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#359470 Dead motor

Posted by Aeromech on 25 April 2017 - 11:14 PM in Modifications

Experiment with this one before you spend any more money unnecessarily. Go on youtube and watch some videos on the proper way to solder, then try again. If these are actually ruined mechanically, at least you can practice making decent solder welds so next time you get it right.




#357881 Vulcan mod issues

Posted by Aeromech on 07 February 2017 - 05:25 PM in Modifications

So the belt won't feed properly (I believe the belt feeding gear isn't strong enough.)I would like to know what the problem would be.  But I would like to hear what you guys think?  Also some answers would be appreciated.


You answered your own question. Essentially the Vulcan is made so the belt can be pulled in either direction so children don't break then thing/hurt themselves while in use. It achieves this by having a spring-loaded gear which forces the gear forward on the same axis that the gear spins. When too much force is applied, the gear "slips" off of it's housing, I believe it's a hexogonal male-female connection on the inside. If you actually take it apart you will see what I'm talking about. Currently no known solution that I am aware of. Vulcan is fun but it is also garbage in terms of practicality. It probably won't be an easy fix.




#357653 Retaliator mods.

Posted by Aeromech on 23 January 2017 - 08:24 AM in Modifications

Buy a sentinel. Perform AR removal and pumpaction mod. Save yourself ~$211 as well as not having a replica firearm on a college campus.



#357541 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 12 January 2017 - 03:24 PM in Nerf Wars

20170112_151354_zps5idlepop.jpg

2 Liter soda bottle for scale. I spent an hour and a half dart sweeping yesterday once the snow melted. Even with intermittent dart sweeps, the snow was falling so hard that many darts got covered mid-round. I estimate there are about 400 or so in here, the crappy shopping bag is ready to burst open. No, I will not sort out these darts and painstakingly send them back to everybody, no, I don't care how distinctive they look. Point is that dartsweeping is important, especially in the snow. I've learned that dartsweeping is most effective with the sun to your back.

 

Did someone take my bayonet home with them? I can't find it in my gear.

No, it was actually in the snow, I have it, just remind me before the next war. It's a little worn out from being in the melting snow for two days though.




#357502 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 08 January 2017 - 01:17 AM in Nerf Wars

This war if nothing else demonstrated some less common occurrences.

 

1. Park Police

Right before we started the first round, a police car with a middle aged officer pulled up to our group in a small SUV inquiring if we were playing paintball. Note these are actual Nassau county police that work at the park, not public safety or just park staff. I explained the situation and a few others that had gathered around the vehicle, and even though they were toys she still had to ask her superiors if this was alright. This despite the snow that was currently falling and the absence of any other people nearby, with her reasoning being that people could get hurt from these. No I am not kidding. After 10 minutes of the officer waiting for a response, we were able to play so long as we were going to stay in our little play area, which we were going to do in the first place anyway. This is the first time that the police at the park have ever approached us. Be respectful to police, and explain that players "hold" when bystanders are nearby, darts are picked up periodically, and boundaries are set for play. Don't give them shit they are only doing their job and don't know initially that we have actual respect for the park. She could have easily booted us right then and there and did not.

 

2. Media

About 2 hours later, a representative from Newsday (a Long Island/New York wide Newspaper) came without notice. No media had been contacted by us obviously, so I suspect it was a reporter with a police scanner and nothing to write about on a snowy day. I respectfully declined a quote/statement as per Nerfhaven policy.

 

20170107_121330_zpswj5p9jkb.jpg

Yeah snow got on everything. Shit my hair is long.

 

Now onto "Normal" Recap:

 

Pros

+Total turnout including myself was 13 attendees. I am shocked that so many people showed up considering the forecast took a turn for the worst the day before, especially with several attendees from New York City, Eastern Long Island, and New England. Also, many cool new players, we had new younger players as well and one of the parents came ready to play the whole day.

+Despite the cold, everyone was in good cheer and didn't complain about the cold. There's a certain charm to snowy wars, I can't put my finger on it. Maybe harping back to that childish feeling of playing in the snow.

+Superstock rounds worked pretty well. After the aforementioned skirt with police, I was very hesitant to then take out PVC pipes and shit after we were already on thin ice. We got one pure NIC round in, and by the end of the day, when snow was really picking up and there was literally nobody there, we put one homemade dude on each team. Due to the wind or cold or whatever, it wasn't that overpowered.

+Play area was pretty good, though I wish we were able to play near the slightly denser trees like I originally planned

+Everyone that brought loaners and was really cool with lending them out

+Talking to noobs about blasters

+Everybody was cool and well behaved

+Geek talk with Nerfnerd and Zack

+Edmund for picking up hot chocolate and muchkins in addition to the lunch supplies I bought.

