41 replies to this topic

[Galaxy613]

Which is...?

Forced the cost of millions of lives to push the frontline one mile ahead.

Which applies to Nerf how...?

IF you are suggesting that if someone finally makes a working prototype chaingun, or even the Vulcan, is going to completely change how Nerf is played for the worse... you are mistaken.

Edited by Galaxy613, 02 June 2008 - 03:06 PM.

[angelof DEATH182]

All warfare will become defensive.
None shall move from the safety of the chaingun-wielders who do not move.

But, it must happen, all change is forced.

No man will stop his work even if it will end lives, or change war into a hellish thing.

We would not have weaponry if not for that.

[Ubermensch]

Well to respond to Eboreg, that does not apply to nerf at all. AngelofDeath, I don't think war will become defensive. I mean, come on, it's nerf!

[Eboreg]

I'm just saying, if notthedinkus wants to bring this gun to a war, he's in for a severe dissapointment. Even if this gun is practical, it could be a pwngun causing the game to not be fun anymore.

[Ubermensch]

I agree. Still, maybe one could have an "everybody vs notthedinkus" round.

[Retiate]

I strongly disagree.
He would find that people would be shooting at him from further back, or pulling hit and run tactics, or just using straight teamwork and get him out. Or even if it did get ridiculous ranges, that doesn't automatically mean he can hit with it and people can't dodge it. People would find that the bulk and weight of the gun slowed him down and made him an easier target. The guns don't make the players.
Now, if he were to make this, he might find that he absolutely loves using it, and he'd have a lot of fun using it at wars. Notthedinkus, I'd say go for it, as long as you know what you're doing and you intend to follow through on it.

[zadjii]

Notthedinkus I personally think this is a great idea (if it works). If you can get a minigun to work, you would be the first one here (as far as i know) to make such. My first concept homemade was a minigun.

As for the WWI issue, the invention of the "first" machine gun revolutionized warfare for all time. This gun might just be that WWI machine gun.

If you are looking for gears, i found a bunch of K'nex gears in my basement yesterday. They are plastic but they might work.

[Thom]

There are two reasons why this project is not "against the spirit of nerf".

1) Wars can ban guns. Singled Titan, anyone?
2) Even if it NEVER saw action, building a Nerf minigun is a worthwhile endeavor in and of itself.

Not everything Nerf need be judged by its war effectiveness. A lot of responses I've seen are primarily concerned with where this falls on some sort of scale of usefulness, either not practical or too powerful. Those responses lose sight of the fact that a real, working Nerf minigun would dominate the "awesomeness" and "fun to make" scales, and you can't score too high on either of those.

There's no need to worry about how this will affect Nerf gameplay. For one things, this minigun doesn't exist yet. When it's firing darts in front of a camera and at its first war, there will be plenty of time to worry about its effectiveness. Maybe it will suck. Maybe it will be restricted to scenarios due to überness. At this point, who cares?

It's ironic that by being concerned about keeping Nerf away from airsoft levels, we can easily become just as concerned about stats and performance and strategy as a competitive airsofter. Lighten up! This is fun!

[CROW]

I've always thought that Nerf had two purposes: to simultaneously be both an enjoyable and generally laidback game, all while bringing out the inner creativity of its community to advance the sport through modifications, homemades, tactics, etc. In simpler terms, its meant to provide an outlet for a Nerfer's creativity, and then the products of that creativity can be used to have a good time. From this standpoint, I can't really see why creating a minigun would be a problem for the future of Nerfing. Like [i]every other sport and activity in the world, Nerf is meant to advance in the forward direction, and if a minigun is counter-productive to this goal, then its clear that it will be cast aside by the community as a whole and Nerf will go on. So maybe we should all stop worrying about this and just see how it goes.

(By the way, kick-ass looking design you have there)

[Split]

I don't really know how all of this got stirred up, but I never said you shouldn't do it. I was outlining things that needed to be considered, and possible, simpler and likely more effective ways of going about to your goal.

[MithMorchaint]

Having nearly completed a coilgun (Google it if you don't know what it is) I have a fair amount of experience with electromagnets and powering thereof. I think that this is a place where electromagnet application would work, but there are several things that you need to watch out for.

