603 replies to this topic

[skiermon]

There's a lot of talk about converting stock darts into stefans. But I always thought the reason for making stefans is because it's cheaper than buying stock darts. It seemed that the fact that they out perform stocks is just a surprising bonus. I know that everybody's going to do what they want to do, but i just want to say that converting stocks to stefans is just a waste of money, when you can make perfectly good stefans from scratch and a LOT less money.

As for me, I use good old fashioned FBR and hotglue. I cut my stefans to 1" (But I was just playing around with 2" darts, and the well-made ones outperformed the 1". I think I'm about to change methods) and I use my plastic beads as weight. They're really light, so they're more easily affected by wind, but in my crayola-ed secret shot I, they get 20 feet more of range than darts with splitshot.

Whoa, another noob, I didn't know you'd just made the same point. Didn't see your post Sorry about that...But whatever, It's still nice to have someone backing you up...So, yeah. I second that.

Edited by skiermon, 25 March 2006 - 09:26 AM.

[sam]

Thanks Falcon. I think the reason he uses them is because the foam from the tagger darts is really good. I’ve experimented with converting stock darts to Stefans, except that I use the little rubber nub that holds the tip of the dart in and then loaded the top with hot glue. They work decent, but I need some weights.

[Greek Assassin]

Also, the tagger darts have a slightly wider diameter than most FBR. If you find tagger stefans work well, try tighter brass. Thats what happened to me. My FBR fits perfect in 17/32 brass and is way to loose in 9/16.

[Nero121]

I find that the best darts (in my opinion) are the matchstick darts. They are annoying, cause you have to find a 3 hour block of time (after dipping wait 1/2 an hour and it takes 15 minutes to do 25 darts. Reapeat 4 times), but beside the time, they are really good darts. They also stand out against the ground after you shoot them, because I use colored (yes there is non clear color) plastidip.

Edited by Nero121, 25 March 2006 - 11:43 AM.

[skiermon]

I just had an idea. (As you can see by the frequency of my posts today, I'm trying as hard as I can to NOT write my 30-page bio paper due monday...*Sigh*

In previous posts on this thread, people have been talking about mass producing darts, and how hard it is to get a consistency [sp]. What if you cut your FBR or whatever the heck you use, and instead of ball weights - sinkers, bb's - you used those metal thumbtacks? You know, the ones with the broad, slightly domed top? You could just stick into the tip of the FBR and voila! Maybe even dipping the spike of the tack in glue would help them stay in. If you glued them like that, they'd probably stay in and not poke anything. Has anybody tried this? Is this a bad idea?

[NerfMonkey]

Yes, very bad. It seems perfectly safe, but what you need to understand about the foam we use is that it's spongy and will tear with use, meaning the tack could easily come out and stab someone in the face if you shot a dart enough times or if you didn't make it perfectly.

[Mantis]

Yo nerfmonkey, do you got a joint man?





Be a lot cooler if you did

[Falcon]

Ok, I don't mean to spoil the mood but... isn't the point of dart-making to save money buy mass producing darts instead of having to spend more on refill packs? It seems to me like it defeats the whole purpose of stefans if you just go out and buy Nerf darts only to chop 'em up and drop wieghts in them. But hey, now that they have those new 30 dart packs of dart-tag darts, it might just be better to do it that way. Just a thought.

The purpose of making stefans isn't entirely due to the fact that they're cheaper to acuire a LOT more of them than stock darts. They also perform a LOT better than stock darts.

However, I have found my niche with these stock dart conversions. I'm not so much in it to save money (as I'm obviously not saving money when compared to making normal stefans) but their performance is superior to any other stefans I have ever used in my guns.

The dart tag foam is smaller in diameter than the FBR most people are using for their micro stefans these days. Most people use 9/16" brass for main barrel sections (when speaking in terms of brass, anyway) and (for springers) have a shorter piece of 17/32" brass nested in the back.

With the Dart Tag darts, I use 17/32" brass as my main barrel material, and have a piece of 1/2" brass nested at the back.

The dart tag darts fit so perfectly in 17/32" brass, it's rediculous. When people stretch their foam, with practice, you can get pretty good at making your foam fit your brass size accurately. But there will always be a small bit of inconsistency. There will always be a few darts in a batch that are too tight or too loose of a fit. The dart tag darts are ALWAYS the EXACT fit I need, and they perform amazingly well. Hitting "junior" sized water bottles (about 4" tall x 2" wide) at 80' in my backyard isn't exactly poor performance.

