Progress. Had fun in Galveston. Tried out the launcher and it worked well. Made some changes upon our return. Replaced the sprinkler valve with a 1" brass valve. The sprinkler valve has a tendency to leak if any particles enter the valve. The brass valve works just fine by simply hitting the handle ...

When you talk about "chamber size" are you talking about the air reservoir (where the air is stored before it is released into the barrel) or the chamber that surrounds the barrel? Thank you for your continuing help. We are in Galveston Texas this week and I will do some experimenting and post the r...

Jimmy, Thank you for the info. Recently while fishing in Mexico I used squid. Got quite a bit of action but was beat up in the surf. That is why I built my bait launcher. Squid and probably most other effective bait really stink. I know I stunk up the refrigerator in our rental. Problem is that if I...

One more thought. Would a 1" slice of a potato (2" diameter) work as a piston/sabot to launch the bait with the bait wrapped in wet biodegradable paper?

You are correct... the sabot was empty. I was thinking about the paper mache idea. Will the paper mache be strong enough to handle around 6 oz of weight/bait/hooks/etc? I was thinking about using the 1 1/4" pvc as a form for the sabot. Also thinking about replacing the pvc barrel with a stainless or...

Tested it today. Drilled 4 3/4" holes in the 2" barrel. Put an arrestor on the end. Pumped it to 40#. The lightweight pvc sabot, made from a 1 1/4" end cap (about 2 oz) blew the arrestor off. See pictures. Don't know where to go now.... Thinking that finding out how to make a biodegradable sabot may...

Attached is my first try with GGDT. What do you think? I use a MAC so I had to dig out an old PC notebook to run the program. Sorry for the flaky file but I think you can read it. Looks like I the 1/4" holes (vents) 4 of them should be about 25" from the base of the barrel. Hope you can open the file.

Currently I have a 40" barrel. How far from the base should I drill the holes to vent the barrel into the sleeve? Once I get it together I will experiment to see if I need to extend the barrel and the sleeve.

Thank you,

Bill

I am going the sleeve route. How long should the 4" sleeve be? My 4" air pressure
reservoir is about 14" long.

Would a 5 gallon collapsible water bladder work?

Attached with a short section of garden hose.

I really like the idea of adding the 4" pvc as a sleeve over the 2" barrel. How large should the ports be? How many ports. Is the sleeve sealed at both ends? What would happen if I only drilled ports in the 2" pvc and didn't use the sleeve? I plan on taking this in checked baggage and I have made it...

Thank you for the info. I will experiment starting with reduced pressures and let you know how it goes. Hope to finish the sabot and try this in the next two weeks. How would I replace my 2" ID PVC with a 2" ID aluminum tube? I would attach pictures but don't see an easy way to do that. :drunken:

Thank you for the suggestions. My bait launcher currently has a schedule 40 pvc 2" barrel. I should be able to cut out the center of a 2" Pvc cap the correct dimensions to stop the sabot. I am making a sabot out of 2" od aluminum tubing that just fits inside the 2" pvc. I plan on welding a 2" circle...

Hash or anyone else. Hash referred to sabots that are biodegradable or remain on the line. I would like info on the company that sells these sabots. I am struggling with how to design a sabot for my air cannon that I can retrieve. Attaching a line from the sabot to the cannon doesn't work if the lin...