Pneumatic Cannon Plans

[andybigfoot2]

For the breech loading PVC Arsenal 17 showed earlier, what do I need? That type of loading seems easier.

[psycix]

well instead of amauler valve you could also get a supah-valve or megah-valve from http://www.spudtech.com/detail.asp?id=39

only problem is that joel shut his store down....


I would suggest building such a valve yourself.

[andybigfoot2]

What do I do with that? How could I build one myself? And what do I connect to what with the valves?

[hi]

you need a female adaptor, a cross fitting. (the cross has 4 places to put pipe.) and a 2.5 to 2'' threaded bushing.

the female adaptor goes on the barrel. the cross goes in front of the adaptor on the barrel. the bushing goes on the valve and the nipple connects the barrel and valve.

so it:

- 2'' cross

-2'' female adaptor

-2.5'' nipple

-2.5 to 2'' threaded bushing.


this is more complex than using a compression union as i suggested. compression unions work great for breech loading.

if you go with a compression union you need:

- 2.5'' compression union

- 2.5'' female adaptor

-2.5 to 2'' bushing.

it is simpler and in my opinion better.

again, all 2.5'' parts can be substiuted with 3'' parts. 2.5'' is very difficult to find.

[andybigfoot2]

Ill go with your idea, the compression union. So I will buy 3" parts. If I buy 3" parts then I have to use 3" parts throughout the entire cannon? And I can have an interchangable barrels, right?

[andybigfoot2]

My friend said hes wants to make one or two smaller super cannons before making a huge mega cannon. He wants to find a cheaper valve less than the mauler, but still reliable. I also want to make those breech loaded. He is doing the funding for these cannons so he said keep the smaller ones pretty cheap, then after we wil go crazy on the big cannon. I want to keep it powerful, under 10 feet, and cheaper. So what would you recommend dual chamber or steel? He also wants to find alternate ammo like average soda cans, bottles, and other common sources for ammo. He said he wants to keep it under 10 feet long so we can mount them on the back of the boat. After we make this one or two of them, we will create the super mega "hi" cannon. Are there any suggestions? I know what to do with the mega cannon. I'm planning to build a smaller super cannon tomorow and get the parts. After I build them, I will start on the super one. I have a week to finish them all before I go to college. I can still talk to you guys there. I am planning on sending him info and plans what to do while I'm gone. Is there anything like this?
or even


This one is a dual chambered one that has interchangable barrels. Im wondering if there is a way to charge it up maybee to 150 psi so we can really launch something far and powerfully.
http://supersoda.com/tags.php?tag=dual%20chamber

or something like this!!:
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/20 ... egala.html

[spud yeti]

This is old, but I must rectify the situation!

No offence taken - you were insulting yourself :

spud yeti wrote:
<Snip> As for help, just look on the pneumatic cannon showcase area and post questions! <Snip

I meant go onto the other people's guns topics and ask questions about their guns! Sorry for the misunderstanding though, I will take the blame for this one!

[TwitchTheAussie]

Learn to weld mate and go with some proper metal. Anyway I'd say learn to make a piston valve and make one for you cannon. Or just build a black powder cannon its all good

[lukemc]

ok the cannons you posted from youtube some of them use what is called a sprinkler valve. it is ver reliable and is works very well for the price . for about 13$ you can get a 1" one. now this is how they work how they work
now once you understand that you will realize that they can be improved to open faster. this is called pneumaticly moddifying it. what it is is instead of the tiny hole that the factory has for "venting" or piloting the valve you drill a new hole and attach a blowgun.
this way it opens the diaphragm much quicker and also gives you a gun fell because of the trigger how to modify a sprinkler

[andybigfoot2]

