Carbon fibre barrel help

Building or modifying BB, Airsoft, and Pellet type of guns. Show off your custom designs, find tips and other discussion. Target practice only!
cstru18
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Mon May 13, 2013 9:58 am

I was just wondering if anyone knows if a carbon fibre barrel is any good to use cause it kinda scares me knowing that its not metal. Thanks in advanced
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Kilash
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Mon May 13, 2013 10:48 am

Is it pressure rated?
cstru18
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Mon May 13, 2013 11:02 am

Nah it's not pressure rated.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon May 13, 2013 11:05 am

Carbon fibre paintball tanks are happy to take 4500 psi :) if it's small diameter and with decent wall thickness you should be fine, especially for a barrel that only suffers a brief instance of pressure.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
cstru18
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Mon May 13, 2013 11:11 am

It doesn't say anything about the wall thickness.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon May 13, 2013 11:13 am

inside/outside diameter?
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
cstru18
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Mon May 13, 2013 11:21 am

Od is 8mm id is 6.2mm is that a 2mm wall thickness
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon May 13, 2013 11:29 am

0.9mm wall thickness. should be good enough for your purposes.
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
cstru18
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Mon May 13, 2013 11:38 am

Thanks for the help jsr appreciate it.
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Zeus
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Tue May 14, 2013 4:30 am

Something that should be considered is the orientation of the fibres. Assuming it's an arrow shaft (dimensions sound right) then it won't hold up that well, the fibres are purely axial, and have nearly no hoop strength. I doubt it'd blow up, but it won't be flash hot either. Also, the internal finish of the tubing may leave a lot to be desired.
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Rezonate
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Tue May 14, 2013 4:39 pm

Zeus has a good point. The way the fibre is oriented makes the difference.
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flashskate13
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Thu May 16, 2013 12:24 pm

I used carbon fibre tubing for a experimental barrel,

problems i found was the internal wall was very ruff and had a joint/ seam in it and when i polised this out left me with a undesirable id. so would be better if you can see the carbon before buying.

but other than that very strong and more flex than a aluminium barrel.
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Spudinator
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Fri May 31, 2013 3:16 pm

I've used carbon fiber arrow shafts as BB barrels for years now. You gotta buy the shafts that don't have nocks or heads on them, they are way cheaper and you can inspect the bores easily. During archery season Walmart carries them for about $6 a piece. And don't worry about pressure ratings, I've fired hundreds of shots through an oxy/acetylene pistol using an arrow shaft for a barrel (10 cubic inches. Farkin deadly thing, BTW lol) with no I'll effects. The brand of arrow I use is called terminator, its got a metal skull on it. The bore finish of these arrows is a mirror.
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:31 pm

Look who's lurking :)
Spudinator wrote:I've fired hundreds of shots through an oxy/acetylene pistol
You can't mention it and not show it! Or is this something from the spudtech days I had missed?
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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Spudinator
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Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:02 pm

Heh ya I poke my head in from time to time, probably more frequently now that I'm working in a CNC shop :)

I'll have to put it together since I've been working on it recently, but I believe a few pictures could be provided in the next couple days. Ghastly little thing though, blows your ears out with larger bores (.40 and .625) without ear protection, and airsoft BB's go really fast out of the arrow barrel. I'll have pics up soon...
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