3D printing?

[Theonepbs]

Hello all

I appear new to the forums, but I’m really not! I have been on here since dial up internet, and the spud tech site forums.

Anyhow I stop in now and again to see what’s new here, and what badass things you creators have made!

With that being said, i was wondering what role 3d printing could play in spudgun and air cannon tech?

I have been 3d printing now for a few years and i didn’t come across much on here related.

I drew up and printed some parts to make a 2” piston valve,

I have seen nerf guns(lots) special in the rival type, lots of prop type guns, and even real actual firing firearms in the 3d printing realm, but not much in the way of air cannons or combustion or air soft lets say spud files type

Anyhow was wondering anyone’s thoughts on this

Below is what I printed the piston and the barrel alignment guide were printed with PLA carbon fiber

The sealing face of the piston was printed in Blue TPU

[PracticallySane]

Looks awsome, for things like pistons and internal components that sounds great. Im not sure if you have access but I would say something with glass fiber reinforcement would be preferential.

I would not recommend printing a chamber or any external components that may rupture and cause harm.

Potato launching technology has made leaps and bounds the past few years.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Welcome back!

The material advances in 3D printing in the past few years have been amazing, what previously I thought would have been impractical for structural parts is now feasible.

Regarding your piston, doesn't it need to be cylindrical in order to fit in a tube and remain airtight? If air can flow past the lugs and into the pilot chamber then it won't work.

I'm assuming you're going for a conventional coaxial design here.

[Moonbogg]

Those parts look beautiful. I was wondering about the shape of the piston as well. Seems air would go by it. What kind of cannon is this for? As for 3D printing, I've been tempted to get into it myself to make interesting projectiles. I have ideas to 3D print camera holders to shoot from the cannon and record the flight. I'd also want to make something with a parachute that deploys for the ultimate version of those toys I played with as a kid. Maybe a parachute deploying capsule with a downward-facing camera that sends the view to a laptop or something. It could be used as a recon-cannon! A cheap drone would of course be infinitely better, but it would still be super fun.
Also, I imagine making a 3D printed dart-like projectile with deployable wings! Imagine getting a design like that right and watching the thing just fly across a massive distance. That would be totally awesome.

[Theonepbs]

Thanks everyone I didn’t even realize I had got reply’s until just now!

Yes i was going for a coaxial design the small groves were to allow the chamber to be filled past the piston or an equalization channels as there is none on the piston itself and a spring would also be used to aid in the sealing of the piston

New to piston valves so idk if would work the way i planned

Also yes there are some awesome materials

My favorites are glass reinforced, & carbon reinforced nylon or pa6 have went through a bunch

Have printed with and print regularly with

ABS, tpu, tpe, petg, pla, nylon pa6, 910 alloy, Pom, and a few more I am forgetting I am sure

Thanks for the response and any suggestions would be great

[Theonepbs]

Sorry to post again I’ll post more pics of related things and parts I have made up and printed

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Yes i was going for a coaxial design the small groves were to allow the chamber to be filled past the piston or an equalization channels as there is none on the piston itself and a spring would also be used to aid in the sealing of the piston

You don't need them, in fact they are too much and it will probably not work as drawn.

If there isn't an o-ring, air is going to flow past anyway so you should make it as close to the outer tube as possible.

If too much air can flow past, the pilot chamber will fill up from the main chamber faster than the pilot valve can empty it, and it will never fire.

[Theonepbs]

Thanks for the info

[DasAbonnent]

Hey,
very cool, nice prints!

From my experience, you'll have trouble with the seal not sealing. I tried 3D printed piston seals and they don't seal.
I ended up just printing the pistons and glueing on a piece of rubber with epoxy.
Also you want the outside of your piston to be as good of a seal as possible. While loading, the air will creep around anyway.

Finish the gun and tell us your experiences!:)

best regards
DasAbonnent

[mark.f]

Yep,

Regardless of how much I'm annoyed I can never make the investment in time and resources to get started 3d printing, it is the future.

If you can make a 9mm carbine with 3d printed parts, there's no reason you can't make spudgun parts.