Im going to Home Depot today to get parts for a smaller version of one of the cannons I posted earlier or a smaller version of the mega cannon you guys planned out for me. But after that Im gonna make the mega cannon. I have like 3 hours to come up with the list of parts and plans for the cannon because thats when hes coming. Im not trying to impose or be annoying and ask too much of you guys, but I would really appreciate assitance. If anyone decides to help, I want to keep it ten feet or under and I don't want to use a mauler valve because I want to keep it pretty cheap. This is more of a test cannon or prototype than the real thing. We still want to keep it pretty powerfull so I am either looking for steel (for high psi) or dual chambered cannon (for more psi). Since I am not an expirienced cannon builder yet, I need all the parts I need to buy (even the names of the connecter parts because I don't know what they are called). In order to build the cannon I need a list of instructions how to (literally) make the cannon or and diagram of how to put it together. I really appreciate everything you guys are doing for me. Im a really noobie cannon builder right now so I really don't know anything what to do.

[lukemc]

well let narrow it down to see what you realy want. i think best for you would be a sprinkler valve so thats easy just buy a 1" one. now do you want it over under or in-line that means do you want that chmber under the barrel or the chamber then the barrel so its in a strait line? i would suggest SCH40 pressure rated pvc bacause it is cheap and is pressure rated around 150 psi depending on what size. were not ging o tell you exactly what to buy and how to make it you will have to use you imagination.but we can help if you just answer some of the questions i post
steel is not cheap and is only used in pneumatics if you make your own valve because you valve is oftain your weak point

[andybigfoot2]

Under the barrel would be much better. Ok then, I understand. How do you connect two seperate chambers under the gun? And what dimentions would you recommend for the the chambers? And last, can you buy a one inch sprinkler valve at Home Depot?

[Panzerfaust]

Sounds like a great project Matey, but i would slow down if i where you. The cannon your talking about building here is going to be very large and very powerfull, and if you dont know what youre doing it will either not work or explode in your face. I am glad that your are Slowing down and building some simpler scale model stuff untill you know enough about Pneumatic cannons that you could build one without the help of a forum. Then i think you will be experienced enough to build your full-sized mega cannon with the confidence that its not going to blow up or not function. I do alot of learning by doing, and i just think your mega cannons is a little to ambitious since you have no prior experiance. Also be very carefull with where you buy your parts, by my experience Home Depot sells NOTHING pressure rated. I find lowes has the most pressure rated parts (only up to 2") and Lowes just started carrying street elbows, which are very usefull. unless you have a plumbing store to go to you are not going to find anything pressure rated over 2" in a hardware store. Also make ABSOLUTLELY SURE that you know how to properly glue pvc together. it has a chance to blow apart if done incorrectly

(you said you wanted some smaller guns anyway, id use these plans here, they will give you a powerfull yet simple first cannon that can be easily used like a shoulder fired bazooka. i would recomend however that you use an in-line sprinkler valve instead of the u-shaped ones. Those are good plans, and though others may try to turn you away from electrically operated valves, i really enjoy having a nice red button to push as a trigger)
http://members.aol.com/sph911/spud/electronic.html

[lukemc]

ok good you can buy sprinklers at home depot and if you want 2 chambers i would make them 3" then find out what size barrel you are useing (we'll call this x pipe) and get two 3" to x pipe bushings. then i would get three x pipe elbows and a x pipe tee. assemble it like this with little peises of pipe inbetween the fittings. make sure all the fittings you buy say NSFpw DO NOT BUY ANYTHING THAT SAYS NSFdwv


right after the elbow on the top attach your sprinkler useing a x pipe to 1" busing and a 1" threaded male adapter. do the same thing on the other side of the sprinkler

EDTI:also i forgot to mention you will need 2 end caps and a shcrader valve

[Fnord]

For a small-scale prototype gun, don't you think a golfball gun would be better? It would be very cheap and easy to build, and it would still be powerful. You would learn basicaly what you are dealing with and how it works without wasting much money. You could use a 1" sprinkler or even a ball valve. Plus I'm betting GB barrels are a lot easier to get than tennis ball barrels.