SpudFiles

Only problem is you may have to have a long barrel incase the nail only makes a small hole it make take a few spilt seconds to tear the material completely

okay, I'm too lazy to read all of these posts but my view on burst disks is simple. Go and buy some clear plasic plates or doggy boxes. In fact, you could go to arctic circle and order a salad to go and use the lid and/or box it comes in. Or go to arby's and buy their biggest roast beef sandwitch. It comes in a clear plasic box. I beleive those should burst pretty high. I've also been told that certain kinds of tape work really good.

Bluetooth wrote:A solenoid is a small electromagnetically activated valve. What were you thinking?

It could be modded to pop a disk.

i was considering a mortar style, but its too limited.

i've always know of a solenoid as a electromagnet that moves a normal magnet inside a housing or tube. only recently (last year) did i find out that it was used as a pilot for the sprinkler valve.

what i was thinking is to take a thin wire (got an entire spool of it) and wind it around a brass tube. then take a magnet and glue a tack or point of some sort to the front and place it in the tube. because it is an electromagnet you can reverse the current and when you run it thru one way it shoots the magnet/needle forward into the burst disk, then you reverse the polarity of the electromagnet to draw the magnet/needle back in. you might need some sort of stop to keep the magnet/needle from flying out.

instead of the solenoid, you could have a blowgun mounted to the chamber, and use that pressure to push a pin into the burst disk, maybe have a 45 degree wye on the barrel side and put a small piston in it or something.

no piston for me...i have no lathe

and the blowgun idea...well in not sure how to construct that

Thread a 1/4 inch nipple into the chamber, attach a hose to it, attach the blowgun to the hose, and attach the blowgun to the piston. Also, make the wye a smaller diameter pipe and make the piston out of hot glue or silicon sealant. Just stick a nail in it as it sets.

meh. i dont think it worth the trouble. i have never made a burst disk cannon and im just doing it as a weekend project....but i if i really wanted to make it good i could get pimpmann to lathe up a piston for me.