354 replies to this topic

[CaptainSlug]

General Cole, on Mar 21 2008, 09:39 PM, said:

1. Replace 13.25in Plunger rod with precut aluminum. Then drill and tap holes.
2. Build .125 thickness pieces out of .100 thickness polycarb.
3. Use a mill and lathe.

1. That would require a rather expensive tapping bit. Which I have, but it cost me $20. Cheaper taps are likely to break in aluminum.
2. .100" isn't thick enough to add a thread to and isn't anywhere near as common to obtain.
3. That would make the tool list even more exclusive. The plunger core or stock rods could be faced easily with a lathe, but those the only part that would really benefit from the use of one.

[General Cole]

1. If you have it is is worth it.
2. Nuts to hold together, or steps to hold them in. My town does not have .125 polycarb in stores.
3. I had to use the lathe to face all the plunger parts and stock rods, along with making centered holes and bringing down the OD of the 1in rod to fit with O-Rings. Mill to remove areas inside of parts, along with large hoels.

[Ryan201821]

Finished my +bow. Wasn't really that hard to make. Just time and patience.



Thanks Slug for revising the trigger and handgrip designs and pictures. I really had no idea how to do it with the previously posted pictures.

[CaptainSlug]

Lovely. Black is so sexy, and strangely enough it's also cheaper than clear or white for most of the materials.

General Cole, on Mar 22 2008, 10:47 AM, said:

1. If you have it is is worth it.
2. Nuts to hold together, or steps to hold them in. My town does not have .125 polycarb in stores.
3. I had to use the lathe to face all the plunger parts and stock rods, along with making centered holes and bringing down the OD of the 1in rod to fit with O-Rings. Mill to remove areas inside of parts, along with large hoels.

1. If you already have the aluminum, go ahead. If you don't want to have to try cutting a straight piece to make the plunger rod you can buy rectangular bars of plastic or aluminum at the desired thickness and width. I will eventually get around to trying UHMW Polyethylene for making the plunger rods. It should hold a thread well and be durable enough to make the plunger rod, but I want to try it first before recommending it since I KNOW polycarbonate works provided you drill the hole correctly. I will look into seeing if any other options for the plunger rod will make the partlist any cheaper.

2. The ONE hole you have to thread in the side plates lands at the centerline of the plunger tube so there's not really enough space to use a hex nut.

3. I mainly cut those parts using a table saw and I didn't have to face any of them. I did the cuts on one +Bow using a mitre saw and mitre box just to make sure it was possible. For the large diameter holes you need to drill it's best to use flat-blade wood-boring drill bits, which can be used with a mill or a drillpress. Changing the OD of the plunger core doesn't have to be done if you apply a TON of silicone lubricant to the plunger tube. If you do change the OD you better not shave off more than 10 thousands of an inch from the radius or you'll kill the seal.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 24 March 2008 - 01:38 AM.

[General Cole]

I have an awesome seal at .785in. Maybe its the weather.

[bpso86]

Here's mine, 1 of 6 that we made. Works great, aside from the occasional snapping of a plunger rod, but we have plenty of extra 1/4" sheet to fix that problem.



I'm still going to paint a custom C-paw on the sides by hand, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[VACC]

Bp, I've used the plusbow in several wars now and I have to make one serious suggestion to you. Put more foam in the handle. The amount you have in that image is not enough. You're gonna beat the fuck out of your hands that way.

[bpso86]

I know, I was thinking about it. I've been using it for two weeks (the first week was without any foam at all), and this week I used it for a solid 6 hours, no problems. It may not look comfortable, but the foam is strong and I can't feel the polycarbonate edges when I cock it (I might end up adding more padding to the upper end of the handle, but we'll see after the war we have this weekend). We play every week for about 7 hours or so, so it's been battle tested and works fine. I have been recording ridiculous kills with this thing as well... it's almost unfair.

[CaptainSlug]

Ryan made another one and it's too sexy to be left out of this thread.

bpso86, on Mar 24 2008, 01:27 PM, said:

it's almost unfair.

And now you know the modus operandi of the +bow.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 28 March 2008 - 04:27 PM.

[Swatch]

I meant to post this a while back. Here's the trigger modification I did... feel free to ask questions, I don't have a good picture sadly.



This is a picture of my own along with the other five guns. The long one is mine, the lower one is the green one you see above. Twitch's is the sad looking broken one above mine. And the top three bags contain parts for the final three.

[CaptainSlug]

Yes a hinging trigger works fine if the trigger is long enough at the back.
I personally tend to prefer the feel of a sliding trigger.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 18 April 2008 - 06:11 PM.

[madmax]

I have a few questions regarding this gun. i was looking at the required tools and unfortunately i do not have many of them. though i do not have this gun yet i want to buy and build one soon. i was wondering if all the cutting could be done with a table saw or several hand held electric saws.

[CaptainSlug]

madmax, on Apr 25 2008, 09:07 AM, said:

I have a few questions regarding this gun. i was looking at the required tools and unfortunately i do not have many of them. though i do not have this gun yet i want to buy and build one soon. i was wondering if all the cutting could be done with a table saw or several hand held electric saws.

