SpudFiles

so i have been making air cannons for about one year now and my latest design is unreal but my brother had a t-shirt launcher powered by a pneumatic with a 3 foot 3" barrel that i remembered was way more powerful than mine was. so now i am in the market for a pneumatic. perhaps a 2" one. can anyone steer me in the right direction? also i have a couple of 20 oz co2 tanks that i wanted to hook up to it. can anyone help me with that too? please post your response so others can read it if they need help as well... thanks

The first thing anyone will find out in this thread is how to SEARCH the forums. Now that that ritual is out of the way... you want to go with Pneumatic. I hope you're not buying one cause theres no selling complete cannons. Also do you want a 2" barrel, or valve or chamber? The cannon configuration is up to you, but to get enough power to a 2 inch barrel, you sorta have to build a piston valve. And using c02 is a bit frowned apon with PVC, but all you need to do is get a regulate to reduce pressures, and then have it adapted to a quick connect. For more details read about others cannons like this.

Unfortunately, you've asked several very common questions, and you are likely to get battered by posts that say:
"Use the search button!", or possibly "Use the spud wiki!".

However, unlike some people, I'm a little more receptive to the difficulties of being new to a forum, so I'm going to offer some help below, but I do suggest you learn the way of the search button quickly.

Now, the pneumatic versus combustion issue has been handled here, in the spud wiki:
http://www.spudfiles.com/spud_wiki/index.php?title=FAQ
Personally, like most other serious forum members, I'm a pneumatic type.

As for finding out how to build such a thing, it's not too difficult. For a valve, you'll need a minimum of a 1" modified sprinkler valve, although for a 2" barrel, you might want something with a bit more power. Still, guides to doing this type of modification can be found using the search.

Other than that, it's a case of looking at other people's cannons and learning from what you can see on them - but not copying!!! Most people take copying as just lazy - so much for imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Now, as for CO2, that can be very dangerous. Large volumes of high pressure freezing cold gas and PVC pipe are not a great combination. It can be done safely, but you'll need a suitable regulator, and preferably a safety pop-off valve too, of no more than 150 psi, preferably only ~120.

As a last note, there is some irony in your last sentence. If other people need help, they'll probably do what you've done, and just make a new topic, rather than bother to search for older information on the subject.
There is nothing I've said here that hasn't been repeated dozens of times before by other people, and if you'd searched, you could have quite easily found that.

Let me spell it out for you....

S....E....A....R....C....H

sthorne wrote:Let me spell it out for you....

S....E....A....R....C....H

Thank you Sthorne for that informative, well worded response. If you really want to trump your bro make a 2 inch burst disk valve to blow the shit out of him(Please don't shoot any gun at anything living)

@sthorne: Oh for pete's sake, if you're going to be unhelpful and patronising, then why are you posting?

I think this attitude of flaming newbies for not using the search function first time they're here has to stop.
I see people getting more and more wound up each time something like this comes up, and although it may make sense to me, or you - think about it from a fresh point of view.

A newb turns up, makes a common - and hopefully, excusable - mistake (that many other people have done), and gets hit with a wall of negative posting.
It's hardly going to encourage people to stay on.

It doesn't require us to apply much more effort, all we have to do is be polite instead, add a couple of useful links, talk about basic "netiquette", and direct the person at the search function for more information - and if people can avoid this hate posting... need I remind you that you were a newbie once? (Yes, as was I. However, not on the forums - I built a few piston valved cannons before I ever posted anywhere.)

Even just a basic "Welcome to the forums" can make a difference - which I missed by the way - scubadude2x9, welcome to the forums.

So, instead of their first view of our forums being a negative one, we can make it a useful one that encourages advancement and keeps more newbies after their first posts.
I can tell you, if my first foruming experiences had been like some of the hostile welcomes we hand out these days, I probably wouldn't be here complaining at you right now.

pizlo wrote:Thank you Sthorne for that informative, well worded response

Yup! lol. I try to help as much as i can as you can see. unfortunately, thats not very much.

ragnarok wrote:@sthorne: Oh for pete's sake, if you're going to be unhelpful and patronising, then why are you posting?

I think this attitude of flaming newbies for not using the search function first time they're here has to stop.
I see people getting more and more wound up each time something like this comes up, and although it may make sense to me, or you - think about it from a fresh point of view.

A newb turns up, makes a common - and hopefully, excusable - mistake (that many other people have done), and gets hit with a wall of negative posting.
It's hardly going to encourage people to stay on.

It doesn't require us to apply much more effort, all we have to do is be polite instead, add a couple of useful links, talk about basic "netiquette", and direct the person at the search function for more information - and if people can avoid this hate posting... need I remind you that you were a newbie once? (Yes, as was I. However, not on the forums - I built a few piston valved cannons before I ever posted anywhere.)

Even just a basic "Welcome to the forums" can make a difference - which I missed by the way - scubadude2x9, welcome to the forums.

So, instead of their first view of our forums being a negative one, we can make it a useful one that encourages advancement and keeps more newbies after their first posts.
I can tell you, if my first foruming experiences had been like some of the hostile welcomes we hand out these days, I probably wouldn't be here complaining at you right now.

You're right, I'm sorry for being a jerk lol. Ill try to be a bit nicer to those in need.


And scubadude2x9, if you really wanted to use those Co2 tanks (which i think is a cool idea), i suggest you buy a cheapy (but not too cheap) paintball gun and modify it to your liking. Or you could do some searching and find out how paintball guns work and possible make your own gun. Larger scale of course, if you want to compete with your brother's T-shirt launcher. Sorry bout the flaming btw. Everyone was a newb at one point, I just have trouble remembering that.

sthorne wrote:You're right, I'm sorry for being a jerk lol. Ill try to be a bit nicer to those in need.

Much better...

Blimey, that basic smiley doesn't get used very often, does it?

lol, nope. Haven't seen too many of these either

Comes up occasionally - mostly when JSR is talking about some thinly veiled (and often rather crude) innuendo.

I guess I see more of these: :wav: than I do of things like: and - and the mexican wave isn't even on the main screen!!!
I think most of the others on the main page get dug up every now and again - mostly by (sigh...) JSR.

EDIT: And the topic has been derailed before the second page - and without even JSR to help!!! Ready... !!!

lol, you used it!!! lol.

I think we're getting a bit off topic but we helped scubadude2x9 so, w/e.

Also,in regards to researching, a bunch of links have been provided for you here: Noob Help.

Pneumatic is definitely the way to go to trump your bro (say that ten times fast).

For a two inch barrel a modded sprinkler valve is a minimum for sufficient power. If you are really feeling up to the task, build a piston valve but only if you fully understand the concept behind them.

make sure you use pressure rated fittings (they'll say Nsf-pw on them), but only if you want to live. Anything with DWV on it is a big no-no for a pneumatic.

Hope it turns out well, post it when you're finished

BTW, welcome to the forum

Another thing you should know is DON'T GIVE UP, My first gun leaked and sucked in general, my second was an attempt at a coax that failed, my third was a great success (I'll have a constant air source this weekend so I think I'll get some footage), and my fourth gun is all done accept making the actual piston tomorrow at school with he disk sander and lathe. So yeah, your guns will just get better and better as you progress, and the way to speed that up is reed on the forums more than you post.