53 replies to this topic

[shmmee]

Drilled out some more holes and made another batch of about 30 darts.
Is everyone using a paint stir stick to poke the oogoo into the holes? I prefer using my fingers... or if possible, a plastic-coated wooden rod about the same diameter as the tip diameter. Makes sure you get the oogoo all the way in, and it's pretty quick. Then smear some more over and repeat.

The amount of cornstarch may also affect the smell... if it acts as a catalyst, more vinegar smell is generated, and it's generated faster.

Edit: On felt: You should be looking for felt that does NOT fall apart easily - fluffy felt makes bumpy/unbalanced dart heads.

Darksircam: Thanks for helping to keep this concept alive!

With a solid piece form I did have some difficulty getting the air pockets out, and the form filled, about 1 of 20 heads were defective because of that. With a 2 piece form - It's much easier because air can escape between the boards as oogoo is pushed in.

The instructables site suggests wrapping anything you want to use as a spatula in "Gorilla tape" (gorilla [same brand as gorilla glue]brand duct tape. Cured oogoo will peel off easily from that stuff.

My experiment of "outsourcing" dart production to my sister is going well. She's had a 1 or 2 batch learning curve (first batch the backing felt wasn't pressed into the oogoo enough, so there was a poor bond to the felt), But I'm now confidant that anyone with a form and the patience can make these.

I've slapped a PTEG'd 7.5" RF20 turret onto a big salvo. I don't know what ranges are compared to slugs, but the 20 shots I took (minus the few from a belligerent tank) averaged 75'. The max was 99, min was 54'. That is a pretty big spread, not sure why, though I suspect turret seal issues. I don't know how slugs would compare, but I'm at least hitting war worthy ranges with these darts.

[aj1234119]

I decided to try my hand at making these myself, and i took some ranges for those wondering. My tips were 15/32 by a little more than 1/4, drilled with a regular 15/32 drill bit, so they had rounded ends.

Here are my ranges:

All shots were taken from a spring replaced, coupled Night Finder with a 4" cpvc barrel. I used Mcmaster foam that fits cpvc well. The coupler was glued in slightly up so the ranges may be a little high, but the shots were taken level. It was also a perfect temperature and humidity for shooting.

Slugs: 58', 61', 66'

Glue Domes: 55' (must have had a bad fit or something), 70', 75'

Gumdrop Darts: 70', 70', 71', 72', 74', 2 went under my trampoline which is at 77'

Hopper feeding sucked as expected, with roughly 1 in every 4-5 not firing. I shot 1 dart at a concrete wall with my angel breeched Long shot (stock and recon springs, great seal, 8'' 17/32 barrel in the 9/16) to test durability, and it took 5 shots for the foam to break off from the felt, the dart head was fine.

Tommorow I'm going to make some 7/16 by 5/16 heads and see which do better, because the 15/32 heads touch the walls of cpvc and cause friction. I'll post the results after I finish testing.

Keep in mind that these were drilled with just a hand drill and patience. As this was my 1st time making these and I randomly took some of the darts to use for my range test, a few had small imperfections or were tilted slightly due to my poor drilling skills, which resulted in friction in the barrel and a lower range, as well as (probably) a lower hopper feed rate. If someone made these 15/32 forms with a drill press, I would expect the darts to all land in the upper ranges of my range test. In fact, I will put a thread up in the trading forum because I'm sure this isn't the right place but if someone with a drill press would be willing to make a mould like I did (15/32 by 1/4, with a regular 15/32 drill bit) I would buy one from them.

Edited by aj1234119, 27 June 2011 - 09:06 PM.

[Darksircam]

The foam separation is expected - should be similar or worse results with slugs.

Used a hand drill for mine as well, with a 7/16" drill bit there's more margin for error.
Yours weren't felted, right? Surprised they still actually fed decently.

[aj1234119]

I Did some more testing today, 7/16 darts are in my opinion better than 15/32 because there is more margin for error. I found 5/16 to be the best height for the heads, because any shorter and they fishtail out of high powered blasters, and if they are much longer they can touch the inside of the barrel if they are even a little crooked. You could probably make them 3/8 without having a problem with barrel friction (and the 3/8 darts go further if made properly) but 5/16 seems good for me. My heads are rounded tips to increase aerodynamics (not sure if it matters much) and are not felted. I believe Shmmee said even with felt there was a 1/10 chance of a jam in hoppers, so I'd rather just make half slugs, half these.