So I'm not really in the dart tag stock dart conversion business for money saving. It's all about performance.

One other little plus to using the coverted stock darts: they're bright orange. I can go to a clan war with 90 or so darts, and I'll come home with 80-85 darts. A long day nerfing at an elementary school is a death trap for darts, but the recorvery rate for these things is incredible.

So really, they cost more to manufacture, but they perform better (personally, anyway), they last longer (due to higher-quality foam) and they are very easy to find for re-suse. So honestly, I think these vs. standard stefans pretty well balances out.

[murakumo32]

The foam is better in stock darts, but that hole down the middle just isn't good for durability. Every stock dart I've converted runs out of like after a while as the foam gets less and less firm. I personally use FBR stefans just because they last longer for me.

[Lutinent Cole]

For my darts I just mest a hole down into the dart using the tip of a really hot hot glue gun, drop about two bbs in there and fill it with glue and stand them up. They make their own domes.

[fashiznor117]

I cut the darts with a regular knife. If it's uneven, I melt it off.

To put the hole in the bottom, I heat up a screwdriver and it melts a hole right through. That's how I melt off any protrusions. I have a piece of tape wrapped around the screwdriver at the point where I want the screwdriver to go in, max.

I then touch the top of the dart with the hot screwdriver, making a little cave for the BB that I use. I then put a cap of hot glue on and test it after it's cooled.

Pro's:
Don't have to go through so many steps.
That's the only pro over other stefans/

Con's:
Sometimes the screwdriver goes through the side.
The dart sometimes morphs if I heat the screwdriver too much and if I leave it in the dart too long.

[rotoryfan]

A SCREWDRIVER!??! thats interesting... maybe using a soldering tool would be better... I use box cutters to cut my foam. its much better, because the blade is always sharp, do to the fact that the blades break away. for weights, since I'm too lazy to look around for BB's or fishing weights, I use sections of light pull-chains. the ones consisting of a string of metal beads coming down from the fixture. they come in various sizes, but as long as the section isn't too long, they make a great substitute. I haven't tried using the larger diameter pull-chains, but I will soon, being as cheap as they are. using these weights, I can make darts of about 1.2" for 3 or 4 cents each. (the good FBR here is NOT cheap)

[SirTofu]

I found that if before making the dome with an ice cube you melt a wide circular path in it with a hotglue gun that you can get a dome shape started faster before waiting for a dome impression made after a few darts.

Edited by SirTofu, 09 July 2006 - 12:19 AM.

[NOT Ninja Loser]

I use 1/2 foam becker rod and poke a hole in it with my hot glue , then i put a bent peice of blombing soder in it then seal the top of with hot glue and wait for it to dry , and thease darts are prety good.

[General Cole]

To those at geddon, what did you think of my darts? Falcon especially, he was on the recieving end of one.

[Shadow 92]

How I Make My Darts (Thanks to Falcon and Pat)

Materials
Low temp. mini hot glue gun
Hot glue sticks
Nerf Tagger darts
15 oz. Plastic cup
Ice water

Step 1
Take the Tagger darts and roll it in between the tips of your thumb and index finger until the glue around the edge of the rubber and foam separates from the dart. Then, lift the edges of the tip of the dart and gently work your way to the stem of the dart carefully separating the tip from the foam. Pull the tip straight up and out.

Step 2
Turn on your low temp. hot glue gun and leave it on until it can easily dispense glue and easily melt the tips of your darts.

Step 3
Using the tip of your mini hot glue gun, melt the tip of your Tagger darts until the tip of the glue gun is completely inside the foam. If you’re using a mini glue gun, then you should be fine, but if you’re using a full sized hot glue gun be sure that you don’t melt past the circumference of the darts. If you do this, your darts will become shorter. While the tip of the hot glue gun is inside the dart, quickly pump out three shots of glue into the foam and hold it parallel to the ground. The hot glue should not be filled to the top, rather enough prevent the next stream of hot glue from pouring down to the bottom of the dart.

Step 4
After you pump three shots of hot glue into your dart, turn it upside down and dip it into the 15 0z. cup filled with ice water. Once it’s in the ice water, count to ten, remove the dart and wipe of the outside of the dart with a paper towel, and get it ready to hot glue again.