+Surprisingly, and quite to my relief, everyone dressed warm enough that even the 25 degree weather was mostly kept in check

+Everybody brought their own eye-pro

+Chilling/catching up at the diner afterwards

+Coleslaw tasted like ice cream

+Nobody died

 

 

Cons

-Everything was breaking. Homemades had the usual problems with noobs having no idea how to fix a jammed blaster etc, only amplified by the weather conditions, so it was just easier to limit their use. Aside from that, flywheels were slipping from darts from the snow, my Sentinel just gave up, stock battery blasters refused to feed, and gloved hands had some difficulty actuating the more exotic means of cocking spring blasters.

-Snow was falling so hard by the end that even light sweeps between rounds did not return close to usual levels. I'll need to devote a day when this snow melts and go out there with a garbage bag.

-Everything got covered in snow. Even with a tarp or blanket, snow got into bags and blasters and darts and foods. I had to dump all the leftover bagels and supplies.

-Had to call it early, I think we were out of the park by 3PM, the roads were absolutely disgusting, there was an accident literally in front of the traffic light at the exit of the park.

-After being vegetarian for 2 years, I thought it was a good idea to try eating some of the balogna and cheese on my lunch bagel. 12+ hours later and my stomach still hurts.

 

 

With the weather, various experience of attendees, and large array of blaster types, Frozen Foam is always kind of a wildcard, so I'm glad everyone could participate and have fun. Best wishes and I hope all got home safely. Dope war, brochachos, let's do it again sometime

 

20170107_153547_zpsrsiscqfq.jpg

Victory pickles




#357486 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 06 January 2017 - 08:41 PM in Nerf Wars

Up to the minute weather: https://weather.com/...ur/l/3966:19:US

 

It looks like it's going to snow literally all day, from around 11AM til night time, Though we are only expected to get less than three inches worth of accumulation, so it shouldn't be too bad in terms of actual play, thought it's going to be really cold, and wind is going to be 10 to 15 MPH. Use your head here. For all that can attend I look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 10AM. Don't be a hero if you don't feel comfortable driving.

 

Directions

Exact GPS event coordinates: 40.725080, -73.568716

 

IF ENTERING THE PARK FROM MERRICK AVE:

Continue down the main road (park blvd) roughly half a mile until you see the police station on your right. Once you see the police station, lookout for signs for field 2 on the right, roughly a block or two further down. Turn right and park in the big lot

 

IF ENTERING FROM HEMPSTEAD/BETHPAGE TURNPIKE

Continue down the main road (park blvd) for about a block. When you see the park/administration building on your right, make the a U-turn. Then lookout for signs for field 2 on the right, and turn right into the big parking lot.




#357467 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 05 January 2017 - 06:12 PM in Nerf Wars

DRESS WARM, PEOPLE. There is a 40% chance of flurries on Saturday with decent winds and a High temperature of 27 degrees. Gloves and hats. Dress heavier than you think you need to. It always feels warm right when you walk out of your house, but stand in that sub-freezing air for an hour and tell me what's up.

 

In lighter news, food's on me. I will have enough bagels for about one per person (sounds like we may scratch 20 attendees), in addition to butter, jelly, cream cheese. In terms of drinks, I'm buying coffee and some orange juice. Please bring a water bottle or canteen, as I will have more limited amounts of drinks. Honestly, get a gallon sized water jug, or fill up a 2-Liter soda bottle with water, you will easily drink all of it throughout the day. There is a local burger shack, pizzeria, and 3 different fast food joints within eyesight of the playing field so getting a hot meal afterwards is no problem if you be hungry.

 

Does anyone have a preference on where we are playing? I know i'm not the war host, but I think it would be better to play where we played at [Frozen Foam 1] instead of the open field like at Mechout. It should be equally easy for loading  mobsticles and locating the playing area (you have to drive past it on the other side to enter the parking lot.) Dart sweeping is much easier as well as rounds end faster because people are more restrained. It is also much closer to the bathrooms which is nice (no 10 minute walk back and forth.) Also, with super stockers, the cover is better in that area because of the tree layout. I guess my last point is that the I felt the feel of the war to be better in that area because of the nicer staging area ground and it is nice to switch things up.


I think the general consensus was the the mechout field was pretty god once mobstacles were set up. It's the dead of winter and it's going to be very cold, So I suspect that we will probably have free range of the area. I'll see how it is when I get there. The FF2 playing field was a little small in my opinion, and very close to the paths. In the mechout area, we much further away from any potential bystanders.




#357397 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 03 January 2017 - 01:36 AM in Nerf Wars

I should note that I will have at one guest who will need a secondary.

I wouldn't worry about secondaries too much. You never end up using a sidearm in actual Nerf games.
 

Chris don't rely on me for everything, build some stuff lol. I think however, everyone should bring superstock because it seems like a majority of the attendees will have superstock anyway

Building things as we speak. This is why I advocate everyone to bring loaners etc, but even so we typically have a diverse spread of blasters anyway. Overall works out to be a surprisingly good game dynamic.



#357380 Releasing Rayven, Multistage, and RS Flywheel CAD

Posted by Aeromech on 01 January 2017 - 07:31 PM in Modifications

Will add this to the directory later tonight.




