2.5" barrel for tennis balls

[Rayman_1337]

I bought a 2.5" SCH 40 PVC pipe today for my tennis ball launcher, and when i got home and tried testing it with a tennis ball, the tennis ball did not go down the barrel with ease, is this common or is there something I dont know about?

[frankrede]

Its a snug fit.
Which is good!
You will either need a ramrod or a breach loader

[Rayman_1337]

So its supposed to be pretty hard to get the ball in there? Cuz that seems like its taking a lot of force up just getting the ball out of the barrel.

[hi]

you could burn the hairs off, but i dont know if that would help.

[frankrede]

nah it actually is a good thing.
It keeps air from going around the ball.
And if you want you could lube up your balls.
(ahahahahahahahhhahahahahahahahahahahhaha)
With dishsoap or grease.

[Rayman_1337]

lolz, lubing my balls, alright thanks guys

[SpudMonster]

It is perfectly normal for the tennis balls to be a tight fit in the barrel.

You can either burn or shave the hair off your balls to make them smoother, and thereby reduce the force needed to get them in the barrel. However, it is not at all a problem if they are a tight fit.


Food for thought: Your average tennis ball in 2.5" SCH-40 PVC requieres what, 5 pounds of force to mash it down the barrel? a 2.5" barrel has a cross-sectional area of 4.9 inches. That means that a little more than 1 PSI of force will be enough to make the ball move. Not a whole lot to get worried about.


If you want to make your balls have more impact energy, then you can cut them open and fill them with caulking or plaster of paris. Note: if you do fill them with plaster, be sure to let them cure inside the pipe, otherwise they are impossible to force into the barrel without a good sized rubber mallet. Don't ask me how I know.

'nother tip: file a chamfer on the inside of your barrel to make loading the balls easier.

[frankrede]

Or get a bell ended pipe for the barrel

[Killjoy]

You can either burn or shave the hair off your balls to make them smoother

ow...
and if you weren't paying attention though, couldn't you get your ball too hot and it would "pop" because the hot air would try to escape?

If you want to make your balls have more impact energy, then you can cut them open and fill them with caulking or plaster of paris.

major ow...

Just as a side note, it might be worth making your cannon a breach loader, especially if your barrel is long (over 3 feet in my opinion), just to make loading easier, as you won't have to stand there and use a ramrod to push the ball down the barrel.

[mark.f]

I like taking my tennis balls and injecting them with water. It makes them do so much more damage to TV's. 8)

[frankrede]

screw water!
use concrete!lol

[Killjoy]

screw concrete!
use depleted uranium!

[frankrede]

Why when we all have an unlimited amount of tungsten ore in our backyards!

[Killjoy]

aw of course, how stupid of me.
know what, f*ck tungston, pack the golfball with iridium!

[Bubba05]

Why not just fill with lead then?

Bubba