Many of the parts can be cut to size with a table saw, but you cannot do the detailed cutting work with anything other than a scroll saw because many of the pieces are just too small to cut safely without one.

[ompa]

If you're in the same position as I am, and you only have access to a dremel (and a hacksaw), don't even try it. There are a few attachments that might help, but even then, it's still highly unstable, and cutting out some of the smaller pieces will result in alot of problems; plus, it's very hard to cut the pieces out with a dremel. I've tried cutting pieces out around the sizes of the pieces the +bow requires, and it's extremely difficult due to the lack of stability while using a dremel. Cutting out the pieces required for the catch will probably be extremely difficult, and one slip-up or problem and you might snap some of the dremel attachments you're using, sending pieces flying (happened once to me).

In short, I highly recommend against attempting it if you don't have the tools CS recommends. If you do so, you will be attempting to build it against the recommendations of (probably) a huge chunk of this community, and therefore, we take no responsibility for your actions.

Unfortunately, that basically completely takes me out of the running for making an +bow, so I'll have to work on (now that I know about McMaster thanks to CaptainSlug) a version of the +bow that will only require the use of a hacksaw and a dremel.

~ompa

[CaptainSlug]

ompa, on Apr 26 2008, 05:21 PM, said:

so I'll have to work on (now that I know about McMaster thanks to CaptainSlug) a version of the +bow that will only require the use of a hacksaw and a dremel.

I've never even bothered contemplating such a thing because of how much I hate dremels. They're almost utterly useless for machining plastics and in the long run end up costing you more money than a scroll saw.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 26 April 2008 - 08:26 PM.

[ompa]

Thing is, I currently live in a dormitory, and my future suitemates for my apartment next year would not be happy with me if I had a scroll saw.

Dremel+machining plastics = Effeminate failure.

And CS, you think a normal dremel bad? All I have access to right now is a cordless dremel. That's literally it. I don't even have a hacksaw at the moment.

~ompa

[CaptainSlug]

I had a cordless dremel self-destruct after only a weeks use.

[Ryan201821]

Dremels do suck.

Let me also state the importance of using a drill press, especially one with a laser guide. Since I've been using a drillpress, guess what? When I put it together all my holes line up. It helps a lot with drilling the holes through the bottom of the rear frame piece for the handle and the holes drilled in the sides of the catch plate. It's also a lot faster using a drillpress.

And anyone out there who is contemplating on buying a scroll saw to make one, just make sure you practice cutting out templates on a similar material before you ruin your semi-expensive polycarbonate. If you have no experience machining plastics you probably shouldn't attempt making one of these guns.

CaptainSlug, on Mar 24 2008, 01:46 PM, said:

bpso86, on Mar 24 2008, 01:27 PM, said:

it's almost unfair.

And now you know the modus operandi of the +bow.

This gun is unfair. CS, are we the only ones with +bow's attending to DCNO? If we are, and we are on the same team...That will be unfair.

[bpso86]

Ryan, myself and Twitch also have plus bows. And we're both going. Twitch is almost done making one entirely out of aluminum, and he'll be bringing that one at least to show everyone as well.

[Shrub]

An aluminum +bow post pics please

[CaptainSlug]

Ryan201821, on Apr 27 2008, 01:39 AM, said:

CS, are we the only ones with +bow's attending to DCNO?

The list as I am aware is

CaptainSlug
Ryan
Dark Shrimp
VACC
Groove
Kuhlshrank (if he can make it)
bpso86
Twitch
Skitzo
and maybe a few others

Edited by CaptainSlug, 27 April 2008 - 12:11 PM.

[Ubermensch]

Longshot Wielder, on Apr 27 2008, 01:01 PM, said:

An aluminum +bow post pics please

Just don't do that ever again.

Edited by Ubermensch, 27 April 2008 - 05:17 PM.

[madmax]

thanks for the answers to my questions, i think my dad MIGHT have a jigsaw, handheld, and thats could help. how much could i buy one for, because my crossbow is beginning to die.

[Ryan201821]

CaptainSlug, on Apr 27 2008, 12:10 PM, said:

Ryan201821, on Apr 27 2008, 01:39 AM, said:

CS, are we the only ones with +bow's attending to DCNO?

The list as I am aware is

CaptainSlug
Ryan
Dark Shrimp
VACC
Groove
Kuhlshrank (if he can make it)
bpso86
Twitch
Skitzo
and maybe a few others

Wow...impressive. I can't wait to see all of them in action.

[three Chord me]

Ryan201821, on Apr 27 2008, 08:02 PM, said:

CaptainSlug, on Apr 27 2008, 12:10 PM, said:

Ryan201821, on Apr 27 2008, 01:39 AM, said:

CS, are we the only ones with +bow's attending to DCNO?

The list as I am aware is

CaptainSlug
Ryan
Dark Shrimp
VACC
Groove
Kuhlshrank (if he can make it)
bpso86
Twitch
Skitzo
and maybe a few others

Wow...impressive. I can't wait to see all of them in action.

If finals don't get in the way I hope to be finished with mine by then.