45 replies to this topic

[Draconis]

I've gotten regular streamlines to fire out of a hoppered +plus bow (8.5 inch 17/32" brass barrel), so I doubt any foam cutting would be required.

Is that better than a regular +Bow?

[utahnerf]

Is that better than a regular +Bow?

+++Bow is teh winrar.

Also, FU-BJ, is there a write up on how to make these yet? I would be very interested in knowing how. Are they made out of 100% silicone caulk?

[238232]

Not FU-BJ, but these are factory made (I presume in China). Inf0rm3r drew up the design and commissioned a run of them, MOQ was 25,000.

[Darksircam]

Huh. Anyone in the US making/made an order? Seems like Kane was doing an order, but no news on that...

Holding off on buying sample packs at the moment - I have faith in the quality of this stuff and shipping's not really worth it, and just waiting on some way to get coloured foam.

Edited by Darksircam, 03 June 2011 - 10:24 PM.

[Demon Lord]

Kane was in talk about ordering them, not putting in an order though.
I got my sample pack a while ago and got around to making a couple of the darts which (using the full length foam) did NOT fire out of my hoppered +bow at all.

[inf0rm3r]

@ Dark Sir Cam

I have been giving some pretty flash pricing on it and absorbing the shipping altogether I've already cut two orders of 200M each.

Here's the deal I'm doing.

200M of Foam @ 0.50c per metre or 15.2 cents per foot, this is much lower than the selling price here purely because I need to move a lot of this stuff.

Shipping that box is $42.10

So if you add that up it equates to $142.10

this means your buying foam at 0.71c per Meter OR 0.216 cents per metre. From looking at other sales thread this is darn cheap considering what some of people are selling FBR on this forum for. Not to mention this stuff is just about the best material in a number of applications.

I have offered some crazy deals on the tips direct to people's door but no one is willing to fork out for 10,000 yet. Tips for 6.5-7 cents to your doorstep is darn cheap considering the performance and speed you can make these darts at. I mean I can crack 1,000 in an hour sure I work like an asian but it's not hard.

I am flexible talk to me, I started this project with the aim of making the sport safer here and everywhere else so we can keep playing without causing trouble with police and authorities, sure I make a little on the side but it's nowhere near enough for me to live off it pays for my blasters to be modded and the events I put on here so I don't mind if I'm selling close to my cost.

In your hoppers and thing's have you tried cutting them down, it may waste a little but it's still very cost effective and time effective to a lot of other methods even with a little waste. I'm trying to gather interest again on 1M lengths for my next order so if enough people register enough interest I can order it.

@ utahnerf

In regards to how to make them there is the video on you tube which gives you the general idea.

The heavy tips are silicone with a rubber compound to generate weight and to enable the use of super glue as a cost effective adhesive.

The lite tips I've just brought in aimed at more stock players are 100% silicone so the adhesive used is dow corning silastic 732 or 734 flowable. The 732 is cheap at around $8.00AUD and is a 310ML package so you can do a lot of darts with it.

If you have any questions feel free to forward them to sales@foam-sports.com I answer questions there pretty quickly as I check it once a day

Edited by inf0rm3r, 04 June 2011 - 06:22 AM.

[Ryan201821]

The reason we've been holding back (maybe others) on ordering a bunch of these is because everyone who I've heard from have said that they are very hard, like glue domes.

From those same people I've heard reports that they've worked in hoppers, and other reports where people can't get them to feed. Making the stem shorter seems like a good compromise, but it could be the surface of the tips themselves.

Is there anyway you could make these out of a softer material? If so, then we'd definitely be more interested.

[Darksircam]

Hm. I'm looking for the blue foam more than the tips, but 200m is too much for me to use. If anyone else is interested in getting foam, I would buy 50 metres. Which I would then make silicone heads for.

Fairly certain that the tips are what cause feeding problem in hoppers - same issue with streamlines and silicone heads.

[inf0rm3r]

@ ryan

The heavy tips are quiet hard this is to generate the weight, it's basically a silicone rubber compound, it's the only way to generate such a weight in such a small area, they hurt nowhere near as much as glue domes and aren't quite as hard, using a rubber compound also gives you the ability to use super glue as an adhesive which is way cheaper than hot glue.

If you want something softer we have lite tips basically a 1.0g (1.2g with foam) weight in the same shape, it's 100% silicone and much softer. You'll find when you fire these they actually bounce of things pretty crazy. The only downside to using 100% silicone is you have to use a silastic glue (dow corning 734, flowable) works best which costs about $20.00 for roughly 1,000 darts worth. I'm currently testing 732 which only costs around $8.00 for the same volume tube but it isn't flowable so I'm not sure whether it will bond correctly on the foams end.

