Need someone of experience to guide my creative venture...

Thanatos · Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:00 am

I am a brand new member to this site, and a fairly new member to the world of spud launching. Recently I have come up with an interesting idea and need guidance in the creation of a cannon that will suit my needs. I am looking to build a pneumatic cannon that will fire golf balls as projectiles. The cannon would need to be easily transported by one person, I was thinking along the lines of a rifle or shoulder launcher, and would need to be able to launch the projectiles a distance of 250-300 yds. The ability to adjust the distance of the launch through the regulation of pressure or other means is a must, as the 250-300 yds is my idea of the maximum distance. Ease of reload, possibly through breech loading would also be necessary. I look forward to hearing from the seasoned vets of this site!

spudshot · Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:56 am

you can use 1.5" sdr-21 pipe sleeved inside 2" sch 80 for a great golf ball barrel. as for being easily transportable, do you mean the pressure source needs to be mobile too? if so your best bet is a co2 setup. an easy method of breechloading is using an extendable repair coupling to cover a hole in the barrel you use to drop the ammo in

boilingleadbath · Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:29 pm

It's not required to sleave the sdr 21. It' fairly rigid, and has a pressure rating af 160 psi.
For extending range, you might want to look into a hop-up device. These put a spin on a ball, so it acctually generates lift! Obviously, that would help range.

As for a valve, the question is: do you feel like making your own valve?
If you do this, may I provide you with a hint: sdr21 is fairly thin - you may damage your diaphram/piston. Put part of a cupler on the end of your barrel. (the end the piston/diaphram seals against). If breach loading is a must, go with a zonker-type, with a seperate chamber that's not around the barrel. Otherwise, go with a standard co-axial and either just drop the ammo down the barrel, or 'breach' load just behind the hop-up device.

If you don't feel like making your own valve, your options are 3:
ball valve - cheap, reliable, and sucky
Non-modifed sprinkler - 12-24$ for a 1", occasional problems (mostly involving dust on the diaphram), pretty good.
modified sprinkler - add 8$ to the non-modified sprinkler, more problems (and require you to mod the valve), very good preformance.

spudshot · Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:04 pm

i would highly suggest you sleeve it though, because i believe DR and plow have had sections of it fail on them

Thanatos · Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:15 pm

Thanks to both of you guys. Is it possible to send pictures? Im one of those damned visual people and while your explanations are great it would be even better if I could see what it is I need to do. Even just a rough sort of drawing with some labels would mean more than you can possibly imagine. Thanks again.

spudshot · Mon Jul 25, 2005 7:53 pm

well, i was thinking of something along the lines of boogie's zooka (small chamber, simple sprinkler valve, and golf ball barrel) and you could take the breech loading idea from boogie's golf ball cannon (also on this site)

boilingleadbath · Tue Jul 26, 2005 5:29 pm

Remember to use glue when sleaving pipe!
SDR has red lettering... the actual color is wight, but that wasn't going to show up very well, so I lied.

That's a coupler 1/2 on the sdr 21. (it's not sch 80 - but again, sch 40 is wight)
Note that it is flush, and the discarded part has the ring thingy.

The other things I explained can be found on other parts of this database... most of them, anyway.

spudshot · Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:11 pm

not all of it has red lettering, i've seen pics of it with grey lettering

Thanatos · Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:44 pm

Thanks again to both of you guys. When I get some time to put this thing together and test it out I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks again and happy launchings!

Thanatos · Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:59 pm

Still havent yet gotten around to making this thing, but I was wondering what sort of valve you would suggest. Boiling said I have some options, but I was curious which would make the most sense in terms of cost and in terms of ease of construction, if construction would even make sense as I have no experience in this department. Thanks again.

saladtossser · Sat Jul 30, 2005 8:47 am

ya stunguns are rare in canada, i wanna try a 3 point ignition for my next launcher with a camera ciruit. where do u live? i live somewhere north of toronto.

being minors is great, cops cant do anything to us. i can fish undersized fish and they wont care.

boilingleadbath · Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:06 pm

If you get pressure rated pipe, and solvent weld correctly (with pressure rated fittings)... you won't have a problem with a combustion. EVER. Now, on a combustion, you can probably use cell-core pipe, and non-pressure rated fittings, and it most likely won't blow up. Don't blame us if you die though. (that is... construct it properly, and you won't have problems.)
Use "right gaurd" deoderant (preferably in the brown can).
2 chambers arn't very different from a single chamber twice as big. And big chambers are (almost allways) better.
I'd sugest a grill igniter (you push it, and you get a click and a electric spark), or a lanter sparker (you twist it, and you get a shower of sparks).

The cheapest, easiest to construct would be a ball valve. Why? Because you just go to your average hardware store and buy a 1.5" (pvc, not brass) valve for like 8$. You then solvent weld it on your gun, wait for it to cure, and call it done. You don't have to fiddle with it, modify it, or make it, and it's the cheapest valve you'll find. (though many suggest putting some dish soap in it to make it open easier)