37 replies to this topic

[cheesypiza001]

The "Dart Door" allows darts to be fed into the back of the RSCB clip without opening and closing something, or taking off and putting on an endcap. This greatly decreases reload time.

(Note: There are a LOT of pictures)



UPDATE:

VIDEO


The V2 is basically the same but it's less bulky and much cleaner. I dremeled off the ugly outer lip of the washer that can be seen in the last 3 pictures.












1. Get this stuff. I got mine at Home Depot. It's basically just a neoprene sheet (1/16").





(Size comparison with a quarter)




2. Cut a small piece of 1/2" PVC and hot glue it to the rubber sheet. Then trace around it with a sharp Exacto knife. However, leave a bit of space on one side so that there is room to screw it in place later on.




3. Take some scissors and clean it up a bit.




4. Take a plastic washer that has an ID of a bit more than 1/2" and an OD of a bit more than the OD of a 1/2" coupler. Drill a hole through the side with a 1/16" bit.



5. Hold the washer with the flap placed on it up to a light and center the flap. Then take a sharp pencil, and mark on the flap where the hole is.




6. Drill a hole through the flap with the same 1/16" bit.




7. Find yourself a really small screw (size comparison:)



...and screw it through both the flap and the washer. It shouldn't penetrate past the end of the washer.




8. Make sure it's centered then move onto the next step.

Edited by cheesypiza001, 02 May 2010 - 05:56 PM.

[cheesypiza001]

9. Go back to the original cutout and trace around the plastic washer with a pencil. Then cut it out with an Exacto knife. Remember to clean it up after with a pair of scissors. This piece will be known as the "C" from this point on.






10. Hot glue the "C" onto the washer and around the flap. Make sure to leave a tiny bit of space though so that the flap can move easily.




11. Apply hot glue to the "C" and then put that onto the back of the 1/2" PVC coupler. Make sure to then apply hot glue all the way around the outside of the surrounding rubber to seal it off against the coupler.




12. Spray some silicone lubricant on the flap.



Here are some pictures of it mounted on my L+L:






Feel free to post any questions, comments, or suggestions. Thanks for looking.



If anyone happens to have any transparent 1/2" PVC "Ts", elbows, and PVC, please PM me. And no...I don't want to buy them.

Edited by cheesypiza001, 24 April 2010 - 08:56 PM.

[Airsoftguy777]

So it is like one of the swinging check valve things?

[cheesypiza001]

Airsoftguy777, on Apr 14 2010, 12:44 PM, said:

So it is like one of the swinging check valve things?

Yep. Like you put it, it's essentially just a check valve that allows darts to pass through one end.

[Coal Ten]

I'm pretty sure Zorn mentioned using flap-type check valves on hopper clips and such in some other thread, but this looks to be just as effective and is more readily available (possibly cheaper too?). I need to pick up some rubber sheets the next time I stop at a hardware store.

[Hi Yah]

So, basically it's a doggie door for darts? Nice job.

[Fredo]

That's awesome. Are you having any air escaping through the flap though?

[cheesypiza001]

Coal Ten, on Apr 14 2010, 12:59 PM, said:

I'm pretty sure Zorn mentioned using flap-type check valves on hopper clips and such in some other thread, but this looks to be just as effective and is more readily available (possibly cheaper too?). I need to pick up some rubber sheets the next time I stop at a hardware store.

Like you said, I wanted to build something that was cheap and easy to replicate.

Hi Yah!, on Apr 14 2010, 01:27 PM, said:

So, basically it's a doggie door for darts? Nice job.

Haha, yep.

Fredo, on Apr 14 2010, 01:33 PM, said:

That's awesome. Are you having any air escaping through the flap though?

Surprisingly not.

[LotusNerf]

I'm going to have to make one of these. They are so efficient in the way that you just have to pop darts in them, without having to take anything off or twisting a ball valve. Keep up the work Cheezy!

-Lotus

[Hipponater]

Wow, very clever.

I like the idea, and since it's on a coupler, you can just take it off and switch it to any RSCB or even a hopper clip. I'm totally going to have my brother make a few of these. Great write up and an excellent idea.

Edit: Any issues with it sealing? It looks to be open toward the inside slightly, not sure if it's just the angle though. It shouldn't be much of an issue, just curious if could get 'worn out' or anything

Edited by Hipponater, 14 April 2010 - 05:16 PM.

[cheesypiza001]

LotusNerf, on Apr 14 2010, 01:53 PM, said:

I'm going to have to make one of these. They are so efficient in the way that you just have to pop darts in them, without having to take anything off or twisting a ball valve. Keep up the work Cheezy!

