Jump to content


Darksircam's Content

There have been 107 items by Darksircam (Search limited from 12-November 96)


By content type

See this member's


Sort by                Order  

#363904 gun vs blaster debate/ gun+blaster use in yesteryears

Posted by Darksircam on 18 May 2019 - 12:37 AM in General Nerf

To be blunt: Yes, you're going crazy. We have been insisting that they be called blasters for a long time - before I made this account, and that was over a decade ago. It's only more obvious as of late because people have been poking the beehive and being adamant that they have the right to use "gun", regardless of how it affects the community. And because of recent events (see Meaker's link) being more relevant as the online community has grown.

Insulting people telling you "please stop doing that, you know better" is why you've been seeing the response you've been getting. You've said, across different communities, that:

 

1. It's okay to call them guns because they aren't actually blasters, no matter what the official terminology is.

2. Asking why the word gun is being restricted because "this isn't f***ing china"
3. Arguing with moderators after being told to stop. Across multiple communities with multiple mod teams.
 

Most people being told to say blaster instead of gun, they go "oh oops sorry", and that's the end of it. You're the one arguing with people and bringing up the topic with hostility, that's why you're being met in kind.

 

If I understand what you've been saying so far across a few platforms (reddit, discords): You understand that we should be using blaster instead of gun because the public gets upset, but don't like how we are forcing it in every context, even in private.

Here's an analogy: Racial slurs are not okay in public. You do not use them because they immediately tell people that you are an insensitive/prejudiced individual. Just because you're in private and the public can't hear you, that does not make it okay to use racial slurs. It just lets everyone in the community know that you're willing to use those words, and makes you look bad. Especially because you know the harm those words can do.




#307066 Alternative Ammo

Posted by Darksircam on 06 November 2011 - 11:13 PM in Darts and Barrels

From the philosophical standpoint, yes. I would be iffy about using these in any war where we would risk publicity. I only use gumdrop heads and marshmallows when on school campus, and using these would not be good.

Main problem here is weight. Kind of iffy on the weight for these, given that my megas are probably lighter than these. Anyone know the weight for a normal dart? I'm guessing my megas are at least 1.5 grams, 2 #8 washers.

Also, mega stefans seem a lot less prone to breakage compared to micros, so I wouldn't see this catching on significantly. We'd be moving toward a "dart-shooting homemade airgun" game instead of actually being a variation on Nerf.

Thus said, I do want some to try out, with some camping pad on the tip for safety's sake. They should be more visible than normal stefans due to the color - do they all come in red as well as white, or is it just the 28 gauge ones?



#306564 Plasti Dip stefens

Posted by Darksircam on 26 October 2011 - 08:22 PM in Modifications

I have a chemical respirator that I use when working with fiberglass, bondo, and PVC cement, and use cheaper dust masks for just working with cutting PVC.

A "mask of some sort" often will not work - if you smell the vapour it's not working.



#306436 Plasti Dip stefens

Posted by Darksircam on 24 October 2011 - 01:47 AM in Modifications

What I'm worried about is the damage done to your brain by breathing in plastidip fumes.

Also, how many coats are you doing? How long does it take to make each dart? What exactly are you doing to make the dart? What blasters does it work in? How are the ranges noticeably affected? There's just not enough information in this to make a write-up in which we would want to go and get some Plasti-dip and do it.

Also know that most people now use slug stefans, which are already pretty painless. And oogoo darts are similar to this in terms of being a flat rubber head.



#306255 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 20 October 2011 - 08:29 PM in Darts and Barrels

I'm a cheap guy, and I like my discs highly visible in grass.

Oogoo, in my experience, is basically silicone sealant with cornstarch added as a catalyst so it cures faster. I use about a 1:1 ratio, and it doesn't stick to anything. The silicone disc was about as grippy as the oogoo used to make darts, so I didn't bother making another disc and testing to see if it worked. I'd be interested in finding a way that allows painting/lower friction though.



