Golf Ball Howitzer

[c497]

simple breach loading air howitzer
it is made out of a bicycle, treadmill, satellite dish components, a sprinkler valve, and some PVC pipe. It was mostly junk i had laying around the shop.The air tank is made out of a satellite dish post i cut it to length and welded ends on it. i put a metal valve stem on one end and a 3/4 threaded female coupling on the other and an air Gage in the middle from there i put a 3/4 inch pipe nipple then a yard sprinkler valve or solenoid valve. then another 3/4 pipe nipple to a 3/4 to 1inch reducer. from there i made a 90 degree bend out of some tubing and welded the reducer to one end and the other end to a piece of 2 inch by12 inch pipe. from there i jb welded a 2 inch PVC sleeve onto it and then added the 2 inch PVC barrel. i used the aiming part of a satellite dish to mount it to the carriage it works good because it has the degrees stamped into it. I have about $50 in it and built it in about two days. It will fire a golf ball 400-500 yards at 160 psi on a 45 degree angle and put a hole through a industrial garage door at 30 yards. let me know what you guys think.

[jrrdw]

Nice work! Would love to see video/s of this in action.

Welcome to Spudfiles!

[c497]

Thanks I will try and post a video sometime around the weekend

[bravootome]

i like that tractor you got there. what do you use it for ?

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

i like that tractor you got there. what do you use it for ?

tracting!



I prefer that lovely little truck in picture 3

Nice little artillery piece! The only thing I would change is using a larger sprinkler valve, 3/4" on a 2" barrel has very poor flow, and you might also want to consider modding your valve for manual instead of electronic actuation.

Other than that, fire in the hole!

[c497]

The tractor is not mine it is a neighbors he uses it around his farm we are working on it.
the truck is just an old ford i use around the farm it still runs good but i have not had it on the highway in a few years.
and the 3/4 sprinkler valve is small but it was the only one i could find at the local hardware store. it has the option to fire electrically or manual it came that way. when i build another one i will go with a bigger sprinkler valve and do away with the 90 degree elbow to make it more efficient.
i am a machinist by trade and i am wondering how i would go about building an oxy acetylene cannon that would be safe? i have seen some people using black iron pipe but it just doesn't seem very safe. if anyone could point me in the right direction i would appreciate it

[jrrdw]

Read through the hybird section particularly any cannon using mixes X7 +. You can also find prior discussion on "oxy acetylene" in the combustion discussion section.

[kydavies]

awesome howitzer there im building a slightly larger piece with a modded 1" valve and was curious how the recoil was and if a recoil system might be considered?

Also, even as a Welder Fabricator i still find Oxy fuel guns terrifying.... it can be done safely but its still really unsettling.

[c497]

With the 3/4 valve it doesn't have any noticed recoil but you could make a track for your cannon to sit on and put bearings under it with a return spring with the right spring I think that would be a good recoil system.

[kydavies]

yeah... mines a little bigger... I test fired it without the carriage yesterday and go knocked on my ass. 2''pvc x3' chamber and 2''x6' barrel with a 1'' valve, same configuration with the breach too. luckily i work in a welding/fab shop and have access to a press brake and all sorts of cool stuff we all wish we had in our garage
I was going to forgo the bearings and put 1x1x1/8'' HSS with a guide rod and spring inside of 1 1/4 x1 1/4 x100 wall HSS with a cap on 1 end.
Also any idea on how to weaken a spring without wrecking it? maybe just a little heat?

[c497]

It sounds like you are making a recoil shock. I think it would work well if you can find the right spring.

[air_dannon]

Very cool! I envy your work surroundings (apartment living makes constructing and shooting tough ). I second a video showing the power of the golf ball.