8 feet; 2"; Dual 1 inchers; painted black...

[ToppRamen]

Hey guys, love the site. I went googling for some forums to compare my latest work to anyone else's. I love the work that that has been done on piston valves and modifications. I fully embrace the art of pneumatic acceleration in my small, small garage. It wasn't until after I had built this beast that I realized I also had to store it. Luckily it fits vertically right next to my car, in the one spot in the entire garage that isn't filled waist-high.

Oh, and thank god for my expansive backyard.

So my story begins just like every other one:
I was shooting off my manually actuated 1" barrel 2" chambered 1" sprinkler valved cannon when I realized I wanted more power. MORE! I told my friends that I had wanted to make a dual valved 2" barrel pneumatic design for quite some time. They didn't care, but I did.

The very next day, I was at my local hardware store looking at supplies and designing. I purchased what I needed and spent the night inhaling primer and glue fumes. I wouldn't have had it any other way...

On hindsight, I really should have used 3" chambers, but the stock for them is not nearly as great in any given hardware store. And I went for more real estate on the chamber length anyways.

So here we are. One gun the richer. Hope you like.

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Man, I love finding steel things and making sabots for them. And then shooting them at things that we hold to be indestructible in a societal opinion. (a phonebook, in this case.)

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The range is great, I am very happy. I was, of course, expecting something more substantial compared to my old 2" combustions, but this still way beats it.

Any suggestions for improving performance? I have taken out the surge valves and filters in the solenoids, and that made a HUGE difference.

I also added a brass valve at the T junction where the barrel meets the air in order to drain the pressure created by ramming a potato down 8 feet of barrel. Now it takes 10 seconds; before almost a minute and weakened the potato's seal as it drained out.

Oh yeah, and I shot a golf ball out on top of a potato, because I couldn't make a good cloth sabot. It still went further than the tater, thanks to aerodynamics, and I lost it to the horizon after a certain point. Tips for shooting golfballs out of 2" PVC anyone?

Future plans? Bigger.

[Modderxtrordanare]

That cannon is amazing. The only thing I dont like is the giant base, and if you want to aim it upwards (like you did) you have to support the entire base.

You asked for future plans? I would make dual piston valves, inside of 3" tees. Also, interchangable barrels would be cool, especially if you could get some 1.5" SDR 21 pipe. That fits golf balls perfectly.


Nice "yard" by the way. I'm jealous.

[spud yeti]

Woahoho! Thats a beast! Holy wack! That beast is nearly indescribable... and I was only talking about your hair there!
LOL, great looking cannon bru, that thing looks awesome!
Looking foward to seeing more beasts from you.
Maybe your next project should be building a shed for your cannons...

[frankrede]

MMM DWV ABS:D
Well other than that it looks great, but I wouldn't trust it for over 60 psi.

[f.c]

that is an amazing cannon. how much did it cost all up ?

[schmanman]

I cant see the pics. could anyone send me a direct link?

sounds like a mini swat. (from what I am pulling out of it)

[potatoflinger]

You asked for tips to improve performance, so one thing that you could do is shorten the length of the hoses connecting the blowgun to the sprinkler valves, make it so it is just long enough to go between the sprinkler valves, it will slightly improve your performance.
The gun looks great

[noname]

Frank, I'm pretty sure it's painted PVC, but not 100%.

EDIT: Yep, it is. Read the title again.

[ToppRamen]

Hey, thanks for the great feedback guys. I'm really glad that my attempt has actually stood its ground with such seasoned vets as yourselves.

Yes, thanks for noticing the indescribable beast that is my hair. Note my username... Get it?

It is not ABS, but painted PVC with a fade going out to the barrel. No, I read those horror stories when I was just a skinny lad, never knew no good from bad. ABS=deathwish.

Definitely going to work on creating some piston valves. That will be as soon as I get some nicer tools and recoup my funds from this project. I had to buy a compressor as my little crap one crapped out. PVC/Valve total = 115. Compressor = 130. But hey, now I can buy all the tools I want and use the same air power source for all of them. Lack of batteries = cheaper tools and cooler noises coming out of them.

About shortening the hoses: this thing kicks like an angry, drunk mule. No way am I sticking my hand that close to it when it launches. Notice the safety glasses and distance of the camera; I pull no punches with safety.

I just can't wait to get my hands on some more garage space and some 4" chambers with some piston valves and a 10' barrel. I also got an idea (which I'll share because I'd love to see it done awesomely, not just the way I could do it.) for an upper-arm mounted chamber and lower-arm mounted barrel and a flexible joint right after a thin solenoid. Basically a stealth, under coat-sleeve mounted launcher actuated by hand or a cool wrist movement.

[frankrede]

Frank, I'm pretty sure it's painted PVC, but not 100%.

EDIT: Yep, it is. Read the title again.

I stand corrected.

[Flying_Salt]

That's an awesome cannon! It's big and you have an amazing backyard that I wish I had. It looks like New Mexico, but a little greener...

To increase preformance, replace the blowgun valve with a ball valve, it will dump more air faster to pilot them better.

Schmanman, click here http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k314/baconjacobs888/

[Fnord]

Cool gun. Groovey hair.
(I though the "ramen" was supposed to be some kind of FSM reference)

I agree with Flying salt, the blowgun may be choking flow with the 2 valves. Also, cut the tubing shorter if you can afford to do so. The extra hose creates a bigger pilot volume to vent.

I like the black to white fade you did on the barrel.

[noob of noobs]

Instead of replacing the existing valves with piston valves, you could just further mod the sprinkler valves. I know noname did an awesome "How to" that shows you how to make a sprinkler valve even stronger and faster.
http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/how-to- ... t7038.html

Also, I was just looking at your pictures more closely, and you could drop the pilot area a lot by combining the 2 hoses from the valves as close as possible like Potatoflinger said. Except then you could connect the hoses in a "T" connection and have just one long trigger hose leading from the "T" to the blowgun. This would cut the hose pilot area maybe 40%. Also, how high is that hose rated?
Also, nice gun! About where in that picture does the ammo land? That looks like it'd fit on top a car... You should mount it on top a van and take shots on jerkwad drivers!

[ToppRamen]

Thanks guys, this all sounds really good.

I'd love to mod the sprinkler valve, but I'd have to see about the springs and being able to maintain a seal if the valve is nearly upside down, as when I launch at a 45 degree angle.

Definitely going to consider replacing the airgun with a big ol' ball valve. I was already thinking about that when I saw one guy with sprinkler valves that were used only to actuate other valves of the same size. Hmmm, there must be something of importance in that principle...

Oh and the vinyl tubing is rated to 250 PSI, same as the piping. I know the Orbit'll choke after 200 PSI. I've only been running it at 110 psi max, but I'm thinking about getting a Schrader valve (I've been running 1/4" air compressor fittings with my compressor) and pump up to closer to 200 psi.

The potato, if its a good seal, will land... well hold on. See the photo with me in it? There's a first small ridge, then a second small ridge, and then the last huge mountain in the background. A tater'll make it it past that second ridge, but just barely. You probably can't tell, but that's way over 350 yards.

And sorry _Fnord, I am not a practicing Pastafarian. Thundercats, HO!

[Modderxtrordanare]

You could do what Joel did, and put a cross where that tee fitting is at the start of the barrel, and put a piston in the cross. Then build a normal piston and hook that as the pilot of the cross piston. Pilot that normal piston with a blowgun on a length of hose and voila.