#306221 Would this work re: extended cosmetic barrels

Posted by Darksircam on 20 October 2011 - 12:22 AM in Darts and Barrels

Really, as long as it's not a tight faux barrel (anything looser than PETG) your ranges won't be hampered much. A millimeter of extra space compared to the main Recon barrel (after the centimeter of tight barrel) is enough.

chavez_guy actually made the most sense to me.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I understand about barrels from experiments and reading the forums:

Barrel is designed to channel the moving air to push the dart out at optimal velocity.
On smaller volume blasters, you use short tight barrels because there's not enough air volume/pressure to force it out over a longer distance. The tight barrel makes sure all the air stays behind the dart until it exits the barrel, and has greater initial acceleration because the air builds up until the dart just pops out. One way this is accomplished is through telescoping barrels, which are tight for a cm or two and then looser, still allowing for minor acceleration and more stability, but the initial "pop" is when it accelerates the fastest.

With spring mods you can use longer barrels because the spring can push the air fast enough to work with a longer barrel - basically pushing the dart harder.

With airguns you want a long, looser barrel because it optimizes performance. You can afford to lose a bit of air, and that barrel means you lose less energy due to friction.

Homemade springers are kind of like airguns in that they have a lot of air volume. Using small barrels means that it's not nearly done accelerating (increasing in velocity technically) and the air kind of blasts around the dart, messing up its flight path if it's uneven.

HAMPs, Super Soakers, and Titans can use even longer and looser barrels because they output an absurd amount of air. HAMPs can't use tight barrels as airseal is pretty poor in the plunger, you just force a lot of air through really quickly.





Homemade darts help increase accuracy, modding blasters to be able to shoot those darts a good distance increases accuracy as well. Shoot a dart faster and it's less affected by moving targets.



#306209 Homemades Picture Thread

Posted by Darksircam on 19 October 2011 - 08:24 PM in Homemades

Wal-mart camping pad is awesome.
Posted Image
Assorted melee weapons, throwing-safe, the hardest material on the outside is rope.

The last one is a modded resin pump.
Posted Image

Hits 50+ feet. I like it.



#306207 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 19 October 2011 - 08:06 PM in Darts and Barrels

Again, I already tried that stuff as you can see on the original post. Oogoo is silicone. It's way too grippy for anything that touches any barrel.



#306116 Mario Kart

Posted by Darksircam on 17 October 2011 - 11:43 PM in General Nerf

Edit: Imma derp. Doubleposted because I clicked the back key.



#306115 Mario Kart

Posted by Darksircam on 17 October 2011 - 11:40 PM in General Nerf

Oh snop. I can imagine the hilarity that ensues with people who are unafraid of death. Only problem is if dead people gang up on a certain target. It's less for the glory of winning as to just shoot everyone you see.



#306108 Countdown Gametype

Posted by Darksircam on 17 October 2011 - 09:53 PM in General Nerf

That sounds like a fair deal as well. I'll be trying it, shotgun shots allowed, in a stock-class war though. Shotgunned marshmallows have about 5-10 feet of range from an AR-removed nitefinder, meaning you have to essentially stealth kill your target.



#306099 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 17 October 2011 - 07:17 PM in Darts and Barrels

I was thinking of making two sets of molds, one for the hard plastic inner edge and one for the foam if you could get it to separate cleanly.

This foam+PVC method is the "poor man's" version of that design. Actually, if you got 3/4" thinwall PVC slices and a cap, and stuck them into a mold, you could just add foam resin.

Waiting for xtoss to report on success/failure, that will be the most useful post to me from the last 2 pages.



#305836 Countdown Gametype

Posted by Darksircam on 13 October 2011 - 10:38 PM in General Nerf

Sounds like a fun gametype. The games I generally play are with stock-ish range blasters, so this should make it a bit more balanced. The few of my friends who have ranged blasters would have less of an advantage. Then again, shotgunned blasts... whee. Long reloads, but instant kills.



#305449 CS-70 Marauder

Posted by Darksircam on 06 October 2011 - 09:44 PM in Modifications

Scary.

Instead of using sandpaper to grind down the rail ridges, a flat file works a lot better. I use it for smoothing out burrs, and actually used a needle file to grind out a slot for my Raiderpistol.

Also, zip ties are awesome. Epoxy or a flexible adhesive like GOOP holds it together so it doesn't jiggle, while zip ties keep the parts together enough so that the adhesive doesn't snap.



#305311 Creating Velcro Linings on Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 02 October 2011 - 10:47 PM in Darts and Barrels

Could you not put the soft part of the velcro on the disks and the sharp part on vests?


The problem is with vest compatibility and cost. Generally the spiky part is on the projectile because it's far smaller and cheaper.

