tennis ball gun -->CHALLENGE<--

[boukbazooka]

THIS IS AN OPEN CHALLENGE

I was thinking my dog needs to run more, so I wanted to make a gun to shoot him the ball. so I came to the place that handles these matters, SPUDFILES
After some research I found cheap slingshots, bulky battery powered launchers, and very homemade watch your face guns. I am looking for any ideas that would fit the following criteria. I really liked the winning tennis gun but looked very complicated and expensive for the normal gunner to make.

checklist / criteria
(1) 100-200 ft max , my dog cant run a mile to get the ball
(2) mechanically safe(ok somewhat) for me and my dog
(3) propellant that is safe for my dog to chew on
(4) fully portable, not bulky -- will take to park
(5) material I can get at the local hardware store
(6) easy to load and shoot
(7) and a fair price to make

any ideas welcome , and thank you gunners

[rcman50166]

Make TITS!!!

Or a simple ball valve gun, Everyone else here will say to use a sprinkler valve It would only have to run at 25-30 psi. A ball valve makes it quiet enough to be socially acceptable.

Welcome to Spudfiles

[CS]

Pneumatic:


Modifying a sprinkler valve - SpudFiles

Barrel Sizes - Spud Wiki

Then a bike pump can be used to pressurize the chamber.

Combustion:


Nice combustion TB launcher

Tennis ball guns aren't new to this site, SEARCH!

[rcman50166]

Experience with my t-shirt gun proves a bike pump to takes forever. Then again the chamber on the t-shirt gun is at least twice the size. I'd use a Portable Kobalt CO2 regulator.

[psycix]

-Tennis ball barrel
-Modded sprinkler valve (ball valve is possible, but since the sprinkler will give more power you can shoot the same distance with less air)
-Small chamber (cut power by volume, not by pressure, so that you are more efficient)
-Onboard bike pump (its a small chamber so it won't take "that" long, besides, this makes sure that you'll also get some exercise, not just your dog)
-Pressure gage

Done.

[jrrdw]

Just buy one from one of our sponsers.

[Technician1002]

A small chamber at higher pressure works well and takes little time to fill with a bike pump.

A large chamber takes lots of time to get the pressure up but at lower pressure, the noise is much less at the same range. A large chamber with a longer barrel and large valve can launch tennis balls nearly 500 feet at about 80 PSI.

[boukbazooka]

YES! thank you
Technician1002

I was looking for something just like this, very simple and efficient. nailed it

Couple comments on that photo.....

-what is the total length of the gun, and if it is large could I collapse the barrel down (thread off), or make it shorter because I dont need it to go a mile (simple right)

- for loading>>i've seen a kinda drop in loading in guns from the barrel- than covered up by a trap door-- is this possible?


and below I found a totally portable cordless battery powered air compressor -- nice gun-like design for actual trigger >>> not sure of quality 39$ )))))))))link:


urlhttp://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=cordl ... ellers/url

-------> any plans for this red gun in the picture??? link???

[jagerbond]

[youtube][/youtube]

Consider the $100 ML-420e (in this case ML-425e) I'll set you up with a 2.5" barrel and a .9 to 1 chamber to barrel ratio will keep the noise down. No need to mess with compressors or tanks, just spray 1/2 second static guard.

http://ultimatespudgun.com/fully-assemb ... p-239.html

[Biopyro]

You may be better off with something like this.
It's not quite as awesome but if you actually plan to take it down to the park and use it, it's cheaper, quieter and probably a lot more practical!

Otherwise what you need is something which is easy to refill and fairly portable. You aren't going to really want to hold it like a gun so I'd suggest a mortar like cannon. That way you can keep the pump attached the whole time and fill while the dog chases the ball. When he returns (train him to?) drop the ball down the barrel and repeat. It doesn't even need to be adjustable because wind, position and pressure will all vary where the ball lands.

Be careful not to have the angle too steep though, and the dog may lose it!

[kotabuuki1]

yea, those throwers actually work quite well, they go about 100ft with minimal effort.

[jook13]

Here is my vote!
[youtube][/youtube]

Haha, in all seriousness though, I think a spray combustion is kinda out of the question since dog chewing on aresol can = bad. A metered propane setup is a lot easier than you may think. It is a lot more portable than pnuematic unless you wanna invest in a co2 tank and regulator or get a bike pump.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

You may be better off with something like this.

- No More Bending Over To Pick Up The Ball

No chance of surprise rape then you still have to bend over to pick up your best friend's excrement though...

Here is my vote!

I like how the dog starts running as soon as the mechanism starts to actuate, eat you heart out Pavlov

[psycix]

you still have to bend over to pick up your best friend's excrement though...

No, you can also pick that up with the "dog ball thrower"
The ball can be made from all kinds of materials...

Besides, I think its any dogs largest wish to run after his own excrement flying through the air.