SpudFiles

chenslee wrote:Shoot the cannon straight up, and whoever's projectile stays up the longest wins. It's easy to measure with a video camera.

The problem with that is that if the ideal projectile is a small diameter dart made of a dense material, it's going to come back down at considerable velocity to the peril of whoever happens to be standing underneath. This would also be out of the question for anyone living in an urban area.

You could have a projectile that opens up at the peak of its trajectory that will come down at a slower rate, but this practically cheating, not to mention such a mechanism would be prone to failure and therefore no guarantee of safety.

You are right. Even the creativity contest was dominated by people who have access to machine tools.

True, but part of being creative is being to squeeze the best of what facilities and materials you have to hand. I would give more credit to someone who can craft a practical and clean launcher without the benefit of machine tools and computer design, though I must make it clear in no way am I saying that the merit of launchers such as your own are in anyway diminished

most build contests are in favour of those with the most space and materials/resources

sorry for mentioning it again but the rule 'only PVC allowed' didn't help here

I suppose I am not as seriously limited as far as space and materials are concerned as some members are, but for me (and others as well) it would be much easier to build a powerful all metal gun... I don't relly care about weight but size is a serious problem
(i.e. I would rather have something I can hide in my basement so it won't attract unwanted attention)

I guess that should read:

"Shoot the cannon straight up, and whoever's projectile stays up the longest and isn't in the hospital wins. It's easy to measure with a video camera."

My neighbors collect tennis balls. They sure don't give them back.

chenslee wrote:I guess that should read:

"Shoot the cannon straight up, and whoever's projectile stays up the longest and isn't in the hospital wins. It's easy to measure with a video camera."

My neighbors collect tennis balls. They sure don't give them back.

That doesn't always indicate the cannon's power. One of my favorite show off ammo shots is a roll of 2.25 inch adding machine paper. It takes a long time to come down.

Buying new plywood just to break it is a luxury I can't afford.

And then the contest moved too close to Punkin Chunkin time!

Using a 50 foot barrel and 40 foot ammo, I guarantee I can break every board that is less than 40 feet away from my barrel (80 boards if point blank).

Using a shaped charge you can put a hole in as many pieces of wood as you can find.

Big Guns are Better.