603 replies to this topic

[ModSquad]

Here is a little "tool" (more like a doo dad) I made as a dart length guide and a way to cut a square edge. Here is a little write up to make one. (If this breaks any rules please tell me) So here goes.
_______________________________________________________________________

First you want to mark the length of the dart you want to make on a piece of CPVC for 1/2" foam, 1/2" Sch. 40 PVC for 5/8" foam, and 1" Sch. 40 PVC for 1" foam. In my case 1.5" on a piece of CPVC.

After that use your desired cutting method to cut your piece of pipe. I used pipe shears, but a hacksaw or tubing cutters* would work just as well. (*the one that looks like a clamp)

After that use a pocket knife to ream out one end of your pipe.
Before

After

After that is done ream out the other end. (not pictured) and label it so you don't mix it up with other scraps of CPVC.


Now you have a finished "Dart Guide". You put your foam in the most reamed end and push it until it is flush with the other end. Once you do that you just cut the foam so it is flush with the end you put the foam in and then you push/pull it out. I am giving these away with scatter shells. They will be 1.5" long and made out of CPVC. If you want a different size just tell me the length and the material you want with your order.
I am GIVING THESE AWAY here.

Edited by ModSquad, 20 June 2010 - 09:54 PM.

[minsc]

NO WAI!!! Please send me 1.5 inches of CPVC fo' FREE. It is clearly beyond my means to craft such an artifact.

[Limacon]

Has anyone tried Mcmaster part #8213K4 for slug darts?

They are adhesive backed 1/8" tall, 1/2" diameter polyolefin foam discs.

[Split]

They're like, 5 times the cost. (Speculative) benefits seem minimal; try them out and tell us how they work. As far as I know, no one has tried them, though others have tried things from that page.

[TheRedRanger]

My hot glue gun is a crappy low-temp one that you have to unplug every 15 minutesor so so that it doesn't overheat. It is almost impossible to craft reliable stefans with it, and so I went looking for alternative ways to make consistent, reliable darts. This is what I came up with:



I started by cutting the head off of a streamline dart and taping it (bad idea) to the bottom of a plastic container. Then I took some plaster and filled the container. Once it was dry I removed the container and had a perfect cast of the streamline head. (This did not work out exactly as planned, because the tape came unstuck and the plaster filled in around the streamline tip, so I had to chip it out.) After that I lubed up the newly-created mold, filled it with hot glue, stuck a weight in it, and added my foam.



Pros: fly straighter than my regular stefans, require minimal skill to reproduce uniformly

Cons: use more hot glue than traditional stefan domes (more expensive)


This is only a proof-of-concept; more testing is required to determine how effective this method is compared to other types of darts.

[taerKitty]

(Edited to save screen real estate)

After that I lubed up the newly-created mold, filled it with hot glue, stuck a weight in it, and added my foam.

Pros: fly straighter than my regular stefans, require minimal skill to reproduce uniformly

Cons: use more hot glue than traditional stefan domes (more expensive)

This is only a proof-of-concept; more testing is required to determine how effective this method is compared to other types of darts.

Great minds think alike. Or at least ones frustrated by trying to make decent darts. Or, to put it another way, your proof-of-concept definitely works.

A few thoughts:

• You may want to drop the weight after filling your mold with glue, else you'll be hitting your target with almost-unpadded metal.
  
  
• Instead of a BB, if you use a #8 washer, you will likely be able to keep it just on top of the mold.
  
  
• If you have a flexible mold, you'll have a much easier time getting the darts out. For example, the people who make Splats also make a version that shoots hollow rubber spheres. Said spheres can be cut in half, filled with hot glue, etc.
  
  
• I've found that these domed darts fly better than straight slugs. Once the head is cast (and trimmed, because it's nearly impossible to eyeball the right amount of glue, so there's always a bit of 'flash' around the mold) they're as easy to affix to the foam blank as a standard slug head.
  