#357377 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 01 January 2017 - 07:02 PM in Nerf Wars

It's this weekend so let's bump this furiously and set out some reminders.

 

Weather prediction is partly cloudy with temperatures between 20 and 31 degrees. It's gonna be cold, with not much sunlight. Dress warmer than you think you have to, you can always shed layers if you overheat while running around. Food is looking like a Box of Joe from Dunkin nuts, some bags of genuine Long Island bagels from my favorite local shop, and whatever else I can lift from my house without being caught. Loaners are a thing. Bring whatever you got. This is advertised as an NIC war but we always have new people that run stock/modified flywheelers and the like. It turns out to be a lot of fun. Still, if you have a couple SNAPs laying around that you don't mind lending out please bring them, it saves me a lot of work trying to build things last minute Tom-Sawyering Van into building loaners. Darts fly at 10AM. Be there, boy-o.




#357303 Elite Rayven Rewiring - help!

Posted by Aeromech on 25 December 2016 - 01:09 AM in Modifications

Very easy fix. You wired the switch in such a way that it is normally closed (NC) as opposed to normally open (NO). On a three pin switch like the one you have, the "common" pin is usually the middle one, and the placement of the wire on either of the outer pins determines whether your switch is NO or NC. So, instead of having the wires connected to the middle and top pins, try soldering the wires so they are connected to the middle and bottom pins.




#357265 Homemade Crossbow Blaster

Posted by Aeromech on 21 December 2016 - 04:22 PM in Homemades

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This is how I did it a while back if you want some kind of springboard to leap from. Take Hoongfu's advice and look at the AAB, that's essentially what this is in a wooden receiver. String runs through a plunger rod which drives a piston into a plunger tube, so the force is still provided by the arms. This one fires arrows, not darts, but turning it into a dart firing device is as trivial as changing the barrel out.




#357194 Nerf Noob mod level 2

Posted by Aeromech on 17 December 2016 - 05:05 PM in Modifications

Try doing the "level 1" first before you ask about the next one. Gotta walk before you can run.

EDIT: As stated use the mod directory. We will give you assistance if you run into problems but don't expect to be spoonfed.




#357014 3D printing in Nerf

Posted by Aeromech on 04 December 2016 - 01:43 AM in General Nerf

The best comparison to these solid modelling programs is a car. Whether you have an Audi, a Chevy, a Hyundai, or a BMW, the very basic function is still the same. The buttons may be in slightly different locations. One may accelerate a bit faster. One may be a bit more comfortable. But, it seems at this point, you're still just getting started, and, like a new student driver, no matter which car you take, you're gonna be going ten miles an hour below the speed limit and stopping the full 3-mississippis at the stop signs. To build off of Meaker's response, pick two or three, and research which of those have the best online help, or youtube tutorials, because that's what you'll be learning from in most cases.

 

Personally, I use Autodesk Inventor, and have been using it for almost 5 years now. The student version is free with a .edu email account if I recall correctly, and it's not a bad program. Just like the cars, once you learn to drive one, the others are 90% the same. If you do choose to go the Autodesk route, the help that I have needed from the Autodesk website has been fairly helpful.

 

While a bit dated, this is the book I used. It's pretty damn good and teaches you through step by step examples, not overly technical symbollic formulas and the like. This is just what I used, and I didn't search around for it, but figured I would throw it out there in case you choose to pursue. https://books.google...id=P5auoAEACAAJ




#356963 Single part trigger homemade design

Posted by Aeromech on 30 November 2016 - 03:15 PM in Homemades

After watching the video (several) times, I was able to figure out that this is a very simple lever-locking action, where rubber-band-loaded finger gets in the way of the priming bar, though it was very hard to make out. Have someone film you next time, or rest the camera against something so you can better display the product

 

Good idea mechanically, but please edit your post to include a few more close-up photos to better convey the action to other users. I also took the liberty of adjusting your formatting. Start a new line after each photograph, it makes reading a lot easier, and just looks a great deal less sloppy.

 

EDIT: Additionally, try smoothing out your slots, you will get not only a smoother prime but potentially better performance.




#356962 Stryfe build, pointers welcom

Posted by Aeromech on 30 November 2016 - 02:12 PM in Modifications

I would reccomend looking at the MTB (Make Test Battle) line of nerf motors.

 

MTB seem to know what they're talking about with flywheels, so watch some of their stuff and see if you can get them shipped to the U.K. once you have an electrical system designed. My 2 cents is if you don't want the wife to know what/how much you've spent, keep it looking as stock as possible. Remove the inserts in the battery tray and stuff a Lipo in there of appropriate dimensions, and don't do anything to the shell. Look into canted flywheel cages, they supposedly increase accuracy, though I have no personal experience with them. Try experimenting with Nerf's new accustrike darts, they are also supposedly more accurate, and wouldn't involve jeopardizing the function of your blaster.

 

On an unrelated note; THIS is how you ask a question. You have clearly laid out what you want to do, given specific criteria you wish to follow, and expressed your abilities and intentions cogently.




