11 replies to this topic

[shadowblue42]

how about making some kind of mold to pour melted rubber into

similar rubber to stock dart heads

mold would make maybe 50 dart heads at a time that you would then hotglue onto FBR segments

i know most people here use BB or washer stefans but I personally dont like the metal bits

as for the design of the dart heads, i think something like streamlines would be best but there would have to be some way for them to not swerve/fishtail off target

in my expiereince the most accurate stock darts are

mini suction- not available anymore, came with the original blue+orange nite-finders
regular suction
tagger
sonic tagger ( the ones with new 2011 Dart tag blasters whistle )
sonic
streamline/clip system


i think maybe a hollow Dome shape would be best but may need aditional weight like a rubber plug T shape with a dome on top of it


i dont know how hard it is to get what you need to melt / inject rubber into a mold, but i figure once you have the equipment it would be cheap and easy to make very uniform darts

[taerKitty]

You can't get rubber to a melting point w/o it burning.

[Kid Flash]

You could use the silicone type of material found in wristbands... But I can't see it being worth the effort (for me at least) to make it. Taerkitty is the guy you want to talk to about molds and darts. He's been through it all (or at least most of it).

[utahnerf]

Or silicone glue.

[mysterio]

I was browsing on Nrev, and found this. I'm pretty sure its what your looking for.

[shadowblue42]

I was browsing on Nrev, and found this. I'm pretty sure its what your looking for.

ah yes exactly, i was thinking of using some kind of caulk.

thanks

[shmmee]

I was browsing on Nrev, and found this. I'm pretty sure its what your looking for.

ah yes exactly, i was thinking of using some kind of caulk.

thanks

Thanks for taking interest. If you try them, make special note to read, and re-read the part that discusses what silicone caulks work, and which do not. (If it reeks like vinegar and has a bunch of warning labels - that's the stuff. GE II brand silicone will not work.)

They're still in the developmental phase. I need to expand the mold to do only blunt heads (heavier and easier to extract) and make up another batch. If you're interested, pm me your address, I'll send you some to experiment with- if you let me know how they work for you (comparative ranges, flight chararistics...) I think they fit exactly what you're looking for - no metal weights, and soft enough to actually bounce when dropped on a hard surface from a few inches (the silicone has more give than rubber, and far more give than hot glue.) and is easily mass producible. (making a mold is as easy as drilling a polyethylene cutting board with a counter sink at carefully repeated depths) Filling the mold is as simple as mixing caulk and corn starch and mooshing it into the holes.

It's about 3-4 hours to full cure, (depending on how much corn starch you add) and the ONLY glue I could find that bonds to silicone is "liquid nails small projects silicone adhesive" (blue and gold toothpaste type tube pictured in the post - not the liquid nails caulk tube; though I haven't tried the caulk tube...) which has a 6 hr set time, 16 hr full cure time. So you won't be able to fab up a bunch of darts the morning of a war and expect them to be set in time. If you find anything better - please for the love of Nerf let me know!!

Once I feel confidant enough in their performance to defend the concept, I'll post it here. Things have just been to crazy to do even the slightest bit of testing with them.

[taerKitty]

Once I feel confidant enough in their performance to defend the concept, I'll post it here. Things have just been to crazy to do even the slightest bit of testing with them.

You make it sound like a dissertation or something.

On the topic of adhesives, OzNerfers have CADded up a replacement Streamline tip and sent it out for a mass-order fabrication. It's made of silicone rubber, which is also very difficult to glue to foam. They report good luck with high-quality super-glue, but no luck with the cheap stuff. Mind you, their tips have a stem, so that greatly increases the surface area.

On another tack, I stumbled upon a site named Smooth-on that specializes in various silicone-based mold mixes, both to create the mold and to use as the casting material. They have a special page dedicated to adhesives and may have some solutions.

From a cursory reading their Sili-Epoxy looks very good for the choice, but at $27 for a 3 oz tube, it may not be worth it.

[Draconis]

On the topic of adhesives, OzNerfers have CADded up a replacement Streamline tip and sent it out for a mass-order fabrication. It's made of silicone rubber, which is also very difficult to glue to foam. They report good luck with high-quality super-glue, but no luck with the cheap stuff. Mind you, their tips have a stem, so that greatly increases the surface area.

I think you had a good idea with the threaded stems, and I think that would work for silicone as well. It would certainly provide enough surface area for adhesion.

[Darksircam]

I've had success with making molds with plastic bags and really anything made from polyethylene, and silicone doesn't stick to metal either. Used GE Silicone I.
The less cornstarch the better - I mixed my oogoo unevenly and the parts with less cornstarch are squishier. You don't need a 1:1 ratio to get it to cure quickly, haven't tested how low you can go before cure time is impractical.

Anyone try a wider head using 1/2" PVC or similar as the mold? You could then stick the foam in before it cures, and it'd be more stable overall. It wouldn't be a replacement for micro stefans, but suffice as a stock dart substitute. Even if the silicone doesn't grip, you can just stick a dab of glue inside and insert foam into the hole.

[CA13]

hot dogs-.75" petg (heated,stretched to .8-.85") (all-beef franks like Ball Park, ideally frozen)
kielbasa/larger brats-1.75" pvc (RSCB possible, in all types of cooked except boiled, also watch out for grease (it slightly dissolves PVC))
bangers-2" PVC (cracker meal 70% by weight=most durable, RSCB possible)
hope this helps

[VACC]

I missed this one entirely. Either try these darts out or keep it to yourself. We are not your personal R&D team.