  
• To trim off the aforementioned 'flash', I've found that running the edge of the dart along the side of the glue gun nozzle works well. Note, this works only if you have a glue gun with an exposed metal nozzle. Cheapie mini guns seem to always encase the nozzle in a bit of plastic.
  
  
• I've encountered some people online who doubt the safety of these darts. It's -always- up to your war organizer, whether or not you feel it safe.

Here's an example of my findings along the same avenue of investigation:

[TheRedRanger]

Thanks for the advice taerkitty.

You may want to drop the weight after filling your mold with glue, else you'll be hitting your target with almost-unpadded metal.


Instead of a BB, if you use a #8 washer, you will likely be able to keep it just on top of the mold.

-The mold is 1/4" deep, so adding a weight after filling the mold with glue leaves about 1/8" covering of hot glue on all sides-- plenty of padding. My concern with washers is that they are exposed around the edges, but they seem to work well for you

If you have a flexible mold, you'll have a much easier time getting the darts out. For example, the people who make Splats also make a version that shoots hollow rubber spheres. Said spheres can be cut in half, filled with hot glue, etc.

-If you put enough lube (I use ACE brand silicon grease) in the mold, the darts come out easily with a little bit of twisting. I have not made that many darts yet, but having to re-lube frequently might be a problem. The sphere trick is good to know, though.

I have been experimenting more with this since I took the pictures last night. I am hopefully going to make a better mold later this week, this time with more than one ?slot? so I can make multiple darts at one time. I forgot to mention this, but the added depth from having to chip through the plaster to get to the mold made it hard to gauge the amount of hot glue, and so most of the darts have come out slightly crooked.

Edited by TheRedRanger, 19 August 2010 - 04:27 PM.

[thedom21]

Has anyone tried these McMaster felt tips for slug darts and if so are they good cause they are sure cheap. The part number for it is 8771K22 and it is only $5.87 for a pack of 500. It these aren't good where can I buy felt tips in bulk?

Edited by thedom21, 29 August 2010 - 09:58 AM.

[debandgeek12]

Has anyone tried these McMaster felt tips for slug darts and if so are they good cause they are sure cheap. The part number for it is 8771K22 and it is only $5.87 for a pack of 500. It these aren't good where can I buy felt tips in bulk?

I'm pretty sure that those are the felt tips people already use normally.
Edit: Confirmed.

Edited by debandgeek12, 30 August 2010 - 11:21 AM.

[MavericK96]

I bought some FBR from Ace Hardware a long, long time ago (couple years at least), and it's sort of a dark grey color, nice density and excellent fit in stock blasters. Recently I bought some more Ace Hardware FBR, but this stuff is not nearly as quality. It's a lighter grey, less dense, and has a pretty crappy fit in stock blasters (too thin even after heating)

So, two questions:

1. What's the best source for FBR these days?

2. Is there any way to improve/fix the FBR I already have? i.e. make it thicker/more dense.

Here are some comparison pictures of the two Ace FBRs (most recent/crappy one on the right)

[HappyBurnination]

I bought some FBR from Ace Hardware a long, long time ago (couple years at least), and it's sort of a dark grey color, nice density and excellent fit in stock blasters. Recently I bought some more Ace Hardware FBR, but this stuff is not nearly as quality. It's a lighter grey, less dense, and has a pretty crappy fit in stock blasters (too thin even after heating)

So, two questions:

1. What's the best source for FBR these days?

2. Is there any way to improve/fix the FBR I already have? i.e. make it thicker/more dense.

Here are some comparison pictures of the two Ace FBRs (most recent/crappy one on the right)

That's very interesting, i got some FBR from Osh several months ago that was the same as the crappier version you have, but when i bought a pack of the same brand more recently it seemed to be the higher quality version you're talking about. It may just be inconsistency on the part of the manufacturer.

[MavericK96]

So in terms of good foam, would you guys recommend the Log Home white foam or the Mile High black foam? Which is better for stock blasters (i.e. no PVC or brass in anything, just stock barrels) ?

Thanks in advance.

