19 replies to this topic

[TantumBull]

The objectives of this clip were to:
A. Be a cheap clip made of easy to find and inexpensive materials
B. Eliminate the "jostling" issues of gravity fed clips
C. Be able to be used pointed down or sideways.

The obvious answer to these objectives was to make a spring fed clip. So that's what I did. This write-up will be very picture heavy, and will probably mostly rely on pictures to get most of the steps across.

First cut the part off of a deodorant stick that you twist to advance the bar of deodorant (after the bar is gone of course).


Take a stefan and make centered marks on the clip so you know where to put the new walls.


Take a wooden paint slatherer stick thingy majig and place it where you made your marks at one end. Mark where you will need to cut the stick so that it will fit at the mark on the clip.


Using a ruler and a sharpie, run a line along the entire stick to mark where to cut.


Cut.


With the lid on the other end, and with the newly cut stick inserted as far as it can go, mark where it stops at the top.


Cut at the mark, and then cut another segment of the same length.


Hot glue in the guiders, making sure they're straight.


Put some glue in one the other side for good measure.


Now glue in a third guider, keeping it full width this time.


Now we move to the follower, as it influences further construction of the clip. Get some Knex (I know you have some or can find some, they're fucking everywhere) and glue an orange piece onto a gray rod like so.


Now we need some air restrictor springs. I used some from multiple SM1.5K's. Zap a Gap them together.


Drill a hole in the end cap.


Put the spring on the follower and push it into the hole in the end cap. Push it down as far as possible and mark how far it goes down.


Put the end cap back on and, using the mark made on the inside, draw a slot for a dart. The bottom (or top in the picture) should line up with the inside mark.


Dremel it out (You will see pictures of the slot later).

Edited by TantumBull, 15 February 2009 - 07:54 PM.

[TantumBull]

Glue in a final guider.


Insert the follower without the spring. Put it down so that you would have enough space to load a dart.


Mark it.


Put hot glue over the mark. This way you can pull it through the hole, it will stay there so you can load darts, and then a quick tap will let the follower advance freely.


Hot glue on the cap so it's still removable.


Insert the whole follower assembly. E-tape where shown so when the clip isn't on a breech the follower won't fly out.


Dremel the clip so it will fit more naturally over a breech in PVC. On my breech, the wood guiders touch the brass and the dremeled out section fits over the PVC.


Here's a picture when the followers all the way down and caught by the glue.


Hooray, you're done. I'll add pics of it on my 2K later.

Edit: Pics of it on a 2K!




Video!

Edited by TantumBull, 15 February 2009 - 07:53 PM.

[Blue]

Looks great. So, do the darts come out the top or the slot?

[Hipponater]

Looks great. So, do the darts come out the top or the slot?

You load them through the slot, then the orange knex pushes the darts down, out the bottom (or top) of the clip.

Definitely nice, I like the idea. I might have to try that if i'm unsatisfied with an rscb.

[Split]

As for the third goal (I like that you outlined these), if you have this clip downwards, when you go to load it, won't the dart just fall back down. That would make it a pain to load really, without turning the gun upside down.
Would you be able to throw up a quick video of weighted darts cycling through it? AR springs seem like they'd be pretty weak to hold back 6 or 7 weighted darts, and then feed the top one into the breech. Nice work though. Got rid of at least most of the problems with them. Maybe you could cut a narrow slot along the length of the clip so you could see how many darts are left in there (since this isn't a breechless version).

Edit: You used the same picture twice at one point as well. Second and third from the end.

Edited by Splitlip, 08 February 2009 - 02:06 PM.

[CoasterDynamix757]

Finally AR's have some use. Nice work!

[Nerfer327]

Finally AR's have some use. Nice work!

Great idea. Nice job dude.

[TantumBull]

Thank you everyone for the positive feedback. Especially thanks to Split, I editted that picture. I'm so used to photobucket copying the code to my clipboard automatically when I click on it, and it has stopped doing that recently. And, yeah, I'll try to get a video up soon. You're definately right about loading upside down, its already near impossible to load sideways, because the darts want to turns side ways. It would be really hard to load mid-round. I'm going to mess around with it to try and fix that, though. And just so everyone knows, this clip in its current state is really finnicky. It occasionally will eat darts. I'm going to fiddle around with it and try and fix that, and I'll post my results.

