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my super simple tennis ball cannon will it work?

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:04 pm
by newkidspudster
ok, this is it from butt to nose,a 2and 1/2 inch endcap then a 1 foot piece than has a tire valve in it and a ball vaulve hooked onto it,then just a piece of 2and 1/2 inch 3foot long pvc. thats it will it work? ive never made a pneumatic before and need to know if it will work thnk ya.


:newb: :newb: :newb: :newb: :puke:

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:12 pm
by schmanman
do you really need to use so many smilies?

should work.

ball valve wont yield the best preformance, though.

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:14 pm
by SpudBlaster15
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Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:17 pm
by Velocity
Its kind of difficult to understand what you are saying... but I believe you are building a simple ball valve gun, with a 2.5"x12" chamber, a 2.5" ball valve, and a 2.5"x36" barrel, correct?

Yes, this setup will work, but it is certainly not ideal

1) A 2.5" ball valve is pretty hard to find
2) A 2.5" ball valve is VERY difficult to turn quickly enough to get any power... I am not sure if you would even be able to achieve 100 feet
3) Finding 2.5" pipe and fittings is difficult; if you order from mcmaster, this changes everything.
4) If you do decide to order from mcmaster.com, you will be forced to buy a 5-foot, rather than a 4-foot, length of 2.5" pipe. I would give 2 feet to the chamber and 3 feet to the barrel, for this will yield slightly more power

If you want to make it even simpler, build a combustion. Here is what it will look like, from the back to the front (as you described yours)

2.5" threaded screw cap
2.5" female adapter
2.5"x60" PVC pipe

Thats all the pipe fittings that you will need. At about 24" from the bottom, put a bolt all the way through the pipe, to prevent the ball from rolling down the entire barrel.

Add an ignition system; I am sure you can search and find one if you need to.

This is just my suggestion

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:18 pm
by MrCrowley
Ofcourse it will work but you're looking at small distances and power. I would recomend:

3" pvc 18" long
Modded Sprinkler Valve
2.5" barrel 3' long


Don't ask what a spinkler valve is just use the search button at the top of the page. It has also been stickied.

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:37 pm
by jrrdw
I agree with MrCrowley, if this is your 1st pneumatic, the build he described will suit your inquiry alot better. rmich732 also made a great point, the ball valve is hard to find, and hard to work, yielding unsatisfactory performance. Let us convince you to go with the modded sprinkler valve, you will have a blast!!!

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:55 pm
by alextheametuer
it should work i made one just like it i was shooting mine about two hundred feet but i suggest you get a quicker opening valve like sprinkler valves

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:07 pm
by garrettee
Thanks for saving the smileys and good luck.

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:05 pm
by dippydodo03
i agree with MrCrowley. other wise good disign.

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:29 pm
by jjk92
my friend built a similiar cannon and it shot less than 50 ft with the ball valve but if you do choose to use a ball valve use metal not plastic because the metal (brass) ball valves open much quicker than plastic

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:42 pm
by frankrede
Metal ball valve>plastic.
They are easily reusable and cooler.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:00 am
by jjk92
plasitic are reuseable just put a male or female adapter at the end

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 2:27 pm
by frankrede
They still suck

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 3:11 pm
by jjk92
im not saying that they dont i was just trying to clear it up for anybody sitting there going ? there not reusable