SpudFiles

Hey all. I just want to let you guys know that I may be making a new cannon over the next few weeks. I have spring brk next week and need something to do. Anyway. This cannon will actually have a designed purpose. You see my school band will be having a concert in a month or so. At the beggining and the end we will play a song as an eentire band and then have chamber pieces. (Duets, Trios, Quartets, etc.) One of the pieces have been decided to be the Carmen Suite. The second piece is still up for debate though. I want to play the 1812 Overture with full cannon cues! Now, the reason I'm telling you all this is because the cannon cues at the end are close to a second apart! So I want to build an advance combustion using mapp and oxygen. However, I'm not sure how to go about making the fueling system quick while keeping it cheap. I also don't know if a 4" x 4" PVC chamber can hold to a combustion using these two gases. I want to attach a 1.5" or 3" barrel.

So essentially I need to make a cannon that has a reload time (no ammo) of about a second and that is extremely loud. A penny for your thoughts?

Personaly, I think it would be a very bad idea to use any combustion for public gatherings. As it will be cosidered a pyrotechnic and fire hazard etc.

You could use the same size chamber you described w/ very short barrel only maybe by using a larger diameter pipe at the muzzle to give more sound.

When you mention cannon for concert I was thinking about the AC/DC tour when they fired a cannon in "for those about to rock" It shot AC/DC money into the audience. I'm sure they needed a permit even for that.

Good luck, Hope you keep us posted on it's development!!!
EDIT:(I mean use a pneumatic w/ like a 2" barrel steped up into short larger pipe for increased bang).

Well, If I dress it up enough it won't be a gun as much as a noise maker. Also, because of the image it would have, I need to use mapp or propane to give it a clean burn so as not to cause a panic when black smoke billows out. Plus it's the 1812 Overture. What kind of perfromance would it be without cannon?

Like I explained, as soon as it goes boom and they find out it it uses combustion, It's a pyrotechnic ie: BOMB.

Being a public gathering and with that type music there are sure to be many kooky people there.

You could get the same effect w/ pneumatic by using a large chamber into a small diameter pipe then into a large diameter pipe. But even then you should make it as short as possible so if anything flies out of it, it won't have much velocity but still have Boom effect.

I'm doing the same thing for my Summer gigs. However, I'm building 4 combustion units to attempt to keep up with pace of the 1812. An ear-protected operator with be reloading the quad-battery with pre-measured syringes of propane and pre-built burst disk barrel stumps.

I will be firing remotely in time with the music.

This thing is immensely loud!

Use a piece of 4 inch thin-wall for the barrel; that should cause a lot of reverberation.

I’m with THUNDERLORD,
Combustion + public event + security force = Don’t taze me bro, don’t taze me!!!
My coaxial, before it broke, when running at 100psi would be about as loud as a .22lr from a carbine length barrel.

THUNDERLORD wrote:Like I explained, as soon as it goes boom and they find out it it uses combustion, It's a pyrotechnic ie: BOMB.

Being a public gathering and with that type music there are sure to be many kooky people there.

You could get the same effect w/ pneumatic by using a large chamber into a small diameter pipe then into a large diameter pipe. But even then you should make it as short as possible so if anything flies out of it, it won't have much velocity but still have Boom effect.

In my situation (not sure about Rcman's) there will typically be fireworks and a general expectation from the crowd for that sort of thing. The bigger the boom and display, the better.

Also, while a pneumatic can be loud as well, it has more of a loud "snap" or "crack" sound rather than "BOOM" report....and no cool blue flame propagating out if it...

Don't worry, I take crowd safety very seriously. They will be shot from a safe distance and no projectiles will be involved....except maybe some blue masking tape bits.....

You shouldn't do that somtimes people are really stupid when it comes to loud noises you fire the canon probably everybody will be screeming and just compleatly freaking out I know it is really annoying when people freak out about a loud noise. once I was at the fortress of louisbourgh you probably don't know what it is but it is an old rebuilt fortress that was operational during the 1700-1800s and alot of tourists go there and they fired one of the old cannons people were running away!

spudchucker wrote:You shouldn't do that somtimes people are really stupid when it comes to loud noises you fire the canon probably everybody will be screeming and just compleatly freaking out I know it is really annoying when people freak out about a loud noise. once I was at the fortress of louisbourgh you probably don't know what it is but it is an old rebuilt fortress that was operational during the 1700-1800s and alot of tourists go there and they fired one of the old cannons people were running away!

Uuuhh perhaps you haven't heard the 1812 Overture. Real cannons shots are a feature (and expected part) of the final 1 minute of the performance.

I was posting my message before you posted yours nevver mind 8)

Spudchucker, I’ve heard of it, but I’m in to the 1800s.

Funny, if it had been me I would have yelled “THE YANKS ARE COMIN, GRAB YOUR GUNS BOYS!!!!!!!”

Well I hope I didn't offend anyone with the "Kooky People" comment.
I enjoy classical music sometimes myself, I meant that mixed in with that type crowd...

It seems like an interesting topic to build a noise maker cannon or "salute gun" as a festive noise makers used to be called. (like the cool one at the bottom of page)

I think it would be interesting to see someone design a pneumatic for that
using a burst disc (like Starman's combustion version)and a smaller barrel into a larger one.

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_in ... ts_id=2016

Here's a YouTube of the last 4 minutes of the 1812, complete with 105mm Howitzer's. Not the best performance I've heard but you'll get the drift.

[youtube][/youtube]

THUNDERLORD wrote: I think it would be interesting to see someone design a pneumatic for that
using a burst disc (like Starman's combustion version)and a smaller barrel into a larger one.

That unit I show there basically becomes a pneumatic with the back ball valve closed and burst disk installed. That's how I've done most of my disk testing. I wear ear protection when shooting it pneumatically...it's way loud. It just misses having the same reverberating boom as it has during a combustion blast.

I have used only 80 psi disks however...the most I dare do with a 1x combustion. A higher psi disk would I'm sure have a somewhat louder report on a pneumatic, just not sure it would have the boom I want.

Thanks for the link Starman, now I know what the song is.
And it keeps playing in the background.

Still, that video is on a military base where they can do whatever they want. And those cannons are in clear view( Expected to go off).