I also tried making these discs.I used some random cheap Velcro from the OSH puck LED lights, and trimmed 1.5 layers of foam (on average) off my disc.

Sticking onto things? Fine. Firing performance? Maybe. My disc didn't load right in the Vigilon due to the hooks sticking out and increasing the diameter, but once compressed it fired fine. Proton works awesome.

Not fun to be hit by though. Nowhere near a hot glue dome in terms of pain, but it's like you scraped that point with your fingernail about five times. No blood drawn or anything, but you can see a mark. And a faceshot will be nasty.

Tagger dart-style velcro, the kind with smaller hooks, may hurt less. I'm really iffy about sticking velcro on anything flying in the first place, dart tag darts are fine because it's just a flexible plastic surface hitting you directly, the same as the dart head. But the difference between sandpaper and foam coating the disc is pretty major.


If you plan to mod stock discs, I don't see what people are saying about sanding. It's foam. Just go at it with a knife and filet a bit off the edge.



#305004 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 26 September 2011 - 01:53 AM in Darts and Barrels

Huh. Thin Dasani bottle caps? That was pretty much my logic too. I used Costco bottle caps because the Dasani caps here are still the thick kind. Then I discovered the glory of 3/4" thinwall.

All I knew was that the original disc measurements would work, but your info helps get toward a homemade vortex blaster with more wind-resistant (heavy) discs.



#304741 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 15 September 2011 - 10:00 PM in Darts and Barrels

(What you said about the molding process)


SGNerf used silicone as a mold and epoxy as the replacement parts.

I'll see if I can make an epoxy mold of the hard plastic section... once I get more Vortex discs to disassemble. Placed Nerf logo-side up, they can be one-piece molds. And then I make molds of the foam part, and glue them together using GOOP.

Removing the hole under the disc would make it unable to fire. I am also skeptical of a single-material disc, as the material needs to be stronger than foam but be relatively light and bouncy.
One of the strengths of the Vortex line is the ability to bounce discs off walls, so I believe you need a hard ring with foam exterior.




Has anyone tested my method of making discs? I find that it shoots well and the production method has consistent results, but a molded disc might work a bit better for feeding and prevent jams.
It takes me 30 seconds of work to make each disc, not counting the wrapping of PVC in foam.



#304698 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 14 September 2011 - 09:19 AM in Darts and Barrels

Unless you find a way to reduce the friction, pure silicone does not work. It's far too grippy on the barrel.



#304670 Epoxy Resin Cast Blaster Parts!

Posted by Darksircam on 13 September 2011 - 12:50 AM in Modifications

I've been making molds with silicone caulk. It's cheaper than silicone putty... and available in smaller amounts for smaller projects. While new silicone may adhere to cured silicone a bit, a little bit of force is all I needed to separate them.



#304491 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 09 September 2011 - 01:53 AM in Darts and Barrels

Yeah, pretty much all you need for the covering is something that is firm enough to trigger the switches and lasts long - the foam works, but I'm afraid it will dent after a while and not depress the switch completely.

Duct tape works for a cheap, resilient covering that's trimmable with scissors. A little added weight also helps. I put a thin layer of hot glue on the inside of the cover (basically in the hole) so it provides structural support and weight.


As far as homemade clips are concerned, I'm interested but can't help much due to lacking a Praxis/Nitron. And that would be a topic for a different thread.
(1 1/2" PVC might also be a viable clip tube material)



#304444 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 07 September 2011 - 07:46 PM in Darts and Barrels

How bout 5 or 6 layers of craft foam with a hole in, and 2 without hole.
Sandwich and then hotglue together. ^_^


Please read the first post. My blue discs are what you are talking about, essentially. Foam discs will die. Even hot glue discs with thin hot glue will break pretty quickly.

Relevant post: Updated with new writeup, which is simple and arguably takes less skill than making glue dome stefans. Unless you suck at judging cut width.



#304405 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 06 September 2011 - 11:13 PM in Darts and Barrels

The discs I make with craft foam wrapped around 3/4" thinwall work well. They fly straight, and range loss is minimal.
Yes, a mold would be preferable, but some people don't want to shell out the money for mold materials.

I was looking for a form of castable foam, dunno if spray foam works. Startup cost is higher, overall costs might be higher, but you don't have the deterioration of hot glue.

