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Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 1:11 am
by MrCrowley
Maybe he sold off the idea...along with your designs?

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 1:51 am
by D_Hall
Could be.

Dunno. That pic was just a huge blast from the past. Wish I could remember the guy's name. I know he was a regular over on warpig (which is where we "knew" each other from). Beyond that....

I believe he mostly did contract work making plastic/rubber parts for whomever. His one thing that was his own work that he sold was some sort of taco keeper thing. You know, a gadget to hold up your taco shell while you filled it without it falling over and such.

Sheesh.

That was a long time ago. Back when I actually played paintball and such. Gotta be close to 10 years now!



edit: And to be fair... I'm not sure who's idea it was. I think it was one of those things that just came up during conversation on warpig. Sort of a collective idea if you will. He and I just happened to be the two that ran with it.

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:23 am
by MrCrowley
So it was kind of like on Spudtech when DR(?) and another member designed and fabricated those sprinkler valve lids and soda bottle adapters?

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:59 am
by socoj2
D_Hall wrote:HOLY CRAP!

I was googling for more info on the eclipse, (very cool, Solar) and I came across the following pic...

Image

WTF!?!?!?!?!

Somebody once asked what got us into spud gunning.

Developing THAT projectile got me into it. Me and some other guy I'd never met developed that together. I did most of the design work, he did the manufacturing and such (he owned a machine/tooling shop that specialized in plastic/rubber dies and such).

We built that sucker (I built a cannon simply to test aerodynamics and such). We then found out that liability insurance on the product would probably kill us.

I dropped out.


I guess he didn't.


Wow. I'm not sure whether to be pissed or amused.
Yes he purchased the production rights for that rocket. As far as i know..

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:09 pm
by D_Hall
socoj2 wrote:Yes he purchased the production rights for that rocket. As far as i know..
Well then, that DOES piss me off. If he'd just continued making it? Meh... He'd be incuring the liability issues. More power to him. But it does piss me off that he conveniently forgot who did his aerodynamics work.

Oh well. Not worth pursueing I imagine. I've long since purged my records (would have been working on it roughly 2000ish).

So.... Does it work as well as I'd hoped? I guess it must not suck too badly if they're still making it. The goal was a projectile that was man-safe, and would travel further when launched at 200 fps than a paintball would when launched at 300 fps.

LOL... Hell, I may still have the video (although I've no idea where it would be) of the "man-safe proof" shot.... I let my wife shoot me at point blank range in the chest and in the face (with paintball mask on). Owie!!!!

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:15 pm
by MrCrowley
If you have any videos or pictures still lurking your hard drive or something, it'd be interesting to see some of them just for kicks :P

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:27 pm
by D_Hall
I believe one of the (failed) prototypes is lurking in my son's bedroom somewhere, but that's going to be as good as it gets.


The prototype in question was more or less the same design except...

1) It was yellow (not orange) due to the use of a softer foam.
2) It didn't have the lateral support struts that stiffen the tail
3) It didn't have the vinyl tube down the core that further stiffens the tail.

Basically, it worked, but it wouldnt' survive for more than one or two shots. Too flimsy.

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 3:00 pm
by Sticky_Tape
I guess you made a boo boo then D-hall didn't you? I wonder how much money he made I know I am just turning the knife.

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:07 pm
by Solar
D_Hall, I have an agreement with Dave Lyon regarding the manufacture of the rockets which isn't appropriate to discuss here. A friend of mine has taken over production AND the risks involved with their manufacture, something that I wasn't willing to take on myself. We had to do another redesign to get them accepted at the paintball fields and are in the process of finding a less expensive way to manufacture them. If you haven't noticed, Blackpoint engineering has knocked them off in a two inch version they sell for their launchers at $6 a pop. The number of rockets produced is still in the dozens... not lighting the world on fire yet. We spent a long time learning how to work with the chemicals to make them come out right. Lucky for us, 1.5" PVC is really 40mm tubing in disguise. You can email me direct at rory@eclipselauncher.com

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:15 pm
by D_Hall
Ah yes, Dave Lyon!

Alas, I've no knowledge of the current paintball scene. Haven't played since I shredded my ankle about five years ago.

But just for fun... This was my first cannon and it was designed expressly to shoot that projectile.

Image

...Nothing exciting, but hey, it was my first and I needed something for testing purposes ASAP.