-Lotus

Thanks.

Hipponater, on Apr 14 2010, 02:09 PM, said:

Wow, very clever.

I like the idea, and since it's on a coupler, you can just take it off and switch it to any RSCB or even a hopper clip. I'm totally going to have my brother make a few of these. Great write up and an excellent idea.

Edit: Any issues with it sealing? It looks to be open toward the inside slightly, not sure if it's just the angle though. It shouldn't be much of an issue, just curious if could get 'worn out' or anything

Like I said a few posts up, no air escapes through the flap. There is a slight inward angle to the flap, though it get pushed right back up against the washer upon firing.

[JATDO]

This makes me happy. And chance you could help me make one?

But seriously, this is really cool. Your L+L is going to diddle. The reload time is now like +5 and the accuracy is like 14 and the range is like 17!!1!!!1!!

Edited by JATDO, 14 April 2010 - 05:56 PM.

[cheesypiza001]

JATDO, on Apr 14 2010, 02:55 PM, said:

This makes me happy. And chance you could help me make one?

But seriously, this is really cool. Your L+L is going to diddle. The reload time is now like +5 and the accuracy is like 14 and the range is like 17!!1!!!1!!

I have a few more improvements to make to my L+L, each of which should hopefully kick those numbers up a bit.

[Broderick]

Right as I'm about to go outside and finish up an RSCB'd 3k I see this... haha. This is really inventive though, it seems like it'd work just fine; To be honest, I doubt that there would be much air escape. My only question is how much force do you need to put on the flap to get it to lift up enough to slide the darts in? I'm just asking to see if your darts bend at all when entering, since my foam is a lot less dense than most and bends quite easily.
Edit: Nice L+L by the way... I like the wooden grip and the nitefinder pull handle.

Edited by Broderick, 14 April 2010 - 06:55 PM.

[cheesypiza001]

Broderick, on Apr 14 2010, 03:53 PM, said:

Right as I'm about to go outside and finish up an RSCB'd 3k I see this... haha. This is really inventive though, it seems like it'd work just fine; To be honest, I doubt that there would be much air escape. My only question is how much force do you need to put on the flap to get it to lift up enough to slide the darts in? I'm just asking to see if your darts bend at all when entering, since my foam is a lot less dense than most and bends quite easily.
Edit: Nice L+L by the way... I like the wooden grip and the nitefinder pull handle.

Thanks for the compliments. I use 1.5" frost king darts with this blaster and they don't bend at all. Unless you were using 2.5" darts, I don't think the darts would bend at all really even if the foam is not very dense. Very little force is needed to move the flap.

[utahnerf]

This looks like it works great, nice idea. Also, if someone fears air escaping, they could make a double flap, so if the first flap lets air escape, the second won't.

[zaphodB]

This is a fucking fantastic idea, the sort of thinking that really moves the hobby forward. I really hope this gets the recognition it deserves.

[Daniel Beaver]

Yessss.... someone finally did this. I've been using a swing-valve on my clips for awhile, but this is a much more elegant solution. Swing valves squish darts, since they have overly-strong springs.

[TantumBull]

Good work as usual, Cheesy. My only concern would be air escaping on a rscb'd air gun using a tight barrel. I think the next step here is to make the valve open inward, which would prevent pressure differences from opening it and would also lead to a more natural load. I actually may do that with your design, just inverted.

[nisaburo]

TantumBull, on Apr 15 2010, 08:36 AM, said:

Good work as usual, Cheesy. My only concern would be air escaping on a rscb'd air gun using a tight barrel. I think the next step here is to make the valve open inward, which would prevent pressure differences from opening it and would also lead to a more natural load. I actually may do that with your design, just inverted.

Unless I am completely misreading the pictures, it does open in to the RSCB so it seals from the air entering the clip. The Rubber "C" is glued to the coupler, while the flap is not. Gasket flap can move when you force a dart through the hole in the washer.

This is really great and makes RSCB clipped blasters even more dangerous as they can now be reloaded on the fly with basically no fear of being caught during loading.

[ahtanie]

Damn, I can't wait to try this.

[cheesypiza001]

utahnerf, on Apr 14 2010, 08:47 PM, said:

This looks like it works great, nice idea. Also, if someone fears air escaping, they could make a double flap, so if the first flap lets air escape, the second won't.