[Inferno Falcon]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm going to be buying material for captain slug's washer/felt stefans, and wanted to know if I could buy the foam in incriments of something between 25' and 250'. Optimally I would like 100'.

Here is the link to the part in question.

Thanks!

[MavericK96]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm going to be buying material for captain slug's washer/felt stefans, and wanted to know if I could buy the foam in incriments of something between 25' and 250'. Optimally I would like 100'.

Here is the link to the part in question.

Thanks!

If you search for foam rod you can get it from there in 20' increments.

[Zorns Lemma]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm going to be buying material for captain slug's washer/felt stefans, and wanted to know if I could buy the foam in incriments of something between 25' and 250'. Optimally I would like 100'.

Here is the link to the part in question.

Thanks!

Here is what you want.

Same exact thing you linked to, but in 20' sections instead of 250' sections. I know you want it in 25'+, but is ordering 4x25' that much different from 5x20'?

[Inferno Falcon]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm going to be buying material for captain slug's washer/felt stefans, and wanted to know if I could buy the foam in incriments of something between 25' and 250'. Optimally I would like 100'.

Here is the link to the part in question.

Thanks!

Here is what you want.

Same exact thing you linked to, but in 20' sections instead of 250' sections. I know you want it in 25'+, but is ordering 4x25' that much different from 5x20'?

I can't thank you enough.

[MavericK96]

So I recently ordered and received 40' of LogHome's white FBR, and I have to say it's a night-and-day difference next to the Ace foam. It's got a much better diameter, way better density, and works great in stock blasters.

One note is that I did some testing with making slug darts (with the #8 washers and felt tips) and tried a couple of different lengths (2" darts vs. 2.5" darts) and, in clip system blasters anyway, the 2.5" darts work MUCH better. I'm guessing this is because the length of the dart is pushed farther back into the barrel, creating a better seal.

Also, I tried a couple darts burning a hole in the back of the dart, and some without the hole. I didn't see any noticeable difference in either distance or accuracy with or without the hole, so I'll probably do without since it's more work to make the holes as well.

EDIT: And in regards to adhesive, I tried this "Weld Bond" stuff that I found at Ace, but it's basically no better than Elmer's Glue, so I started using a tiny drop of hot glue instead. Works great.

Edited by MavericK96, 20 September 2010 - 09:28 PM.

[thedom21]

Okay so I got my stampede and it was what I expected out of the box. Then I decided to do an air restrictor removal and it was horrendously inaccurate. So I tried all of the other things to make streamlines more accurate but none of them worked. So I tried something a little different. I cut it off just below where the hole is like some people do and then I trimmed it so that those little flaps or whatever you want to call them were even with the outer rim. then I filled the space with hot glue but instead of leaving it a dome I wiped it on a piece of paper so the glue filled the center area and was flat not rounded. To my surprise it worked and improved the accuracy with the darts in my stampede and also in my modded crossfires and other guns.

Edited by thedom21, 27 September 2010 - 08:42 PM.

[VelveetaAvenger]

I made a new batch of megas yesterday. They turned out fairly unique, so I thought I would share.






I usually cut my blanks a bit neater then this, I was halfheartedly trying to make some longer ones to see how flywheel blasters do with mega darts, but that's not important.

I love slug darts and the fact that I haven't gone home bruised/bleeding from a war since last year, but I have to say that unless you're making a large order from McMaster, getting the parts sucks. $10 s&h for $5 of felt discs is not great. Plus, I've always preferred to use bb's over washers. They're cheaper, and have some other small advantages over washers in my opinion (The metal is fully enclosed, tips are even less likely to fall off, much more forgiving of crooked blanks and/or tight springer-fit barrels). I use 1bb in micros, 3bb in megas.

Anyways, to make a long story short, I wanted to make some slugs without ordering things off the internet. I've never had luck finding cheap felt discs in a hardware or craft store, so I thought I would try just using a bit of fbr covering the hot glue. I've seen this done on washer slug darts before on the site and I've used a couple that I've picked up from wars, but they were never that great. I didn't mind because I just needed something to shoot this weekend.