Anyone who would want to try this, go ahead. Not going to kill any of my stock discs for molds until I get more.

Only problem I'm seeing is the cost. DAP Kwik Foam + casting resin is almost $20, so if you don't get more than 50 discs from that amount it's a net loss of money, counting the time taken to cast as part of the cost.

Terribly bad at estimating volume, 50 is a low-end guess without any calculations.



#304308 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 04 September 2011 - 09:18 PM in Darts and Barrels

Kyrativ: Thanks. That should make it a loooot simpler to do, cuts out the melting part as well.

Instead of the insulation foam, I wrapped craft foam around the PVC until the OD was the right size. 3/4" pipe insulation is too big.

The glue used to hold the entire mess together gums up the teeth, forcing you to peel it off every once in a while. Still makes it a hecukva lot easier.



#304283 Homemade Vortex Discs

Posted by Darksircam on 04 September 2011 - 02:28 PM in Darts and Barrels

When I first saw the Vortex disc, I thought they would be pretty simple to make - just get a foam disc and punch a hole in it, right?

The foam disc broke. Consequent attempts also failed.

To make it work in the stock blaster, the disc must satisfy three main requirements:
1. Correct height/thickness. There's two buttons that must be pressed, on the top and bottom of the "barrel," in order for the trigger to be pulled.
2. The hole in the middle of the disc must have sturdy walls and be about the right size. This allows the disc to actually fire well.
3. Low friction. Self-explanatory.

Posted Image
Silicone mold. Used for molding any disc-shaped things. I used Oogoo, AKA silicone + cornstarch as a catalyst. Basically the same as the gumdrop darts material, chemical-resistant so most materials don't stick well. Hot glue just falls off.

Actually didn't need to use this in my current version of disc-making, but just throwing this out there as a possible mold material.

Posted Image
Failed designs.

Blue is pure foam, I was stupid and didn't think about how the disc was going to fire before I tried it. This actually worked for 2-3 shots, but then the foam broke. This is pretty good-quality closed cell foam too.

Yellow is silicone, the actual yellow part is felt that I stuck in there for structural stability. Waaayyy too much grippiness on this, it also folded up and got stuck in the barrel repeatedly.

Green is bottle cap with craft foam, it shoots but is unstable and bottlecaps might be hard to get. I had to cut it to the right height, which is another step I'd like to remove.

White is hot glue. The silicone does not stick to hot glue at all, so it was incredibly easy to get the whole thing. Problem is, it's too heavy.

Brown is my "bottlecap+Model Magic" disc, which failed horribly on two levels. Model Magic is that Crayola air-dry clay stuff, dries foamy. This disc failed to fire, and Model Magic actually stuck to the silicone mold even when dry so it was annoying to remove.

Red one's pretty successful, but the hot glue just doesn't cut it for durability. After 10 or so shots, the hot glue started cracking.

So you need solid durable material for the inner edge, and it needs to be fairly light so it goes somewhere.

=WRITEUP=

What you need to have:
3/4" THINWALL PVC
Craft Foam
Hot Glue + Glue gun, or similar glue.
Thin plastic sheet or duct tape

Thanks to Kyrativ for suggesting wrapping the PVC before cutting. It is pretty fast, just glue, cut, and glue.

Glue craft foam around the PVC until you reach a diameter similar to that of a Vortex disc, 4 cm or a hair more than 1.5 inches.
Already cut once, but you get the idea. Number of layers depends on foam thickness, but it'll probably be three or four layers thick.
Posted Image


And then make foam slices.
Posted Image

If your slices end up being a bit too thick, make thinner slices. This is about the maximum. Anything more and you need to trim down the disc.
Posted Image

You should cap it with duct tape or some kind of thin, resilient material, craft foam or duct tape.

And there you go. Do some fire testing.

Adjustments: You should be cutting each slice to a similar thickness, so there is little change in weight. My discs fly best with no extra hot glue, but if yours curve to the left consistently it might be a bit too light. Add some hot glue to the bottom side of the foam cap.

I've found that heavy discs curve to the right, so logically light discs would curve to the left...? Haven't made one that's light enough to do that though, so this is all theoretical.



#304022 New Nerf Series!

Posted by Darksircam on 29 August 2011 - 01:42 AM in General Nerf

Awesome stuff. This might actually let the people in my area be able to compete with modded blasters... or at least come somewhere close. The discs go about as fast as darts from a stock Recon compared side-by side, but they have a lot less drop. So they're easier to dodge than stefans with comparable range. Oh well.

