SpudFiles

It's been YEARS since I last posted a cannon on here, but I got the urge to make a cannon out of a commercially made blowgun I gotten.

It shoots standard store bought 0.40 caliber blowgun darts out of the 48" removable barrel.

The valve I used is a modded 3/4" Orbit watermaster sprinkler valve.
Chamber is made from 2" schedule 40 PVC pipe and 3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipe. There is a union integrated into the chamber so i can rotate it to form a 'stock'.

Bring on the pics.














Now for the damage shots. The dart was imbedded about 1.5" into the wood at 81 PSI.

Holy crap dude! That's awesome! Have you put the union there so you can hold it easier? Or is there a different function for it?

The union is there so I can rotate the chamber.

Looks sweet.

Hows its Accuracy?

It's not that great. I found out that the last section of the barrel wobbles when firing. Once I fix that it should be spot on.

I COMPLETELY embedded a 4.5" dart into a palm tree trunk. It was glorious!

I would also like to point out that this is my cleanest looking cannon ever. there are no barcodes or writing on the pipe and no PVC cement is visible. Using acetone to clean a cannon beforehand and while cementing parts together makes a tremendous difference.

I made something similar but smaller. It dosnt take much to get those darts through wood. You should try these http://www.blow-gun.com/storefront/merc ... y_Code=PHD.

Wow! looks awesome!
but, what's the diameter of the barrel? 3/4?

The barrel is more around 3/8", but it is not standard.

Good job benstern! But where's the sight?

No sight...yet.

A 3/8" NIBCO copper adapter fights very tightly over the blowgun which makes attaching it quite easy.

These look like they would give the best accuracy, though I would probaby go for these in terms of penetration depth, low sectional density and pointed yet sturdy enough to resist "fishhooking" on impact.

jon_89 wrote:It dosnt take much to get those darts through wood

It was the mythical penetrative power of one of those darts that had spurned the infamous spudfiles coin challenge

Well I built this cannon for purposes of a nature I can't discuss here so penetration is key and fish hooking might be beneficial. Needless to say my targets are not hard enough to bend the darts significantly.

When the 200 target darts I ordered off ebay arrive I will test it out on coins and other suitable objects.

I also want to point out that I breech load the darts by twisting off the barrel. There is just enough space between the two brass fittings to allow this.

benstern wrote:Well I built this cannon for purposes of a nature I can't discuss here so penetration is key and fish hooking might be beneficial. Needless to say my targets are not hard enough to bend the darts significantly.

Keep in mind that pinholes are easily sealed, and if you double the diameter of the projectile, you quadruple the area through which fluid can flow.

Let's not discuss that topic further and stick to the cannon not it's purpose.

Ah, but a cannon is defined by its purpose I would research a little further if I were you, whatever the intended purpose.

Well the 200 extra darts arrived today so I tested them on some coins.