#356875 Bigshock AR

Posted by Aeromech on 25 November 2016 - 05:12 PM in Modifications

http://letmegoogleth...hock AR removal

Within 5 minutes and the first few links I was able to figure it out. Next time please search before you post. And try giving the rules a glance through.




#356844 Batteries

Posted by Aeromech on 23 November 2016 - 09:28 PM in Modifications

You need to have a more concrete idea of what you want to do. "Lock removal" has nothing to do with the electrical system that you are trying to implement. You want advice on what your powerplant should be, but literally the only information you've given about the electrical system is "rewire". You haven't provided any information on the motors you will be using, which essentially determine the answer to the questions you ask here. Stock motor? Honey badgers? Rhinos? Blades? There is no "set" combo really, Everyone's combo is a little different. Do you want higher battery capacity? Or lighter weight? Or faster spin-up time? It all depends on what you are trying to optimize and what you want to do. I will NOT design an electrical system for you, nor will I teach you a circuits class. I'll give you a few resources.

http://www.candlepow...t-IMR-quot-mean

http://rogershobbyce....com/lipoguide/

http://library.autom...ctrical-theory/

http://hyperphysics....base/emcon.html

 

Do your research first, because if you don't AT BEST you will cook your blaster and walk away unscathed. Look up exploding LiPos and you will understand that no, I am not exaggerating. Do a few hours of research before you post again. You should be able to make this thing on your own. Then if you run into trouble designing this and provide a detailed list of what you want to do then maybe we will be more inclined to provide assistance. Research motors, wires, batteries, switches, etc.




#356717 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 14 November 2016 - 06:15 PM in Nerf Wars

Age minimum is 13, since this is the minimum to have a forum account.




#356693 1st Annual Black Friday PA Nerf War

Posted by Aeromech on 08 November 2016 - 06:50 PM in Nerf Wars

Barring unforseen family things, yeah I'll be there.

 

EDIT: Also yo safety town is the shit. Show up if you want a good time.




#356342 3s Lipo connecters good enough for modded stampede?

Posted by Aeromech on 19 October 2016 - 02:29 PM in Modifications

As stated, the JST connector is the charge wire connection, not what is actually supplying power to the system. The XT60 connector, which should provide power to the system, from what I have heard, is a hobby king specific connector, so if you do choose to purchase this battery, you might want to see if they sell matching connectors to go with it. I ended up cutting off the connector it came with and went with properly rated Molex connectors you can pick up from Radio Shack.

 

Zooming out for a second... you mention some connectors like to light themselves on fire when used with Lipos. Yes, this is true, if you push too much energy through something that is typically the result. So unless you have a basic understanding of electricity, you really shouldn't be messing with this stuff. I recommend this wonderful website: http://hyperphysics....ase/hframe.html but really if you google around for basic circuits and electrical laws you can find all this out for yourself, perhaps I take this for granted with an engineering background. If all else fails, look for connectors that are rated for the current draw at the voltages your motor is pulling (basically, calculate the power your system is pulling and see if the connectors are capable of supporting AT LEAST that number of watts). This means you'll have to invest in a multimeter. They're like 5-6 bucks at harbor freight.

 

However, the argument of weight reduction is more or less invalid with your battery selection. One AA is roughly 23g. 10 batteries * 23g is 230g. The LiPo you've selected is 346g according to the datasheet. So the weight of the replacement LiPo is 50% heavier than your current power supply, peripheries excluded. It's only a 1/4 pound difference, but hey weight is weight.

 

TL;DR Get a multimeter, do math.




#356224 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 11 October 2016 - 02:59 PM in Nerf Wars

Count me in, potentially with guests as long as thats cool (I'll let you know closer to the date if I'll be bringing company). I don't live too far from the site so let me know if there's anything you want me to bring. 

Guests are good so long as they meet all the aforementioned requirements of age, sportsmanship, etc.

 

Are 4b tanks permitted?

Yes. I am going to say they need to have an OPRV but since this is the Northeast and fucking nobody uses OPRVs we're going with the don't ask don't tell policy. Don't do things on the field that would make me ask you about it, and you won't have to tell me about it; a subset of the "don't be a dick" rule.

 

Guessing i am not welcome at the war?

Your name's on the list, I don't see why you wouldn't be.




#355954 2016 Nerf War Schedule

Posted by Aeromech on 22 September 2016 - 06:07 PM in Nerf Wars

January 2017:

[url=http://nerfhaven.com/forums/topic/27196-frozen-foam-3-chilled-to-perfection/] 7th %5BNY%5D Frozen Foam 3[/url]
Pretty Please put this one in the 2016 Nerf Wars calendar?



#355882 Frozen Foam 3: Chilled to Perfection

Posted by Aeromech on 20 September 2016 - 01:14 PM in Nerf Wars

FF3_zpskahfwte5.png
 
Burn off the Christmas cookies and New Year's booze with children's toys and nerdy dudes. This is the third annual installment of the infamous (and only?) winter nerf battle, be sure to dress warm to stave off the frigid Long Island tundra. Note: Must be 13 or older to participate.
 
