SpudFiles

You definatly have some DWV on that cannon, and with the pressures involved...


Plumbing companies dont know jack (correct if mistaken) about pressure and that, I asked once for a 16bar (220psi) tee and they gave me an incorrectly labeled DWV fitting.

Rain Delays. Will be working into the night. Keep posted. Cannon should be able to be able to fire a light projectile (an empty vegetable can) tonight.

Be careful. That cleanout plug will eventually get fatuiged and blow off. Just make sure your not standing behind it when that happens.

We've engineered the shock mount for this particular reason, so if the end plugs do pop off, we'll be to either side of it. Never directly in front or back. The whole chamber is in a channel of 1/2" plywood that is reinforced with 1x4, and 2x4 boards. We've covered our bases with safety in mind. The only part of the gun we will be partially exposed to is the barrel.

The pressure rated fittings will work. They are rated at 180 also. I would be very surprised if we see 180psi out of this thing, lets also remember that these are working pressures. Burst pressures are much higher.

Good thinking. Its a good sign that you have engineered a mount with safety in mind.

artillerycreations wrote:Good thinking. Its a good sign that you have engineered a mount with safety in mind.

Well yeah. It's a massive build. We've been so paranoid about the chamber blowing up that we even contemplated wrapping this thing in fiberglass before we fired it. I can't remember if it's been posted previously. Thanks to everyone for safety concerns, though. Please feel free to inquire/suggest anything that could make this build more awesome.

One thing to remember is even if it doesnt blow up once doesnt mean it wont blow up the next time. Manufacturers arent perfect. If i were you i would wrap it in fiberglass or for that matter ducktape. Ducktape is stronger than most people think. I dont want to see this thing blow up because there is a huge amount of force involved. The plywood should help protect you from little pieces but im not so sure about the big ones. A fiberglass wrap would help contain the blast. One thing i like about ducktape is its like wrapping pvc in abs. You get the best of both worlds. The ducktape will help hold chunks in during a catastrophic failure.

We are well aware of the risks involved with this build... it's not like we thought up this project overnight. We've been planning this build for over a year, but we just now have the money to make this project. We do appreciate the concern though.
Now on a different note, theGreater and I had an idea for the recoil control. We were plundering in an old shed and found a door return cylinder. We're thinking of adding this to the original design so instead of the gun sliding forward and hitting the front hard, it just eases forward (similar to a real howitzer). This should be interesting.

Everything for the recoil system was purchased today which included black iron pipe, flanges, a pneumatic door return, and other various fittings. Also purchased were spare jigsaw blades, handles, and an assortment of nuts and bolts (just in case). Work resumes tomorrow after a drive from North Mississippi. We should have the barrel attached to the chamber tomorrow with the carriage for the recoil system. theLesser purchased a Casio Exilim camera capable of taking videos of up to 1000fps. That should give us some pretty intense damage footage in a couple of days, not to mention get a good idea of muzzle velocity.

Video to be posted of the first firing of the chamber. Not only does it produce a substantial "pop," it also has some pretty impressive recoil (not to mention a 3' jet of fire). It's fairly nifty. Video to come (theLesser's reaction is sure to draw some lawl's).

Is it just me or is the clean out plug glowing?

And here is the video of the chamber...

[youtube][/youtube]

Oh... and sorry for the link... How do you post a video?

So the barrel is attached, finally. Our supports clamp on just as we had planned, and tomorrow sees the construction of the trough that all of this will sit in. This thing is a beast. We finally see the scale of this project.

It looks like you're subjecting your cannon tomedieval humiliation

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:It looks like you're subjecting your cannon tomedieval humiliation

Hahaha. Pretty much. It'll look even more like the stocks once we put the bracing up in between the two pieces of wood. However, once we get this thing on it's recoil rails, it should start to look less like PVC S&M, and more like a howitzer.