I'm trying to make molds for the discs, currently using air-dry clay for the mold and silicone caulk for the disc itself. Terrible quality, but just to see if the silicone caulk model works friction-wise. Homemade ammo would be just as durable, but possibly sacrifice some performance. And be a good bit more expensive than stefans.

I first tried to make foam rings, but those actually started breaking within 1-2 shots. The launching mechanism flings it from the inside so that hole in the disc is pretty important.

Vortex discs are similar to bottlecaps. It does not fire that well - only similar ranges to a Nerf dart.
Posted Image

Vigilon internals. The Vigilon can actually hold six shots in the clip safely, and if you preload one you have seven shots. Yay.
Posted Image

Really don't want to take it apart again and take more pictures... was trying to find the trigger/priming locks.
Trigger locks are unlocked by disc, priming locks are unlocked by lack of disc in barrel, disc in clip, and clip in... clip holder.



#303867 The SNAP/Revolution

Posted by Darksircam on 26 August 2011 - 01:18 PM in Homemades

I'm using a .72 gauge spring, 9/16" by 6" and it feels stronger than half a [k26]. Can't measure the weight, though it says maximum safe load is 20 lb. No damage to the catch so far, but I want to find a metal catchface so it's guaranteed to last.



#303070 Homemades Picture Thread

Posted by Darksircam on 08 August 2011 - 09:52 PM in Homemades

Made Carbon's SNAP/Revolution, downsized a bit. 9/16" x 6" x .072 spring with 4" draw. Hits 60 feet with my test barrel and a 3-foot long hopper. Forgot to lube after cleaning the plunger tube with water so ranges are pretty bad.
Posted Image

Primes easier than my crossbow and gets better ranges, though doesn't look nearly as intimidating. Ease of priming is mainly due to the superior pump grip.
I love the easy customization of spring loads, .41 gauge spring I used before could barely push the plunger. This spring's a bit too strong for the games I play unless I shotgun load.

Bolt's pulled back as far as it goes - I left the extra PVC for the stock. If you want a smaller pump-action blaster this is awesome. And yes, it's very easy to disassemble for on-field repairs/power adjustment.



#300912 Quick Stefan Question

Posted by Darksircam on 02 July 2011 - 09:35 PM in Modifications

Slugs aren't that bad, really.
They won't insta-shred, but used on hard targets they will break apart fairly quickly.

I made slugs with about 1 cm of FBR on the tip, and they work well. Only problem is that the tip tends to separate dangerously after 10+ shots into a wall, the body breaks apart from the washer.

If you're just dabbing a bit of low-temp glue on, it'll fall off pretty quickly. I would say to add a gratuitous amount of low-temp hot glue onto the foam and stick washers on. Then switch to hi-temp glue for the dart heads.

Also, never use slugs in badly-cut brass (tubing cutters without reaming it back out). The washer is more likely to get caught on the inward edge of the brass, and... yeah.


Gumdrop darts with felt tips feed fine in hoppers. The main problem is that the tip is too grippy, and felt fixes that problem.



#300848 Quick Stefan Question

Posted by Darksircam on 01 July 2011 - 02:01 AM in Modifications

Hot glue domes hurt, but they're durable.
Felt-tipped slugs have the problem where the head falls off too often.
FBR-tipped slugs hurt. Far less than domes, not sure if it's less than felt. The FBR gets flat quickly.
FoamSports silicone tips hurt. Almost like hot glue domes.
Gumdrop tips are a step in the right direction. Harder to manufacture.
3DBBQ darts are the best pain-wise, but they seem rather... unstable. And longer than normal stefans.



#300650 Gumdrop heads

Posted by Darksircam on 28 June 2011 - 02:04 AM in Darts and Barrels

The foam separation is expected - should be similar or worse results with slugs.

Used a hand drill for mine as well, with a 7/16" drill bit there's more margin for error.
Yours weren't felted, right? Surprised they still actually fed decently.



#300283 The SNAP/Revolution

Posted by Darksircam on 21 June 2011 - 11:27 AM in Homemades

This... is super exciting. Less friction, more win.
You can remove the pump and priming shroud to make it prime pistol-style, and it can be done without tools. I like.
I'm planning to make a pistol length version. With optional pump action.