This is an event where high energy foam blasters, essentially homemade piston mechanisms, are going to be used by participants. There is no supervision of minors, this is not a day care activity. Play at your own risk.
 
When and Where
Saturday January 7th, 2017

10AM - 5PM
Eisenhower Park, Field 2
East Meadow, NY 11554
 
GPS COORDINATES: 40.725080, -73.568716
Eisenhower Park Field 2, In the "crotch" of Hempstead Turnpike and Park Boulevard. It's the South side of the park that borders Hempstead Turnpike, near the Friendly's. I don't know how I can be more clear about this. The park is huge and every year people get lost, so just follow the GPS coordinates.This location is really good especially with a couple of mobstacles, which we will probably have available. There are a couple "lanes" of trees along with ample open field and a good staging area immediately next to the parking lot.
 
Weather Here --> https://weather.com/...ay/l/3966:19:US
Looks like it's going to be 20/30 degrees F and partly cloudy that day, so dress nice and warm.
 
What to Bring
-Eye Protection. I am big on this. Everybody wears eye pro, preferably impact resistant safety glasses/goggles. There are no exceptions to this rule.
-Blasters and darts. This should be obvious. It is a Nerf war. See below.
-Beverages. Bring extra water. There are bathrooms a short walk from the play field, and you'd be surprised how dehydrated you can get even in such cold environments.
-Food. We will provide bagels and coffee for breakfast/lunch/snack. There will be 30 minutes set aside for lunch so bringing a packed lunch would be wise, or there are some fast food joints right on the road.
-Warm Attire. Last year it was relatively warm, like 45 degrees, but FF1 had temperatures sink to like 25 degrees. Hats, scarves, gloves, jackets, waterproof boots, maybe even water resistant pants depending on the levels of snow of the ground. You can always strip off a jacket if it gets too warm but you'd be hard pressed to find someone willing to give up theirs for your cold ass.
-Sportsmanship. If you get tagged out, another game will resume within five minutes. If your blasters are underpowered, tough shit, you adapt. There are enough trees that short range blitz attacks are actually pretty effective when we play objective games. The no-asshattery rule applies here as always.
 
Blasters and Foam Darts
-ABSOLUTELY NO BLACK OR CAMO PAINTED BLASTERS
-Do not count on others to supply you with a homemade if you only brought a single shot pistol. That bring said, we always have people that bring super-stock and you'd be surprised how effective an overhauled Rapidstrike can be against even the most daunting of 4Bs.
-No homemade compressed air powered blasters. All compressed-air powered blasters must have an OPRV. No HPA, this isn't paintball. All other homemade spring powered blasters, and modified or stock store-bought blasters are sweet. Bring extra homemades if you got 'em, expect to be pelted with high energy homemade foam blasters should you attend.
-#6 washer weighed slugs ONLY for homemades. No slingshot weighted darts, no exposed metal darts, no glue-dome darts. This is your only warning. All store-bought darts of any kind are permitted so long as they are not further weighted.
-Bring extra blasters that you are OK with others using. We need as many extra as we can get.
 
 
Other Notes About the Cold
Batteries tend to discharge at a slower rate in the cold, so if you have a battery powered blaster, test it out and make sure it works after you stick it in the freezer for an hour. Dart fit on homemades is also affected due to the low humidity and low temperature, the foam tends to change it's material properties just a bit and likes to shrink just enough to fuck up every perfect fit in your barrel at room temperature.
 
 
Confirmed Attendees
Aeromech +3
Alphatrooper
David
XDevilX
SnoopDoggyDoge
Edmund
DX
EvilBunnyo
Gabe NYDZ
Jax
Nerfgeek
Dusty +?
ASGrocks
Ronald
Blitz
Zackthemack
augamemerald
Borvickos
 
 
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook...19246895097210/




#355879 Machined PCSR Write-Up

Posted by Aeromech on 20 September 2016 - 12:42 PM in Homemades

I'm in tears. This is wonderful and I love that I have inspired someone to take this in different directions. I would love to compare this to the V3 when I have it finished up.




#355878 And we're back....

Posted by Aeromech on 20 September 2016 - 12:31 PM in News

Thank you Doom and Langley. I've been on Nerf withdrawals and having to sustain my fix on [shudder] Facebook Nerf groups these past weeks. It's good to have you back, darling.




#355839 Wye not?

Posted by Aeromech on 27 August 2016 - 03:47 AM in Darts and Barrels

If you can figure out a way to fix that that's not an exterior housing or screws/glue, then you've got a competitive alternative to the wye hopper.

 

If I may...

 

If somebody can design a 3d printed clamshell that simply pops tightly over the couplers, that would solve all your alignment issues without screwing directly into the pvc parts themselves. The geometry is super simple and 3D printing is ubiquitous enough that somebody near you is doing it; in other words the alignment problem is pretty much a non-issue in 2016. That being said I do not think I will be the one to do it because....

