10XGB - My First Venture into Hybrids

Harness the power of precision mixtures of pressurized flammable vapor. Safety first! These are advanced potato guns - not for the beginner.
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mobile chernobyl
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Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:19 pm

MrCrowley wrote:I'm jealous, even though they're far too small for my barrel I could shove a sock down the barrel as a sabot/pusher plate or something :D

Though, I still have a 1.25" steel ball bearing I need to fire, that will be fun :)

By the way, what kind of wire are you using that leads to your electrodes? Recently, my spark has been shorting out through the rubber insulation between the two wires.
I thought you had a 1.5" pipe barrel? That's exactly what I have - or did you get something bigger?

I'm just using regular 600VDC 18awg wire - it has relatively thick and soft insulation though - not like the jacket type insulation - this look like it was extruded with the wire already in it.

I have had no issues with shorting - the only issues I have is when I fire my ignition system I always get back EMF stored in the capacitor - I'm sure a cheap diode could fix this however, I just press "fire" again immediately after the ignition push and it neutralizes the charge.
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MrCrowley
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Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:22 pm

mobile chernobyl wrote:I thought you had a 1.5" pipe barrel? That's exactly what I have - or did you get something bigger?
My barrel is closer to 1.88" in diameter, the old one was slightly larger.

Thanks for the tip on the wire, I need to go and buy some.
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mobile chernobyl
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Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:29 pm

MrCrowley wrote:
Thanks for the tip on the wire, I need to go and buy some.
I'm sorry - I completely blanked on that question - I only use that for the 10" leads off the actual wire. I use a coaxial cable for the actual wire - Using the jacket for the HV out and the core for the Ground side. Typical TV-coaxial cable will work (as that's what I use).

I use coaxial based off some research I did for other "ignition" purposes (that are used for more pronounced effects...) , but that was mainly to get a short rise time and have as little impedance as possible - twin strand - even if twisted - cannot match the low impedance of a coaxial cable.

Do I need to use it? no. But every little bit helps! :wink:
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MrCrowley
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Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:31 pm

Funny, I was thinking of doing the same when I was looking for wire in the garage yesterday. I wasn't sure whether the insulation would be enough to stop them shorting, I guess it is.

Cheers.

Edit: ended up using two pieces of coaxial cable (3C-2V), one for each terminal, with only the copper core connected to the contacts. Works pretty well, am getting sparks jumping an inch gap whereas before with twin strand they would short on each other. Thanks for the tip :)
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mobile chernobyl
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Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:56 am

Well after a night with my mini-lathe I started on my first APFSDS round. I need to plan out the wings tomarrow, then derive a function for CP to calculate the body length - which is essentially a tube of .5" steel with .05" wall.

Here she be (the beginning of it at least...

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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:13 am

Looking good... what are you doing for a sabot, going the fullbore fin/pusher plate route or a more traditional get-up?

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hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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mobile chernobyl
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Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:26 pm

Got the new barrel clamps. the 3/4" sheet aluminum clamp design didn't quite turn out, but these will have no problem keeping the gun stationary now :D

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Will try and get some more shots off this weekend. Hoping for some shots that feature one of my favorite targets - bottled liquid hydrocarbons in close proximity to very hot exothermic reactions... 8) Also looking forward to trying out these 5.2oz ceramic balls... sneaking past 7K ft-lbs and just over SOS (at forecasted temps)
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:27 pm

mobile chernobyl wrote:bottled liquid hydrocarbons in close proximity to very hot exothermic reactions...
:D
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Crna Legija
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Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:07 am

mobile chernobyl wrote:bottled liquid hydrocarbons in close proximity to very hot exothermic reactions...
This is why I love spudflies!
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Add me on ps3: wannafuk, 8/11/11 cant wait
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:09 am

Crna Legija wrote:spudflies!
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:roll: :D
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Crna Legija
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Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:42 am

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:
Crna Legija wrote:spudflies!
:roll: :D

they have too many pics on the internets
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budabob07
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Fri Sep 28, 2012 3:23 pm

Sorry for bumping this but what is the CAD program you used?
Thanks.
mr.potatohead
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Tue Oct 02, 2012 3:44 pm

now put a hitch for a ride on lawn mover , tow it aroung and shoot wile driving
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Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:59 am

mobile chernobyl wrote:- I only use that for the 10" leads off the actual wire. I use a coaxial cable for the actual wire - Using the jacket for the HV out and the core for the Ground side. Typical TV-coaxial cable will work (as that's what I use).
Is there an easy way to strip the foil insulation off? The braided jacket comes off easily enough, but all mine has some aluminum foil stuff glued to the white foam insulation.
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mobile chernobyl
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Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:47 pm

Well I'm still around, haven't gotten arrested - just under a lot of pressure form school right now as I'm finishing up!

Needless to say I found a weekend to wheel out my gun again, and finally got to test those ceramic balls!

Average velocity with a ceramic ball at 8X mix was 1070fps (yes I got to chrono all my shots this time! 15 feet down range works perfectly, at 8X my golf balls were traveling 1560fps on average!)

Lets just say they are quite potent, and some high strength 2"+ thick concrete 2ftx2ft pavers we had were blown to fist sized chunks upon impact! (I even got a 1000frame/second shot which is amazing!)

I have no idea when the video will be done - my friend is heading it up this time as I'm busy at school. It should be a good one though - the ceramic balls have certainly brought my gun closer to it's true potential!

-MC
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