Christmas Present!

[Pilgrimman]

Not for you, you greedy bastards

I am considering making my father a spudgun for his christmas present, as he has neither the time nor the expertise to make one, but he really wants one. I have already decided the following: 1) Under 50 $ in cost. 2) Use common materials found at any hardware store. 3) Pneumatic. 4) Use a piston valve. (One that will reseat and seal with only a bike pump providing pressure) 5) Small caliber, like under 1".

My main question is: does anyone know of a common item that can be used for a piston in a 3/4" tee?

Any other suggestions are welcome!

[The Kid]

mabey cast one from epoxy or make one from 2 pvc caps glued together

[Novacastrian]

Under 50$ you could make a very nice mini-ish combustion.
I'm sure your dad likes "Bangs" as much as the rest of us.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

an epoxy or hot glue case is an easy, effective and cheap solution, especially at 100 psi or so pressures.

[MrCrowley]

Yeah though I would recommend you start ASAP, first time pistons, or pistons in general can take awhile to configure and get working properly, that's why I would not recommend one as a gift because they are a bit more complicated and can fail easier.

[rna_duelers]

You could avoid making the piston valve yourself all together and use a QEV or Sprinkler valve and they are both very reliable and relatively cheap.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

You could avoid making the piston valve yourself all together and use a QEV or Sprinkler valve and they are both very reliable and relatively cheap.

I don't think that would fit into the $50 budget. If carefully made, a 3/4" piston can be piloted with a schrader, meaning you can use the same valve to both fill and fire the launcher, saving a bit of cash in the process

[rna_duelers]

All depends on which country he comes from,if its USA then he could easily make a small pneumatic with a sprinkler valve for less then $50 and infact so could I.

[jrrdw]

Add a couple of bucks for shipping and get a kit from www.Bcarms.com. That way it's easy to get what you want, and you can help him build it and teach him a little maby.

[TurboSuper]

I see sprinkler valves for <$10 on Ebay.

Just use a galvanized steel nipple for the chamber, some copper pipe (or even PVC) for the barrel, and some threaded fittings to hold it all together.

I really don't see how that would exceed $50.

[BigJon]

I have made a 3/4" steel piston valve before. The piston was made out of a highlighter that fit perfectly when wrapped in tape. I was also able to seal it with a bicycle pump if that helps.

[MaxuS]

I just made my first Bolt Piston in the christmas present for my friend.
Theyre relatively easy to make and work very well. I just used some M6 Rod (6mm), some M6 Nuts, M6 Washers (that happen to fit very well in the housing), some chunky rubber washers and 3 layers of bike innertube as a sealing face.

[Ragnarok]

I did the same thing as Maxus... or he did the same as me... or something... actually, we both copied it from someone else entirely.

A bolt piston is a nice way of creating a piston, and currently my favourite method because it's low on tool work (two hacksaw cuts, a couple of spanners), pretty customisable and pretty hard to get wrong if you pay a little attention.

If I ever get into larger valves, I'll need to look at a different method, but I like my low bore launchers for the moment. They have a nice "shotgun" feel to them.