrow the router as well), and I let the kids lend a hand with it. The noise, power and imminent threat of maiming and dismemberment makes routers quite irresistible to some boys (perhaps girls as well, but none that I know).
Did an evenly-spaced ten-stage one first, which worked fine, but was disappointingly slow. I was hoping for something that would embed balls in the drywall. The second five-stage one worked better, and the one in the picture is a "progressive" one (the distances between the magnets is largest near the "muzzle". Jim claims that progressive is no better than uniform: I've yet to prove him wrong.
It's a fun device nevertheless, regardless of the fact that there's no danger to life or limb.
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