SpudFiles

Function and form.I grew up with it drilled into my head(dad was a marine mechanic and fine wood worker) that function and form go hand in hand.Things need to perform and feel perfect.If it's a gun it needs to meld into your hand and be intuitive to load.Ergonomics is key.

Well you've got my perspective.

Yeah I would have to agree with goathunter. My cannon works right now, but its not too pretty and I just want to improve upon it.

I want the maximum function I can get for it, while still maximizing form. If I need to hold the cannon an awkward way, or it isnt easy or fun to shoot, then that just turns me off.

I like it when people paint their cannons, I dont see it as just covering up something that looks the same as everybody elses, but rather just personalizing to make it "your" cannon, and not everybody elses.

I must say though, guns that have a handle with a trigger, and a stock or something, are my favorite ones to look at it. I am trying to get my cannon to look like that.

Adding a blowgun to trigger my sprinkler valve increases both form and function for my cannon IMO. Among other things, ergonomics is key

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:

jrrdw wrote:Nope, all me. Who's Geppetto?

Pinocchio's dad! I was referring to this joke:

St Peter decides to take the day off to go fishing, so Jesus offers to keep an eye on the Pearly Gates. He is not sure what to do, so Peter tells him to find out a bit about people as they arrive in Heaven, and this will help him decide if he can let them in.

After a while, Jesus sees a little old man with white hair approaching who looks very, very familiar. He asks the old man to tell him about himself. The old man says, "I had a very sad life. I was a carpenter and had a son who I lost at a relatively young age, and although he was not my natural child, I loved him dearly."

Jesus welled up with emotion. He threw his arms around the old man and cried, "Father!"

The old man replied, "Pinocchio?"

no no no no no no no!!! Geppetto was Pinocchio's sculptor/creator/woodworker, regardless of what you want to call it, he was NOT his father, i don't care how many 5 year olds think he is

in my opinion i think that you should build a cannon to be the best it can be, by making it both ergonomical and powerfull. Once you have achieved this, then decorate it how you like that way it is kick as in that it is powerfull and looks real perty like

I like a bit of both,not so much going over board with things,but giving things little touches of paint,some wood etc without going the whole hog of machining/building "body work" for a cannon.

All of my cannons work brilliantly, plus they are super sexy- (awaits negative feedback)

If it works Well, what does it matter wether or not it looks good, as long as it Performs

Spitfire wrote:If it works Well, what does it matter wether or not it looks good, as long as it Performs

I don't quite agree. Between a two launchers of equal performance, one that looks better is obviously a better choice. In fact, a small loss in performance is acceptable to make cannons look a little better. A bit more pilot volume to get the trigger in the right place and a couple of bends in the chamber can drastically improve looks, but the performance won't be heavily affected.

Appearance and performance do not have to be mutually exclusive.

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:In all fairness, Mr. Boltsniper has access to CNC machinery, a bit out of our league.

MaxuS the 2nd wrote:Marine Grade.

Or a foam cored epoxy casting

Haha... Always coating everything in epoxy for backbone... I do that all the time now too I really need to order 4oz - 1lb packages off McMaster... $3 / .85 oz is getting expensive!

I have access to a CNC mill too! What should I do with it?

I have to say I don't care about my guns looks as long as it performs well <- sounds like a commercial for some weird medicine or something? , but I know I like to make my guns look the best I can... I need some clear primer, because I hate when I spill just a tad of purple on the chamber...

frogy wrote:I don't care about my guns looks as long as it performs well <- sounds like a commercial for some weird medicine or something

Appearance does count there, otherwise you won't have the opportunity to flaunt the performance

Pure performance is for the lab. If you want to be able to hold, carry and use it comfortably there have to be compromises.

Compromise isn't an almighty evil, you do it all the time in life irregardless and if you'd rather have a theoretical extra 5fps with a perfect projectile you will probably never use rather than have a trigger setup somewhere comfortable then you need to ask yourself what exactly you're designing it for...

You have got me looking into the depths of my soul right now...
First I start with an idea.Do I want a single shot BIG cannon, or a breakbarrel shotgun, full auto-whatever.This also determines if it is doable, or a failure from the start.

Second, I think...I try to achieve a certain level of power in my guns, meaning
they have to pack a serious punch wel beyond what most would be comfortably around.And that's thinking from the -safe- shooters perspective...

Last comes form.Not last as in least important, but last in the chain of design.
I try to minimalise the number of parts and reconfigure, adapt or shorten untill I get the most compact form possible, while still retaining the same powerlevel.

In some cases this turns out great, in some occasions one of these steps fails, in effect failing the entire cannon.

I do not consider a cannon finished if it does not contain all three.

Without thinking it through you can only get succes by accident.
Without form you just have a ugly contraption.
Without function you have a toy

Now go and make an ugly toy by accident...

What drove me into pneumatic launcher is the building part of it. I dislike violence and guns in general, so making my launcher look like a weapon is not my goal at all. I do try to build it to make it a small as possible with the most efficiency and i also clean the parts to make it pleasant to look at, but i'll never paint my launcher with blue flame and skulls and cool graffitis lettering that says : "Killa Kannon 3600 of DOOM!".

I prefer building and dismantling the cannons, even shooting gets boring after a day or two. I mean, it's all about problem solving : Light piston, quicker opening, best ratio C:B, quick loading,/reloading... using the cannon is never realy considered...