SpudTech Archive

by **pcitizen** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 7:54 pm

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="tahoma,verdana,arial" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by dd13
[br]wat did u use as a piton to activate the ball vvalve?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Thanks for your interests.

I fabricated the piston out of SCH 40 PVC parts. Here's the list:

1 - 2" end caps
1 - 2" end to end (butt connector)
1 - 5/16" by 1" all-thread nut
1 - 5/16" nut
1 - 2" rubber adjustable pipe plug
1 - 14" x 2" piece of 2" SCH 40 PVC pipe
1 - 3/8" x 24" steel rod
1 - 2" to 3/4" threaded SCH 40 PVC fitting

First I adjusted the piston (rubber plug) for a snug fit. Then I screwed on the 5/16" nut. Then I screwed on the 5/16" x 1" all-thread nut. Then I threaded one end of the 5/16" steel rod. Then I glued the 3/4" threaded fitting in one end of the 14" x 2" tube. Next I drilled a 1/2" hole in the end cap. Then I drilled a set of vent holes around the periphery of that. Then I slid the piston in the PVC tube with the rod sticking out the wide-open end. Then I slid the end cap over the rod. Then I glued the end cap on. Next I drilled a 3/32" hole in the end of the tube where the fitting meets it - this is a small vent to allow the piston to return to it's set position without fighting back pressure from the sprinkler valve. Then I moved the piston to about 2" from the other end of the tube and measured the depth of the piston from the 3/4" end. I move the piston and drilled a 1/2" in the side of the tube where the piston is supposed to stop. This 1/2" whole is used to dump all the air when the piston moves to the correct place - about where the 2" ball valve is fully open.

That's it.

Jeff

by **TimB** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 11:22 pm

Thats an awesome looking cannon PCitizen. its too bad more people wont spend more time on one cannon making it awesome as opposed to never being satisfied with the cannon they just built and instead of making it better, they just build a new one. thats a great looking cannon. i do agree with pacogoatboy though about it not being very handheld. an awesome stand could double the impressiveness of that, with a built in CO2 rig, it could be awesome.
TimB

by **boogieman** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 5:17 pm

Awesome cannon man, I was on vacation, so I just saw it. Very very good idea on the ball valve actuator![:p] I'm with tim, that baby would be unreal with a co2 setup:D

by **pcitizen** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 8:10 pm

Thanks for all the compliments and interests in my ball valve actuator. As for CO2. That would be nice, but my Air Compressor, AC Generator, and this launcher works great. The little video doesn't give it justice. Here's another URL for you high bandwidth Internet users... URL: http://members.cox.net/spudwerx/SpudChucker1_0002.wmv

by **Pyro107** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 4:27 pm

http://www.geocities.com/toolies2002/Crab_Apple_Gun.htm look at this site, it has been done before, not trying to make anyone mad or anything but toolies did it a while back

by **pcitizen** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:21 pm

Pardon me for getting a little attention.

C. c. criminey! Please don't make the assumption that the idea of turning a ball valve via pneumatics was my original idea. Ball valve actuators are all over the place... even pneumatic ones. I was driving past a NASA wind tunnel facility near my home on Tuesday and would you look at that... a massive 36" butterfly exhaust valve actuated by compressed air. Well... golley-gee. Some body has probably even done a tater-launcher ball valve pneumatic actuator too.... but cha-know what... I hadn't seen one lately... and never saw one on my launcher at all. And what's more, this one cost me less than 35 bucks which is a far cry from 100 for a SUPAH valve. No offense Joel, but money is money and I'd like to keep as much of mine as possible. Once more, I get decent performance out of this thing.

Slight offense taken.

by **IzzyDoesIt** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 10:24 am

Hey Jeff,
The attention to your launcher is well-deserved. You and your son have done a terrific job! The design, the attention to detail and the craftmanship is what I (and I suspect most spudders) appreciate from your posts. Your approach to launcher building is novel and refreshing. You did it your way and you did it right. Thanks for the unselfish sharing your experiences with us. Reading about people's experiences is one reason that I frequent this forum regularly. Whether "it's been done before" or not, has no bearing on YOUR work. I hope that no one is inhibited from posting their ideas on this forum because "someone might not like it" or because "it's been done before".
Note: For what it's worth, I do not believe the the previous post was intended in any way to demean your accomplishments.

by **Pyro107** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 3:18 pm

sorry dude i wasn't sayin "u weren't the first so dont so excited about it" i was juys sayin that toolies did it ok soory for the offence taken:x