First, when making the electromagnet: Make sure you use thin but insulated wire. The more wire you have in the small space you're using, the stronger the magnetic field will be. It does, however, need to be insulated for various reasons. Something to watch out for is that after being "on" for any significant amount of time, the wire will get hot. The coilgun has to have its coils replaced after every shot because the wire gets hot enough to melt the insulation and thereby ruin that section of the coil. And we're talking split-second activation; it just gets that hot because of the amount of current going through it. Yours will heat up more slowly because you have less current, but the end result will be the same if the coil is "on" for too long. I don't know how you're planning to make your magnets, but keep all that in mind.

Second, power: You said you're powering the magnets off of a 9-volt, right? I would recommend using one 9-volt for EACH of the barrels. 4 circuits. You won't get enough power otherwise, at least I don't think so. The big danger here is that in the circuit you're going to be making, the 9-volt is going to get VERY hot VERY fast. If you have the circuit "on" for too long, the battery could damage itself and rupture or otherwise cause problems (leak, etc). If you do wind up using 9-volts, just make sure you don't keep the circuit "on" for more than 45-60 seconds at a time.


That's my advice. You can listen to me or not, doesn't matter to me. The coil overheating is probably a much smaller problem than the batteries overheating, so keep an eye on them.


Edit: Here is a picture of one of our prototype coils:


The purple thing it is wrapped around is a large straw. Yes, the wire is that thin. It has a red insulating coating on it. What I did there is I wrapped one very tight layer, wrapped e-tape around it, and then did another layer over it. That is the amount of wire you want to be present. That coil produced a strong enough field to suspend a nail in the air inside the straw - so you see the kind of thing you're going to need in order to be strong enough to hold a piece of pipe, right? That coil was powered off a 9-volt, incidentally. You might find you need more than one battery per electromagnet to hold the weight you're doing.

Edited by MithMorchaint, 16 June 2008 - 07:49 PM.

[Ubermensch]

So, dinkus, are you still working on this? I suggest you do. It's very interesting.

[notthedinkus]

So, dinkus, are you still working on this? I suggest you do. It's very interesting.

Hey, its not the dinkus.

Over the next few days, I will gather all of my supplies, and do what I can. I will post updates on what I can get done until I repair my dremel.

[MithMorchaint]

I'm just curious, how are you planning on making the electromagnets? Since they only cover half of the pipe (since there has to be a space for the shell to enter), it limits the options. What shape will you put the wire in? A flattened coil? I'm not sure how well that would work since I've never tried it, so I'm curious how you're doing it.

[notthedinkus]

I'm just curious, how are you planning on making the electromagnets? Since they only cover half of the pipe (since there has to be a space for the shell to enter), it limits the options. What shape will you put the wire in? A flattened coil? I'm not sure how well that would work since I've never tried it, so I'm curious how you're doing it.

There will be one or more small diameter "cylinder" magnets running along the bottom of the surface of the pipe where the shell falls.

the 9-volt is going to get VERY hot VERY fast. If you have the circuit "on" for too long, the battery could damage itself and rupture or otherwise cause problems (leak, etc). If you do wind up using 9-volts, just make sure you don't keep the circuit "on" for more than 45-60 seconds at a time.

The first diagram shows that the battery is only on for approximately half of the rotation before it turns off to let the shell fall out of the gun.

Edited by notthedinkus, 17 June 2008 - 10:51 AM.

[MithMorchaint]

There will be one or more small diameter "cylinder" magnets running along the bottom of the surface of the pipe where the shell falls.

I'm not sure that's going to be enough, but good luck. It's going to take way more then a single 9-volt battery to power that system, at least in my experience.

The first diagram shows that the battery is only on for approximately half of the rotation before it turns off to let the shell fall out of the gun.

Right, but if the barrels are spinning fast enough the battery won't be able to cool off before it is activated again, leading to the same heat buildup. It's just something to watch out for.

[voidSkipper]

Getting pretty sci-fi when you have to have heatsinks on your guns, but.

Why not set up heatsinks on your gun? Get some decent CPU coolers, some thermal paste, and a separate motor running a fan to pull air through the whole assembly.

Edited by voidSkipper, 18 June 2008 - 12:07 AM.