11 replies to this topic

[Funky Mutha Facko]

While out shopping at Goodwill I came across the Wagner Paint Mate, and for only $3 why not take a stab at making it into a blaster.


It sat around my house for a while. Occasionally I'd pick it up, look at it, think "How can I put a spring in this thing?" Then it would go back to collecting dust. Inspiration struck after seeing the superpac and having one of those "DUH" moments where I realized that that it could be bow powered. Found what I needed on how to build it from Kane's Aabow and Ice Nine's bow powered +bow.

Hello Painter's Bow


Pretty much hacked off the roller part and glued what I believe was a 1in to 1/2in bushing (with a lil e-tape) into the plunger tube. Constructed the tee from a 1/2in input to 3/4 output tee, two segments of 3/4in pvc bored out to fit the 1/2in bow arms. Slid all that together and drilled dremeled down the 1/2in input of the tee. The hopper attaches to the plunger tube and then the bow arms and tee slide over the barrel.



The rope runs through vinyl tubing that itself goes into a hole dremeled into the plunger rod tube(not actually a rod).


And here is the rope connected to the bow arms.


Currently using a 12in barrel and a 7 dart hopper. Both could be larger I'm sure. With 19in of draw length, by the time the plunger head reaches it's stopping point it shoots at least two darts, sometimes more. It may just be do damn big. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

This was my first attempt at any king of homemade, and it was a great warmup. The drill press I recently acquired is currently packed behind a bunch of crap in my storage locker so I had no option but to use a dremel for all the "drilling." It came out pretty clean for just eyeballing all the holes. I considering adding some kind of handle and catch system, but it needs to be firing correctly first.

Edited by Funky Mutha Facko, 05 June 2012 - 08:45 PM.

[The Nerfaholic]

I am highly curious on the ranges of this. Do they come close to a fully homemade Aabow/Micro bow? I really like the idea of this, it's always fun to use ingenuity with what you have. I give you kudos.

[Pointman9]

19" of draw?? That may be excessive, but it all depends on what kind of ranges you're getting out of it. If you're getting 80-100 feet with both or more darts, then holy crap that is awesome. I would definitely advise putting a screw or two or three into the 1-1/2 bushing set into the plunger tube. I just couldn't really trust glue and e-tape to hold back that kind of force. I would also suggest adapting the design to use CPVC as the bow arm material, as it is much more elastic than PVC. My question is, what are you using as a plunger head?

Edited by Pointman9, 05 June 2012 - 10:04 PM.

[Goldie]

I like this. Things like this would become popular in places were McMaster wont ship such as Canada. May I ask how tall you are? It looks like you would have a hard time using this if your under 6” foot. Also does the plunger head hit the front?

Adding on to what Point man said padding may help with the durability of this.

[Funky Mutha Facko]

I am using the original plunger head that was built into the paint tube. It is simply two o-rings on the plunger rod-tube that get perfect seal and move very smoothly.



Took it outside last night and took a few shots down the alley. Estimated range would be around 100ft with the first dart, 50 with the second, and twenty with the third. It was consistently shooting three darts each time. This morning I shortened the bow strings until I got it to shoot fast enough that only one dart fired. That lasted for about three shots when the pvc began to lose its elasticity and it began to fire two, then three darts again. I will have to go pick up some 3/4 in cpvc before work and see how that holds it's shape tonight.

I can see the glue beginning to separate from the pt so I will have to throw some screws in the bushing and a little padding on the ph to make it last. The draw is so long that I cannot use my left hand to hold the bow arm and instead have to hold the tube making it more difficult to aim, although I did manage to him my old lady at that 100ft mark with no problem. I'm think I'll cut it down a bit to make it overall more comfortable and functional.

I'm sure this same kind of bow could be made using one of those pool water guns that are pull to fill and push to shoot. Plus they have those at the dollar store. I would like to add a trigger, and could make a catch point easily by cutting a notch out of the rod-tube. Using a clothespin is out of the question though because the nail would just tear up the plastic. I'll have to find some other way to make it work.

[Gage]

Clever idea! 19 inches of draw is a lot, although I worry that it would be extremely difficult to carry around and use in battle due to its sheer length. Still, great job transforming it into a functional blaster.

[The Nerfaholic]

If you were to half draw it it doesn't double feed right? Also at the front part where it appears the paint originally came out (Where you cut) Could you salvage that front part into a wye? It almost looks like one. Maybe if you reversed it it could be a built in one for this.

[Funky Mutha Facko]

updated 6/10/12

Edited by Funky Mutha Facko, 10 June 2012 - 09:52 AM.

[Funky Mutha Facko]

If I half draw it will fire just one dart. It needs to be cut down. The front part is a check valve that will be worked into the plunger head, it is best used that way instead of rigging it up as a wye. If I did it again I would leave it attached and attach the bushing th end of that.

Going to ace tomorrow to find better bow arms as well as a new handle for the pr for when I cut it down.

Continued......

So I cut the plunger tube and tube-rod down to a 9in draw, sanded the 3/4in pieces even more on the inside to accept the 3/4in cpvc arms. This baby is beast.



It is now only shooting one dart at a time as it should. The painters bow easily hits that 100 mark, and can easily be tightened or made more loose to adjust ranges to wherever I'd like them to be.

The only downside to using a bow like this is it's size, and now that is optional as well.



The bow arms can easily be switched out for the more compact version that uses rubber tubing as the power source instead of the long arms. The full size bow is easier to draw than this, but the tubing is much smaller, and puts out the same power, if not more power that the arms.

If you haven't ever tried rubber tubing before I would suggest picking some up. This little bow blew my socks off when I installed that tubing. Friggin scary potential.

Edited by Funky Mutha Facko, 10 June 2012 - 09:52 AM.

[Pointman9]

Easily hitting the 100 foot mark with a very simple construction. Props for this great blaster! Are the bow arms one piece, with the hole for the barrel drilled through it, or are the 3/4 cpvc arms actually two separate pieces solvent welded or otherwise attached to the 3/4 pvc pieces?

[Curly]

Where would one find such rubber tubing? Is it necessary to cover the rubber with vinyl like with string?

[Funky Mutha Facko]

Are the bow arms one piece, with the hole for the barrel drilled through it, or are the 3/4 cpvc arms actually two separate pieces solvent welded or otherwise attached to the 3/4 pvc pieces?

The bow arms are one continuous 4ft length with a hold drilled for the barrel to pass through. Thanks for the props.

Where would one find such rubber tubing? Is it necessary to cover the rubber with vinyl like with string?

I found my tubing in person at American Science and Surplus. I can't find it on their site but you may be able to. It is 9/16 OD and that is the same size as the vinyl tubing. I ran the rubber directly through where the vinyl was and am not afraid of it wearing to much because it has rather thick walls. It was around $2 a foot, and if it does break I can always buy more and make a larger hole to hold some larger vinyl to protect it.

Edited by Funky Mutha Facko, 10 June 2012 - 05:01 PM.