 

Everybody is throwing around these words like efficiency and ROF. I will be sold on the idea when:

1) This is compared side by side to a traditional wye and FPS evaluated between the two, and

2) When exactly you would ever need a higher ROF than what a standard wye offers? With a rainbowpump I can fire off 3 darts a second and empty a 10 shot mag in like 3. Unless you have a robotic arm firing off ten shots per second, is it really going to matter the maximum ROF potential? And if you are tying in double feeding to the ROF count, what is the effective accuracy of both of these shots? i.e. the second dart is going to have less power because the pressure behind it will be different than the first, and the first dart's trajectory may be impacted by the second. Now I am certainly not one to put down shotgunning as a valid play style, but I like the option to choose between shotgunning and a single accurate shot, and if its more or less random with this setup, that just seems like a way to miss more often than not.




#355774 [NY] NYCNO (Sep 17 Saturday)

Posted by Aeromech on 24 August 2016 - 07:12 PM in Nerf Wars

Let's go team valor fuck it I don't actually play but valor has the stereotype of being assholes so I will fly with my pack

 

I'll be there




#355769 Modification and Paintjob Pictures

Posted by Aeromech on 24 August 2016 - 04:21 PM in Modifications

FB_IMG_1472057218885_zpsspwv7ojg.jpg

 

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20160824_124849_zpsrhyxopf1.jpg

 

Aeromech themed Firestrike. Didn't finish sanding the 3D printed grip extension, it looks cheese in the photos but its smooth as anything now.




#355322 Nerf vacuum cannon

Posted by Aeromech on 01 August 2016 - 10:54 PM in Homemades

No. Just some physics.

Kinetic Energy = (1/2) * M * (V^2)

 

Standard dart out of a well made homemade blaster = 0.001 kg @ 250 FPS (76 m/s)

KE = (1/2) * 0.001 * 76 * 76

KE = 2.88 Joules.

- OK so thats right around where paintball is in terms of muzzle energy. There are other factors at play, like decelleration on contact, surface area that the forces act upon, but we won't worry about that right now.

 

Mega dart out of vacuum cannon = 0.0025 kg @ mach 0.5 (171 m/s)

KE = (1/2) * 0.0025 * 171 * 171

KE = 36.55 Joules.

-In other words, that's nearly 13 times the energy of the "standard" control blaster setup.

 

But all this math really doesn't mean anything because the Mega dart would be vaporized by that kind of energy behind it.

 

That being said, please be careful. I would ask potato gunners / punkin chunkin guys more about the stuff you are proposing, as the pressures and stresses you are going to experience are more akin to those kind of projects.




#355321 Finished Advanced Sear Carbine writeup

Posted by Aeromech on 01 August 2016 - 10:21 PM in Homemades

Wonderful writeup. I work 7 to 5 most days, and then work out for 2 hours per day on top of that, so I am really beat when I get home, and it's a miracle I got this design out when I did.

 

This take is far superior to my original design BUT it breaks the design goals that I personally set out to achieve when I created the original blaster, namely, to be able to build it without having to order anything online. The spring does not count in my opinion, because if you plan on going to a war, you can ask in a NH or FB thread for someone to supply a [k26] spring when you get there. Remove three screws, throw a spring in, and add the screws back in. No "online ordering" has taken place, the K25s/26s are common enough that you can get one anywhere in the homemade scene, and the design itself is robust enough to handle a wide range of common springs. Back to the "no-online stuff"; the U cup seal and Nylon rod both must be ordered from an online vendor and are not simply "drop-in" like the aforementioned spring. i.e. more manufacturing operations are required to get these components in there and working correctly. You put down the superlative plunger seal (and normally I would too) but for whatever reason, it works. On my prototype, there was barely any creep in the bolt when testing the air seal, and the movement I did have was coming from the BUSHING! So the forward bushing seal wasn't 100%, but whatever the 1" PVC fit is with hardware store rubber washers must be pretty good. If it works, don't fix it. As for the charging handle, yes nylon is a million times as good as a wooden dowel. But it breaks the rules that I (arbitrarily) set for my design goals. A wooden dowel, perhaps reinforced with some steel rod (straight from the hardware store) would suffice for those that for whatever reason do not have access to McMaster. The whole point of the original was to make something with the hardware store accessibility of a SNAP, but without the rather negative experiences that I had with the three SNAPS that I built. So its a SNAP, but it isn't. That was always my goal. To say you've made this better than the non-McMaster one is almost trivial. When given unlimited resources OF COURSE you can make things better, but where's the FUN?!

 

EDIT: Also some more constructive criticism. On my design, the reason that the 1-1/2" PVC "half-pipes" that hold the receiver in place are offset by about 45 degrees is to be away from the charging handle. Take a look at your blaster, especially where the rear half pipe is. Imagine in the heat of a war, you're not thinking anymore, you go to prime back your bolt with all your might, get your hand real close to the receiver and slam it back... but what's this? Your hand is bleeding because the edge of the half-pipe is directly in the path of the bolt handle? Yup. That's my biggest criticism of your design but it's an easy fix and otherwise bravo it looks and I'm sure performs bodaciously.

