Design advice, would this work?

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor. Show us your combustion spud gun and discuss fuels, ratios, safety, ignition systems, tools, and more.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 11:37 am

The ported length of barrel can be counted as part of the barrel length. If noise is a concern, you could definitely go for something lower, say 0.5:1 - you won't lose out on much power, and it will be much quieter.

Usually, perforating the whole length of the barrel is done when you have a cartridge that would normally be supersonic but you want to get it down to subsonic speeds. I would port the final 6 to 8 inches of barrel, sleeve that with as big a diameter pipe as you can, and pack it with a suitable mesh coated with lithium grease.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
vng21092
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:17 pm

Oh ok I see, should I worry about the grease ever drying up and making chunks over time and blocking the holes? Also, how big should I drill the holes, barrel is 1/2'' PVC. Another thing I'm worried about is that I plan on using a ram rod to load the cannon, usually with pneumatics I would throw in the marble followed by a piece of tissue so the marble doesn't fall back out, should I worry about pieces of tissues getting stuck in the suppressor holes?
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:30 pm

The grease should last a long time. Even if it blocks the holes, the blast will blow it out. Same goes for the scraps of tissue, the gasses will burn them off ;)

For a 1/2" barrel, I would go for 1/8" holes, but lots of them. Remember it takes 16 1/8" holes to have the same area as a single 1/2" hole!
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:36 pm

any downsides to bigger holes? I mean 1/8'' is just... tiny
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:48 pm

You will weaken the barrel more, though I guess for a combustion it's not a big deal. Don't go above 1/4" though.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
vng21092
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:55 pm

I'm pretty sure I've asked this somewhere before but, does the I.D of the chamber actually matter so long as the volume is in correct C:B ratio? I'm thinking about what you said and I might go for a .75:1 C:B ratio, does it matter if that .75 is in 1'' PVC or 1 1/4'' PVC?
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wyz2285
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 5:24 pm

Yes it matters, a short fat chamber will out perform a long thin one. Don't know if 1" compared to 1 1/4" is noticeable though.
CpTn_lAw wrote: :D "yay, me wanna make big multishot pnoob with 1000 psi foot pump compressor using diamond as main material. Do you think wet bread make good sealant? " :D
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:05 pm

I only need 3.5 cubic inches for the chamber so would the difference between a 1'' chamber or a 2'' chamber be significant for such a small chamber volume?
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:13 pm

3.5 inch3?? That's 0.056l... Correct me if I'm wrong. If not, that's way too small to be anything interesting (as a combustion) you probably won't notice a difference, the shot is going to sound like a fart anyway :lol:
CpTn_lAw wrote: :D "yay, me wanna make big multishot pnoob with 1000 psi foot pump compressor using diamond as main material. Do you think wet bread make good sealant? " :D
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Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:25 pm

Well, it's a 1/2'' x 24'' barrel, assuming I.D actually is 1/2'', the volume would be ~4.7 cubic inches, if I wanted a .75:1 C:B ratio it'd be (4.7*.75) = 3.5? Basically I want something like this what do you think the dimensions for that would be?
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Wed Apr 30, 2014 10:36 am

Your calculation is correct, approx 3.5 cubic inches.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Wed Apr 30, 2014 8:04 pm

hmm is wyz right? Is this project even worth pursuing? Will any power come from such a small cannon? I'm only looking to shoot ~40 yards, if my idea can't get that, what do you guys think would help me get that distance with good velocity in a small form factor (while keeping barrel at 1/2'')?
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Wed Apr 30, 2014 8:56 pm

Define good velocity, and with what ammo? I've had things that use more fuel than your chamber volume :lol: so our ideas may be different. But I'm more familiar with pneumatic. With a paper dart it may fly 40 yard with it, with a marble is more likely to roll out of barrel though, you need at least 1L chamber. All just my thoughts though, you should ask somebody who is familiar with combustion to help you.
CpTn_lAw wrote: :D "yay, me wanna make big multishot pnoob with 1000 psi foot pump compressor using diamond as main material. Do you think wet bread make good sealant? " :D
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Thu May 01, 2014 4:57 am

I was hoping 300-400 fps range with 1/2" marbles, but I'm not all too familiar with combustions either, thanks for the input though ☺
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noname
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Thu May 01, 2014 10:31 am

I'd just build it and see what happens. At worst, you'll have made yourself a little plinker/measuring stick for future projects. With a combustion, you can just reuse the igniter when you want to scale up, so you'll have spent like $10 on PVC.
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