I always thought the length of the foam was the only thing affecting the hoppers, I will try and make an aussie hopper to trial some on and check out what exactly is causing the issue and gain some more understanding on how the tips can affect it.

If it does come down to it being the tips I can easily customize the design to suit what everyone needs if you have ideas throw them at me I'm easy to work with

[mintee]

Hey inf0rm3r, I never got a reply to my second email, so I'll ask you here.

At NUV I've got a tentative order of 175m worth of foam, 2800 LITESILTIPs (175m * 16 darts = 2800) and as much 734 glue needed to make those 2800 darts.

If shipping to Vancouver, Canada is more expensive than shipping to United States, I have a P.O. Box in Blaine, Washington that you can send it to.

Please let me know if you can do this order, and how much it'll come down to so I can send the payment.

[inf0rm3r]

Hey Martin

Just e-mailed you this morning about it

[Ryan201821]

So DemonLord came over last week before I left town, with some of the silicone tips. I tested them out yesterday, making some 3cm darts. They in fact, do not feed through hoppers. Tried cutting down the stem, still doesn't feed. When I took off the barrel to see where they were getting caught, I noticed the tip was getting stuck against the bottom of the wye. Sadly, it doesn't look like these will work.

[mysterio]

I'm pretty sure that they have the same problem as oogoo darts, too much friction between the dart head and the PVC.

[Bbdude]

Have you tried doing the modifications that SGNerf did to his dart heads? He cut them down to change weight and he glued the felt pads on top for padding. Don't felt pads feed into hoppers well? I'm not 100% sure since I've never used a hopper.

[Ryan201821]

Have you tried doing the modifications that SGNerf did to his dart heads? He cut them down to change weight and he glued the felt pads on top for padding. Don't felt pads feed into hoppers well? I'm not 100% sure since I've never used a hopper.

They do in fact work with a felt pad on top. I'm 100% sure the friction between the dart tip and the wye are what's causing it to not feed at all. The length of the stem might end up giving it problems as well, but I don't have enough tips to really test that thoroughly.

[Phree Agent]

Have you tried doing the modifications that SGNerf did to his dart heads? He cut them down to change weight and he glued the felt pads on top for padding. Don't felt pads feed into hoppers well? I'm not 100% sure since I've never used a hopper.

To me, modding these heads defeats the purpose of manufacturing them. I see these heads as a premade dart tip that can just be slapped on some foam and called a dart, but I guess if that is what it is going to take to work in a hopper, then so be it.

[inf0rm3r]

Good to see some replies as to why these aren't working in hoppers.

I can easily manufacture something more flat or even perhaps a weight internal to the dart, if the only issue is the Heavies friction generated because of the rubber compound then that's easily overcame. Has anyone tried the Lite tips, these are far smoother. I can sample to any who are interested cost free.

[Ryan201821]

Good to see some replies as to why these aren't working in hoppers.

I can easily manufacture something more flat or even perhaps a weight internal to the dart, if the only issue is the Heavies friction generated because of the rubber compound then that's easily overcame. Has anyone tried the Lite tips, these are far smoother. I can sample to any who are interested cost free.

If you're talking about the snap caps, those are way too hard. Even harder than hot glue.

[Bbdude]

He's talking about Lite Silicone tips. The are 100% silicone and are actually softer and lighter. I'm gonna be getting a sample soon to test.

[SgNerf]

Perhaps i can add on my experience with the silicone tips... i've been using them with beige FBR in the usual 1.5" stefan lengths with hopper clips, and they have been working quite nicely so far with no loading or chambering issues (i'm using the Spears brand 1/2" wyes and 1/2" SCH 40 clear PVC pipes with nested PETG barrels, so it should be a common hopper configuration).

The dart versions i make for hopper use are basically just the full silicone tip domes with their tail stalks cut off and then glued directly onto the flat surface of cut FBR.

I think the reason why they could work in my hopper clip is because the edges of my barrel feed entrance and insides of the wye were sanded down until very smooth, so there is much lower chance for any tips getting caught or stuck. I guess the silicone tips probably just require a smoother hopper setup to work properly, than compared to felt tipped slugs.

Edited by SgNerf, 19 June 2011 - 11:51 PM.

[inf0rm3r]

Just some updates on the video tutorials on how to make these and some more information into them.



There's also this one for the Stinger darts, I couldn't embed because of the restrictions on my account.

v=p0uwYu_BGq8

Edited by inf0rm3r, 18 August 2011 - 09:42 AM.