If I understand the way the plunger tube attaches correctly, you could cut a notch on the other end like so
Posted Image
So if the plunger tube actually comes loose, it'll just rattle instead of falling off completely.



#299982 Homemades Picture Thread

Posted by Darksircam on 16 June 2011 - 10:07 PM in Homemades

Completely stupid in most wars the NIC does, but semi-useful against stock blasters.
Posted Image
Posted Image

Sword n' shield. We allow shields with melee weapons/singleshot stock pistols in order to level the playing field a bit. The shield is still useless. It's modular though - I could stick more ammo holders on it.



#299980 Pump Bottle Pump Blaster

Posted by Darksircam on 16 June 2011 - 09:58 PM in Homemades

I tried to find a washer to reinforce the catchface, but my search turned up nothing at Home Depot except a cut washer.
Not sure if you can find these at normal hardware stores - couldn't find any at that Home Depot, but that may be due to my lack of knowledge and being rushed. It should be near the fiberglass resin.

The catchface doesn't have any major signs of wear yet after a minor duel with friends, so that's good. One major problem is that the blaster's pretty long. CuppaSteve on NRev suggested this could be a ballistic knife... I say it's more like a gunblade gundagger.

So I slapped on my old melee barrel attachment (really just for barrel tapping, tip isn't covered so stabbing is dangerous)

Posted Image

Terrible ranges because low-volume springers don't like PETG barrels. If I make a CPVC+PVC version and make the tip safer, this would be completely viable.

As an integration or attachment: 3/4" thinwall PVC snaps onto the body snugly. However, it's at least 20 cm (8 inches) long without barrel... unprimed.



#299838 Orange Mod Works Kit Reviews

Posted by Darksircam on 14 June 2011 - 01:18 AM in General Nerf

Pretty cool. I won't be getting it, but this is a good idea. Metal parts are hard to machine - most I've done with a reverse plunger blaster is make a Raiderpistol with ARs removed and a powerstock.

It's a completely different style of "mod" that is basically replacing the internals. Or buying homemade internals and sticking them into a shell.

It still doesn't have nearly the power level of other blasters... but it can hold up against a modded NF pretty well.

I find the modding process the most fun - design something, make it work. Shoot people with it. Sell it/keep it. Repeat.



#299824 Gumdrop heads

Posted by Darksircam on 13 June 2011 - 10:31 PM in Darts and Barrels

Drilled out some more holes and made another batch of about 30 darts.
Is everyone using a paint stir stick to poke the oogoo into the holes? I prefer using my fingers... or if possible, a plastic-coated wooden rod about the same diameter as the tip diameter. Makes sure you get the oogoo all the way in, and it's pretty quick. Then smear some more over and repeat.

The amount of cornstarch may also affect the smell... if it acts as a catalyst, more vinegar smell is generated, and it's generated faster.

Edit: On felt: You should be looking for felt that does NOT fall apart easily - fluffy felt makes bumpy/unbalanced dart heads.



#299505 Pump Bottle Pump Blaster

Posted by Darksircam on 07 June 2011 - 08:19 PM in Homemades

Making a trigger would increase the cost. Power would also be hampered, as it loses some draw distance.

I am testing this out with a CPVC catchface - the final version will use epoxy.

A PVC catchface would be optimal, but the ID of the plunger tube is slightly smaller than the OD of 1/2" PVC, making this impossible. I'll find a washer for the catchface sometime this weekend.

Prices may vary: My local TAP Plastics had these on sale, but the website's prices are also unreliable. At least you're getting a spring and plunger tube for cheap.

One problem I see is a possible loss of airseal efficiency. As the front of the plunger head slams into the beveled end of the tube, it gets compressed into that area and gets bent.
The rear seal is still fine, but the front seal is dead.

Seeing a total cost of about $3 or less, similar to the "Smallest Homemade" from http://www.nerfrevol...c.php?f=9&t=680


Edit: Ok. It's long, and stupider-looking than before, but I have created a very inexpensive blaster. With a simple clothespin, 2 nails, cable ties, and a scrap of CPVC, I have completed the task of adding a trigger.

A handle would be nice... but not really optimal, as the only place to attach it would be the screw-on cap.

Still similar ranges, strangely. Probably because I was releasing it incorrectly last time. Lesson learned: Triggers release faster, especially when your handle is nonexistent.