 

If I haven't stated it yet, I love the writeup and the resulting blaster. But realize that someone without access to these tools can sub in the aforementioned parts and still have a competitive blaster without dealing with the hassles of online ordering parts. It was a completely arbitrary design goal because I don't know, I like to make things more difficult than they are. Good writeup. I expect to see ten of these at APOC.




#355175 Sear Carbine Writeup

Posted by Aeromech on 24 July 2016 - 10:34 AM in Homemades

The idea of using some type of sear to lock a bolt in place has been used on real-steel firearms since the advent of the machine gun, due to the simplicity and self-locking action of the mechanism. In the homemade Nerf market, this is a relatively new field, first being implemented on the ESLT some years ago. This is my attempt to marry SNAP style redneck engineering with the aforementioned locking mechanism.

 

RULES:

-No McMaster/Online ordered parts (Barring a [k25] spring, Good luck finding 11" long springs at a hardware store).

-No special tools required (No long-shank countersinks, holesaws, or any of that)

-No 3D printing

-Keep weight as low as possible

 

TOOLS:

-Rat-tail file

-Pocket knife

-Electric Drill with standard bits (no larger that 1/2")

-Woodsaw

-Hacksaw

-Screwdriver

-Sandpaper

SUPER HELPFUL BUT NOT NECESSARY

-Belt sander

-Drill press

-Table saw

-Vice

 

For this Writeup, descriptions will be BELOW the photos they reference.

 

4_zpsyhqpbuso.jpg

This was the original idea, using 3D printed components. I wanted to do the same thing without limiting myself to 3DP parts. But this is the idea. Borrow an ESLT/submachinegun catch and use it in place of the fickle SNAP nail and clothespin catch. Insert anecdote of "my SNAP shoots like 150 feet and I've never ever lubed it or replaced anything on it ever" but I have built three and they have ALL failed within 100 shots. Stop trying to convince me. Unless there is some kind of drastic improvement in the design I will not endorse SNAPs as being consistently war worthy. Moving on...

 

The actual catch mech can be seen here. a slot through the body tube and bolt allows a catch finger from the sear to rotate upward and extend into the bolt slot, blocking the bolt from moving forward, when the trigger is pulled, it pivots the sear downwards and the catch finger moves out of the bolt slot, and the bolt flies forward under spring force.

 

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This is the bolt. It is made of 1" PVC, with both ends capped off by cutting board. Get the fat kind, from Walmart, It's $6 and is like 1/2" thick, really great stuff. This bolt is about 7 inches long.

 

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Superlative plunger head screwed into the front. Actually provides a really good seal on this thing.

 

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The back shows a 1/2" dowel sunk into the tube, with the rear cap held on by a screw into the dowel itself. I cut the bolt too short so the cutting board is sticking out, but yours shouldn't stick out.

 

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Pretty standard at this point. Gooped in front bushing, with a slot cut 6.5 inches away from the front, running all the way to the back.

 

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This is an anti-kinking device (1" PVC pipe beveled internally at one end) duct-taped directly to a 1" to 3/4" bushing.

 

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We've all done the thing where we reach into the hardwre store bin without looking and get home with a 3/4" bushing and not a 1/2" bushing. Now is the time to use it.

 

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Now we need to make some decisions. Decide the orientation you want your bolt to stick out. It should probably be at least 45 degrees up from the horizontal. Drill holes all around to lighten it up, but do not drill holes on whatever the "bottom" side is. On the bottom, make a slot about 2 inches long right at the front of the bolt. This is where the catch will lock. Make it wider than it needs to be, it will be much less finicky if this hole is oversized.

 

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Test fitting with the [k25].

 

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Testing with the new handle. I used a 1-1/2" PVC "half piep" (really more like a 2/3 pipe) to snap directly onto the barrel. Note the stylish wooden handle that SNAP users seem to love. You can also just barely make out the hole in the bottom of the body tube; this should match up with the slot that was cut into the bottom of the bolt, so the catch can have access to the bolt slot and lock in place.

 

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This is the guts of the catch, with cutting board sideplates holding everything in. Basically, the trigger is pulled, which rotates the catch itself downwards and out of the way of the bolt. The catch itself is triangular shaped and really just has a piece which pops up into the body tube and locks into that hole in the bolt. Just like an ESLT, make sure you made a slot in the body tube as well that lines up with the bolt slot.

 

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The 3/4" bushing in the rear makes it almost trivially easy to throw on a stock, and the 3/4" pipe is much stronger than the 1/2" pipe. Rubber bands act as the catch restoring mechanism, and create a spring loaded trigger too. The front of the sideplates are held on simply by zip ties.

 

This baby is pretty asymmetrical, but I kind of like it that way. The spring kinks up a little, but the anti kinking mech fixes that without using any guide rods. The spring is not reaching full compression (need to chop another half inch off the back) but has like an inch or so of precompression, gets 5.25 inches of draw with the [k25], and rocks roughly 200 FPS based on just ear-analysis, I want to test it at APOC and get hard numbers.