The air doesn't escape at all really so I don't think they would have to worry about it.

zaphodB, on Apr 14 2010, 10:57 PM, said:

This is a fucking fantastic idea, the sort of thinking that really moves the hobby forward. I really hope this gets the recognition it deserves.

Thanks.

Daniel Beaver, on Apr 15 2010, 06:31 AM, said:

Yessss.... someone finally did this. I've been using a swing-valve on my clips for awhile, but this is a much more elegant solution. Swing valves squish darts, since they have overly-strong springs.

I assume you could just replace the spring used in the other valves (is it a torsion spring?) with a weaker one, but I may be wrong because I have never seen one in person.

nisaburo, on Apr 15 2010, 07:48 AM, said:

TantumBull, on Apr 15 2010, 08:36 AM, said:

Good work as usual, Cheesy. My only concern would be air escaping on a rscb'd air gun using a tight barrel. I think the next step here is to make the valve open inward, which would prevent pressure differences from opening it and would also lead to a more natural load. I actually may do that with your design, just inverted.

Unless I am completely misreading the pictures, it does open in to the RSCB so it seals from the air entering the clip. The Rubber "C" is glued to the coupler, while the flap is not. Gasket flap can move when you force a dart through the hole in the washer.

This is really great and makes RSCB clipped blasters even more dangerous as they can now be reloaded on the fly with basically no fear of being caught during loading.

Thanks for explaining it nisaburo.

TantumBull, on Apr 15 2010, 07:36 AM, said:

Good work as usual, Cheesy. My only concern would be air escaping on a rscb'd air gun using a tight barrel. I think the next step here is to make the valve open inward, which would prevent pressure differences from opening it and would also lead to a more natural load. I actually may do that with your design, just inverted.

Like nisaburo said, I think you misunderstood the design. I'm pretty sure the dart door is exactly what you're describing. I am currently using a 6 inch barrel with frost king darts which have a somewhat tight fit in the barrel. In addition, a higher pressure would seal off the opening even more than a lower pressure would.

ahtanie, on Apr 15 2010, 08:08 AM, said:

Damn, I can't wait to try

Thanks.

Edited by cheesypiza001, 15 April 2010 - 11:40 AM.

[Fome]

This is super innovative.

I'm curious though, is the rubber "C" really necessary?

[Daniel Beaver]

cheesypiza001, on Apr 15 2010, 11:33 AM, said:

Daniel Beaver, on Apr 15 2010, 06:31 AM, said:

Yessss.... someone finally did this. I've been using a swing-valve on my clips for awhile, but this is a much more elegant solution. Swing valves squish darts, since they have overly-strong springs.

I assume you could just replace the spring used in the other valves (is it a torsion spring?) with a weaker one, but I may be wrong because I have never seen one in person.

These are the swing valves I'm talking about.

You could replace the torsion spring, but you would have to cut the valve housing in half to get at it. The valve doors themselves are fairly heavy, so I think the spring is about as strong as it needs to be for the valve to function. They also aren't very airtight; they're meant to stop water backflow, and in practice are only so-so for this application. Methinks your solution is more practical.

[cheesypiza001]

Fome, on Apr 15 2010, 08:45 AM, said:

This is super innovative.

I'm curious though, is the rubber "C" really necessary?

Yes. Without it, the washer would be tiled outwards. The top of the flap is screwed in at the top of the washer. Because of this, the "C" must be added to make everything come to the same level. I hope this explains it.

Daniel Beaver, on Apr 15 2010, 08:56 AM, said:

cheesypiza001, on Apr 15 2010, 11:33 AM, said:

Daniel Beaver, on Apr 15 2010, 06:31 AM, said:

Yessss.... someone finally did this. I've been using a swing-valve on my clips for awhile, but this is a much more elegant solution. Swing valves squish darts, since they have overly-strong springs.

I assume you could just replace the spring used in the other valves (is it a torsion spring?) with a weaker one, but I may be wrong because I have never seen one in person.

These are the swing valves I'm talking about.

You could replace the torsion spring, but you would have to cut the valve housing in half to get at it. The valve doors themselves are fairly heavy, so I think the spring is about as strong as it needs to be for the valve to function. They also aren't very airtight; they're meant to stop water backflow, and in practice are only so-so for this application. Methinks your solution is more practical.

Thanks for clearing that up. The Dart Door seems to be more efficient and economic.



On another note, if anyone happens to have any transparent 1/2" PVC "Ts", elbows, and PVC, please PM me. And no...I don't want to buy them.

Edited by cheesypiza001, 15 April 2010 - 12:17 PM.