Current pics
Posted Image
Posted Image
That scrap of wood limits the trigger travel so the nail doesn't pop out. I pulled it from another clothespin.

The barrel I use for this is a 3" PETG barrel with 1" of nested 17/32" brass, nested in 4" of PVC. Basically a universal pistol barrel.



#299438 Pump Bottle Pump Blaster

Posted by Darksircam on 06 June 2011 - 07:20 PM in Homemades

Simple pull-and-shoot blaster. It's like those toy bows... but it looks stupider, and works better.

A lot of these items can be substituted for other stuff, but this is how I did it.

Wire Cutters
Hot Glue + Hot Glue Gun
Tape
GOOP
Drill with drill bits, 1/16" for paperclip or same diameter as your nail (see below)
Sandpaper or file

Hand pump from TAP Plastics or similar. Gotta have a strong spring.
Handle Extension. Something that fits inside the hollow part of the hand pump. For me, this was a trash ballpoint pen.
Paper Clip (or thin nail)

Barrel:
PETG
OR
PVC Coupler + 1" stub of PVC and barrel of choice


So I found some hand pumps at TAP Plastics for sale: $1 each.
http://www.tapplasti...ct.php?pid=174
Posted Image

It had a spring, really good airseal, and a handle. Pretty much all it needed to become a foam-flinging device was moving the spring location. And that was the problem - the handle was fused to the plunger rod.

Sticking the entire thing in boiling water would remove the parts, most likely, but there's still the problem of achieving maximum efficiency. The handle doesn't go all the way in when stock.
Posted Image

There's a weird tab in the cap that prevents it from going further in, even without the spring.

So I made a new handle.

Posted Image
Snip off the tip of the plunger tube, we don't need it. The ball bearing will fall out. Also remove the large pump part of the plunger.

Posted Image
Seal the plunger with hot glue. It was designed to let air through, we don't want that.

Prepare your handle extension ballpoint pen. Wrap it in tape until it fits into the handle snugly. Push it about 1/2" in.

Posted Image
Drill through your plunger/pen/tape with the 1/16" bit.
Then pull the pen out, apply GOOP, and stick it back in. Lock it in place with the help of GOOP + paperclip.

Posted Image
Remove any metal or plastic that's sticking out with a file or sandpaper. The cap has very little gap, and if anything's poking out it'll get stuck.

Posted Image
Stick the spring back on, lube it up with anything (No washer, so petroleum jelly is a go).

If it's PETG, your journey ends here. TAP Plastics pumps are just the right size for PETG to fit around.

Posted Image

Otherwise, take a PVC coupler, hammer some PVC in that, and hot glue/goop it in.

I'm considering adding a cross-piece to the handle so it's easier to prime. Maybe a duct tape-wrapped nail.

Added that PVC coupler. Just stuck a lot of hot glue on it... works with any feed-assist hopper, which is what I'd expect from something with power like a modded NF. Gets more consistent ranges too. I was getting misfires with the PETG.

Still a work in progress, fixed the materials list. Working on making a trigger system...
If you can't order springs off McMaster, these are good viable springs. Not good for a primary, but for integrations and small sidearms, yes.



#299426 My BalloonFinder

Posted by Darksircam on 06 June 2011 - 05:33 PM in Modifications

Nice. Super simple mod that almost anyone can do.
I love how everybody's making writeups on replacing Nitefinder plunger tubes. Pretty much shows that you can make a Nerf blaster out of anything.



#299322 Foam Sports (Silicone Tip Dart, Video)

Posted by Darksircam on 04 June 2011 - 09:46 PM in Darts and Barrels

Hm. I'm looking for the blue foam more than the tips, but 200m is too much for me to use. If anyone else is interested in getting foam, I would buy 50 metres. Which I would then make silicone heads for.

Fairly certain that the tips are what cause feeding problem in hoppers - same issue with streamlines and silicone heads.



#299255 Foam Sports (Silicone Tip Dart, Video)

Posted by Darksircam on 03 June 2011 - 10:22 PM in Darts and Barrels

Huh. Anyone in the US making/made an order? Seems like Kane was doing an order, but no news on that...

Holding off on buying sample packs at the moment - I have faith in the quality of this stuff and shipping's not really worth it, and just waiting on some way to get coloured foam.