15 replies to this topic

[davidbowie]

Well, there it is. It's...weird. Like my last few projects, it didn't really come together for a specific purpose, but rather as a way to put together all my little ideas. Here's what came into play for this gun:

Relocated Clothespin: Anyone got a better name? It's fairly standard reinforced clothespin trigger, with some #8-32 allthread attached through the hole in the angle brace which leads to a trigger piece up on the grip, which creates a straight-back trigger pull and allows for the clothespin to be behind the grip.

New plunger style:


This is the plunger assembly. The shaft is made of 1/2" PEX (superlight), with part of a 3/4" PVC endcap for the catchface. There are two springs, one is a 20lb spring from home depot, and the other is out of a maverick.

Now here comes the cool part:


What is that, you say? Pipe insulation! It might not seem like much, but 5 feet of it costs around $2, and that's enough for around 1,440 plungers. Plus, it weighs next to nothing. On top of that, it takes a fraction of the time it takes to make an o-ring groove or cut a rubber washer out of sheet neoprene (never could get the storebought ones to work right)

[marcoman6391]

Very nice work their Bowie. I definitley have to say that this "Thing" is definitley my favorite out of all of your homemades. Very nice job as always. Keep up the good work. But my question is, is why do you start up a project and have no idea as to where you are going with the whole gun itself? It seems a little weird to me because if it was me I would at least come up with some type of plan on what I was going to do before hand so that I know what materials to buy and such. But hey it works for you, so more power to ya. Also what is the gun, like is it air pressure or spring? My guess is that it is air pressure. So what do you do? Do you have some type of air tank that you attach to it or something like that? Interesting concept if it's true. Also good find on the pipe insulator that you used instead of an o-ring. Good job as always.

Marcoman6391

Edited by marcoman6391, 26 June 2006 - 10:19 PM.

[marcoman6391]

Sorry for the double post, it won't let me edit my post again for some reason. But I'm just a complete idiot because it is a springer, but now I have another question which is what do you do in order to cock it.

Marcoman6391
[/quote]

[pat 1st Lt]

Wow... How's the seal with the pipe insulaion? You'd think you'd need a thicker wad than that...How thick is that piece? Around 1/2 an inch?

Well, if it works, I may just have to try it out for myself. This is one of you nicer home-mades. It's nothing really really revolutionary or super-unique, but it's very cool... I like it a lot.


P.S.

Quote

Also what is the gun, like is it air pressure or spring?

You've never built a homemade before, have you? It's spring powered. That's why it has a plunger with a catchface and a plunger head and springs. Why would you assume it's air-pressure?

Well... in a way, it IS air-pressure, in that the plunger's job is to compress air to fire the dart. Although, air-pressure generally refers to a pre-compressed air chamber which then releases the air to fire the dart. But let's not get into that whole thing-a-ma-hoozit; it's late and we're all entoxicated. Goo' ight everyone.


Sincereley,
Pat

Edited by {SF3G}pat 2nd Lt., 27 June 2006 - 12:05 AM.

[davidbowie]

See the little stub of PEX coming out the back? You pull that. I'd add on a pull-ring or something, but I haven't had any problems with just the rod by itself.

As for pre-planning, most of my guns are built mostly out of crap I had lying around. I had the parts for the plunger and trigger in my garage, and a healthy PVC stack, so all I had to buy was the 1 1/4" cap and coupler, the reducer and a CPVC male adapter. It worked out. Planning out your guns ahead of time, from my experience, just wastes time.

[Falcon]

Looks quite nice. I've never been much of one for homemades, but I muse say, that's very well done.

Quick question, though. Did I miss it somewhere, or has there been no mention of ranges? I'd be interested to hear what sort of performance-related thingies that this can pull off. It looks like it's got a lot of "oomph" to throw a dart with...

Edited by Falcon, 27 June 2006 - 01:51 AM.

[davidbowie]

Range tests yesterday put it in the 60-70 foot range, but I've fixed it up a little since then, and it seems to be more powerful. I'll try and measure some shots later on.

[taz22]

does the plunger leaks? you can test it if you put your thump on the end of the barel and then shoot.
if it doesn't leak the plunger doesn't move ore just move a litle bit.

greats

[Flaming Hilt]

How's the balance on that thing? It looks like the weight is centered too far back for a comfortable grip.

Also, I might slap a piece of 1" or whatever you have spare over that trigger rod.

Otherwise, great invention. I use pipe insulation for swords (not as dangerous); I never would have thought to use it as a seal instead of an O-ring.

The relocated clothespin is also a nice invention. It lets you put the firing pin way farther back then my extendable clothespin (if that's what I called it) ever would...

[Gyrvalcon]

For the first homemade I built, I attempted using FBR cut lengthwise, wrapped around my plunger head. It made a decent seal, but was not durable enough. The point where the FBR attatched back on itself was always the weak point. using the pipe insulation solves that problem well. I might have to make another attempt using it instead.

[Ronster]

Can you add a bit more light on the detail of the new trigger mach?

[The Inventor Guy]

Ronster, on Jun 28 2006, 08:26 AM, said:

Can you add a bit more light on the detail of the new trigger mach?

It's not really new, it's just a length of rod going back to the clothespin trigger for the lever, basically just making the clothespin trigger longer.

-Tidge.

[davidbowie]

I cleaned it up a bit, added a pull-handle, put a case around the trigger, and painted it:




If you look closely at the second pic, you will see a slight green tint. That's right folks, IT GLOWS IN THE DARK!!!

[davidbowie]

I range tested it again today, and things are looking good. I put on a longer barrel and a spacer between the springs, and it's up into the mid 80's.

[sam]

Pretty awesome. How big is this thing? It looks to be about the size of a maverick?

[davidbowie]

Yeah, that sounds about right. It's a comfortable size.