After a few test darts, it was apparent that using the same size fbr would not work for me at all. I think gluing the tips back on with the slightest angle at all causes the dart to scrunch up as it gets shot out the barrel. I had some that went off at 45 degree angles, and one that fishtailed so hard it hovered like a heilcopter for a second before falling down 5 feet in front of me.

Fortunately I had cut tips for a batch of micros at the same time, and combining them with the mega bodies works flawlessly. 1/2in is more then enough to cover up 3 bb's clustered together, and they fly true since the tips aren't getting caught on the sides of the barrel. I recommend using between 1/8th and 1/4 inch thickness for the tips, depending on how dense your foam is (in the pictures above, the tall ones are 1/4in, the short ones are 1/8 or so). I'll err on the thicker side next time I make a batch though. It doesn't seem to affect dart flight, and you might as well have more padding. I made regular micro sized darts using 3/8ths foam for the tip and they work most excellently.

Regular slug darts are great, but it's nice to have options that don't require ordering online. And from what I remember of prices (and math), bbs and foam tips should be less then a third the cost of ordering felt and washers from McMaster. I think felt/washers are about 500 of each for $11 (+S&H, which I didn't calculate for). The foam is $2.50 for 750-800 tips (1/4inch tips out of 20 foot fbr rolls) and I think I paid under $5 for 1500 bbs.

If you didn't read any of that, my point is that the key for foam tips is to use smaller diameter foam for the tip compared to the rest of the dart. Also these are cheap.

After testing these for a while, they're super durable. I can't rip the tips from the dart blanks, even on ones that have been sitting in the snow for a week. I'll definitely be switching over to this style for the future.

Edited by VelveetaAvenger, 27 November 2010 - 03:14 PM.

[Darksircam]

I use slugs with FBR tips too, but washers as weights. If you ream the barrels out, tip shape doesn't matter as much. I run the side of the glue gun tip over the dart head to make a slightly more resilient tip.
Mega slugs are also much more durable than micro slugs because of the greater surface area on the washer.

[Scooter1]

I recently made up a small batch of 1/4" steel sling shot weighted hot glue stefans and a small batch of slugs, with the intention of comparing both to see how much of a range different there is between the two. I was outside range testing them both, and at first I was disappointed at the slug's range performance (10'-15' or so shorter than traditional Stefans). However, after firing a few more darts, I began to notice that the point where both dart styles were landing was about in the same 2' patch of ground, disregarding the dart-skip.
Moving to the actual purpose of this lenghty post, I assume a large majority of those reading this topic have probably made and compared ranges between slugs and traditional Stefans. If you are one of the Nerfers that has range tested slugs against hot glue Stefans, how much difference was there in range between each including dart skip? Did both types of darts land in the same general region of each other if you exclude dart skip and look at where the darts hit the ground?
Who knows, slugs may get similar ranges to traditional Stefans.
(And before I end this post, don't think that I have the impression that the entire NIC is a bunch of complete idiots who all failed to check their ranges without dart skip, I just had some unexpected results and I thought some of you may have similar results.)

[Ryan201821]

Read this son. And also searching helps.

[SharpobjectZ]

Read this son. And also searching helps.

Are those slingshot weights about the same as fishing weights?

[SharpobjectZ]

[quote name='Just Some Bob' date='Dec 16 2010, 02:16 AM' post='291013']
[quote name='SharpobjectZ' date='Dec 15 2010, 10:40 PM' post='291009']
[/quote]Are those slingshot weights about the same as fishing weights?
[/quote]


There's about eight thousand different sizes (and shapes) of fishing weights.
As well as several different sizes of slingshot ammo.

But 1/4" slingshot weights are about the same as 000 splitshot weights (3/0)
[/quote]
Yea 3/0s ar what I was thinking of just could not for the life of me remember the exact size.

[mysterio]

Bismuth shot from here put into streamline tips increases accuracy in higher powered blasters, too heavy for springers.