 

The blaster without a barrel and hopper weighs 1 pound, 15 ounces, so with a barrel and hopper probably around 2.5 pounds, and even that weight can be brought down if you used wooden sideplates or went ham on lightening holes, particularly in the rear where the anti-kinking tube is.

 

Overall, I am mildly impressed with the blaster. A hardware store hitter that can play with the SNAPs with sear reliability and without the need to order anything. Get a pack of springs from spiderbite and you're set.




#355076 Midsummer Mech-Out 7.16.16

Posted by Aeromech on 18 July 2016 - 08:03 PM in Nerf Wars

20160716_130947_zpsgxsaaoau.jpg

 

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Just some photos. There would be a 5 minute long video with battle footage and interviews except the project I spent 2 days working on in DaVinci Resolve came out unwatchably choppy. I'll try it in the Microsoft Movie Maker and see if I have better luck.




#355045 Midsummer Mech-Out 7.16.16

Posted by Aeromech on 17 July 2016 - 09:20 AM in Nerf Wars

Thanks to everyone that attended and endured the sweltering heat! I think the total was at 11 attendees at it's height, so it was pretty good in terms of attendance. As for the the field, thanks to Van and Rob for packing some mobstacles. In conjunction with the trees, cover was rather excellent, with two lanes of trees and tarps scattered in the open areas. Nice mix of homemade grade and stock or superstock. I rocked a Stryfle nearly all day, the lanes of tight trees allowed for close up mag dumps. It was 95 degrees and nobody bitched. Next time bring more water. I brought two small coolers full of water bottles and some cans of iced tea, and we went through those in less than two hours. Dart recovery was really good, thanks to everybody who expediently cleaned up the field. Dominos does not deliver to the town, apparently. Bagel sandwiches may be better next time, or pre packed lunches and snack food. I guess I am saying it was loads of fun and you should all come again. Thanks to the new guys and the old guys that showed up, and Zach for keeping rounds running quickly.




#355029 Midsummer Mech-Out 7.16.16

Posted by Aeromech on 16 July 2016 - 08:34 AM in Nerf Wars

Critical update: The GPS location is slightly off from where we are. Head towards Hempstead turnpike ( the main road by the modells and home depot) and we are at field 2 near the hempstead turnpike entrance.

It looks like they are checking IDs for the county, its 10 for parking or park at the home depot lot on hempstead turnpike. Pizza is on me today.

Im putting my number here for the next few hours if you get lost please dont abuse it EDIT:8675309




#355026 Midsummer Mech-Out 7.16.16

Posted by Aeromech on 15 July 2016 - 04:35 PM in Nerf Wars

Supa Update: We are going to play in field 2 like we usually do, and in the event that non residents are unable to park without paying a fee, there is a giant Home Depot/Modells Parking lot literally across the street. Park there and you should be fine if the park officers give us a hard time.

 

Super excited you guys. It's gonna be hot, so dress accordingly and bring water. We will order some pizza midday. I am going to see if I still have a cooler, we may be able to load some water bottles in there




#354911 Where to find Polycarb?

Posted by Aeromech on 10 July 2016 - 08:25 AM in General Nerf

Mcmaster is the place to get it in the US, member Spiderbite has a service here to get it for relatively cheap, and if you ask around, I'm sure there are dozens of people here that are willing to sell you some of their scraps. If you want to make pumps grip arms you can use steel or aluminum, polycarbonate would probably work but I couldn't say it would be ideal.

 

As for force application, it's a little more complex than that, It is all dependent on how the forces are applied and what kind of geometries the force will be applied to. Look for material data sheets or the appropriate moduli, and 15 minutes of googling will allow you to make the determination for yourself.




#354901 "Knifty" Wye

Posted by Aeromech on 09 July 2016 - 11:05 PM in Darts and Barrels

Very useful for all the burgeoning wacky darts. My question about the "knife" part though: Could a simple nail through the back be used instead? To my knowledge, it is customary to sink a nail in at a bisecting angle to the two rear PVC female ends on the wye, essentially guiding darts like the 1/16" polycarb does, but without machining plastic, or relying on adhesives to hold two dissimilar plastics in place.




#354784 [CT] Connecticut Nerf Out - Norwalk - Saturday, July 2nd

Posted by Aeromech on 04 July 2016 - 09:30 AM in Nerf Wars

Never played with mobstacles before. Turned out pretty well. Thanks to everybody that stayed late and helped to disassemble, it took like 45 minutes to pack everything up and fully dart sweep.




#354494 Philadelphia Area Nerf War - July 31st - SuperStock only!

Posted by Aeromech on 22 June 2016 - 11:55 PM in Nerf Wars

I am down for superstock. Try it, it's fun. Prevents guys with 4Bs from sitting in lawn chairs and picking off people from 100 feet away (Literally happened at FF1).

 

I'll be there.