[boom]

You sir may have just solved a major problem in homemades.

[TantumBull]

Thanks, boom. I'm not sure I've solved all the issues with the deodorant clip, but this definitely narrows them down. Now I just need to find a way to load this quickly without getting darts perpendicular to the breech.

Edited by TantumBull, 09 February 2009 - 06:17 PM.

[Hoceky]

What brand of deodorant is it? I'm guessing Old Spice right?

[manofnerf]

what is knex

Is it the full word or just an abrreviation?

I just want to know and I think it'S a legitimate question for a noob nerfer



P.S. Don't hurt me admins

[Hoceky]

what is knex

Is it the full word or just an abrreviation?

I just want to know and I think it'S a legitimate question for a noob nerfer



P.S. Don't hurt me admins

Really? It's a building toy like lego. A quick google search wouldn't have hurt now wouldn't it.

[Merzlin]

Let me google that for you. Seriously, awesome creation. I'm defiantly trying this with Polycarbonate to replace the wood.

[TantumBull]

Thank you everyone, and yes Hoceky, its old spice... is that pronounced Hoss-ecky?

[Hoceky]

Thank you everyone, and yes Hoceky, its old spice... is that pronounced Hoss-ecky?

Yea.

[Carbon]

Thanks, boom. I'm not sure I've solved all the issues with the deodorant clip, but this definitely narrows them down. Now I just need to find a way to load this quickly without getting darts perpendicular to the breech.

I think your discovery that that AR springs supply a decent amount of force is the main attraction in this design. As far as keeping them from going perpendicular when loading from the slot: good luck. Stefans are inconsistent enough that it's difficult without any kind of guide. You might be better off putting a loading hole on teh edge near the breech, and using the follower as a guide. Pull down on the follower slightly, load a dart. Pull down a bit more, load a dart. Lather/rinse/repeat. Boltsniper used a similar system on the BS-9, but a 3 dart capacity meant that there wasn't enough space for them to go perpendicular.

Looking forward to seeing where this goes in the future.

[hereticorp]

I think your discovery that that AR springs supply a decent amount of force is the main attraction in this design. As far as keeping them from going perpendicular when loading from the slot: good luck. Stefans are inconsistent enough that it's difficult without any kind of guide. You might be better off putting a loading hole on teh edge near the breech, and using the follower as a guide. Pull down on the follower slightly, load a dart. Pull down a bit more, load a dart. Lather/rinse/repeat. Boltsniper used a similar system on the BS-9, but a 3 dart capacity meant that there wasn't enough space for them to go perpendicular.

Looking forward to seeing where this goes in the future.

Personally, the problem could be solved by leaving the back off the clip entirely, load the darts in from there and let the follower do the work of keeping them in place in the mag.

You don't really need all four walls to keep the darts in the mag, the top pressure is enough, and even if you just leave a small lip on the bottom to keep them from sliding backwards with the breech action.

I'm working on a design that will utilize both LS mags and some home made mags with the rear loading design. The KNEX aspect of the design in this post gave me a good idea of how to make the follower work without a lot of trouble.

[TantumBull]

Thanks, guys, but I must say this: I don't like the idea of taking credit for things that aren't entirely mine, and I now realize I forgot to include this in the write-up, as it was really late when I wrote it. I saw a picture on these forums a while back, when I was validating, and browsed this place 24/7. It was of a cassette holder clip (I think Renegade started those) that utilized a k'nex follower, powered by AR springs. I simply transferred that idea to the deodorant clip. I'll try to find that picture.

Anyhow, Carbon, I'll definitely take a closer look at some of BS's magazine designs. And glad to help with your follower issue, hereticorp.

[TantumBull]

Updated with Video! Feel free to comment! Comment! Also, it isn't always as crappy as it was in the video. I'm glad the clip crapped out on me, though, as it shows its potential suckiness. When it works, it works great, but the trade off is a couple of bad runs. Not worth the risk in a war situation.

Edited by TantumBull, 16 February 2009 - 02:18 AM.