Step 5
When you’re done drying the dart, use your hot glue gun to create a dome of hot glue on top of your dart. Because you let your hot glue gun heat up for a couple of minutes, the dome should naturally begin to form. As soon as the dome forms, dip the top half of the dart into the ice water and count to twenty. This step is important, it keeps the dome perfectly round and strangely reflective. If you dip the for too little or too much time, then the domes will be cloudy. The general rule of thumb is to take the dart out as soon as the dome hardens.

Step 6
Repeat 30 times.

Notes: I’ve made several other batches of darts and the ice water Tagger darts turn out to be the best due to their perfect tip and dart consistency. I usually make six sets of five for a total of thirty at a time. And in case anyone is wondering, I don’t weight my darts. I know that I would get better range but I prefer not to. If you want to, you can add a weight to the dart but it will probably move and become off centered unless your weight takes up the space of the hole.



Pros:
A nice shiny dome that’s been reflective for week now since I made them
Don't have to sculpt each dome

Cons:
Have to wait a little longer
No weights (less range than normal darts)

Edited by Shadow 92, 19 August 2006 - 06:37 PM.

[Lancaster]

Helpful guide. Has someone given a writeup on how to modify taggers to shoot out of a longshot? The ones I have jam in the clip and don't fire anyway.

[sam]

Maybe try searching. Here's Falcon;s writeup:
For all of you who are having issues with any of the following:

I hear complaints about foam being too soft, not being straight, shrinking and/or expanding upon heating, and not having flat ends when cut.

THERE IS STILL HOPE!

Granted, this solution to your problems isn't exactly the most inexpensive, but it is done with nothing but THE most accessible materials around right now.

And yes, it works. REALLY well. These are the darts I use.

You'll need a pack of 1/4" slingshot weights (or whatever you use for weights, but trust me, these things are killer weights for darts). They're at Wal-Mart, Sport Chalet...just about anywhere that has a sports section that sells slingshots/BB guns/Paintball guns, etc., in 200-250 piece boxes.

Next, of course, some low-temp hot glue. DO NOT use Hi-temp; your foam will be toast.

Lastly, get some dart tag refill packs.

Get a pair of scissors. Gently squeeze the dart between your fingers near the base of the stock tip to find out where the rubber inside the dart ends, and just snip the tip off underneath this rubber. That should take all of a second or less.

Drop the tip in a trash can, add the foam blank to your pile.

To actually make the blank-to-dart conversion, make sure your lo-temp gun's ready. To avoid angled tips, I use the back end of the stock darts for the tip of my stefans. The end I cut the stock tip off of becomes the back of the dart.

Stick the tip of your lo-temp glue gun into the hold on the flat end. Twist it around a little bit. This is NOT to make a gaping maw out of the hole in the dart. It is merely to expand the size of the hole a little bit.

Now, squeeze some glue down into this same end of the dart. The glue will go down and catch on the walls of the inside of the hollow foam, and will quickly plug it up. Fill this space that now has been plugged until the glue is almost to the top edge of the foam. The hot glue plug you ahve made should NOT fill the entire length of the dart. Only about 1/4 of the dart will have glue in it. This hapens naturally, so don't worry about being precise.

Now, take your slingshot weight, and push it down into the hole. The top of the weight should be flush or just above flush with the top of the foam. Notice how the weight is a perfect fit for the stock hole in the dart since you slightly expanded it at the beginning with the tip of your glue gun.

Now pick up your glue gun and squeeze some glue DIRECTLY onto the top of the weight. It doesn't look prety now, but hang tight.

This small misshappen mound of glue is all that you need. Drop the hot glue gun (ok, set it down nicely on your workbench) and stick the index finger of your free hand into your mouth. Don't be too slobbery, but make sure the pad of your finger is wet. Using the pad of your finger, press down on the top of the mound of glue, and use your finger to brush the glue down and around the weight. You can shape the dome with your finger without worrying about the glue sticking to your finger because your finger is a slick suyrface due to your licking it.

[Snazzy Q]

I use stefans, but I prefer the teardrop shaped fishing weights. They stay nicely centered in the conical hole the glue gun tip leaves.

[Shadow 92]

Maybe try searching. Here's Falcon;s writeup:

Sam, I am really sorry. I should have clarified what the intention of my post was. I actually saw and used Falcon’s and Pat’s great write ups to making their Converted Dart Tag Stefans. But I don’t put weights in my darts and didn’t want to have to sculpt each and every dome of my dart. So, I posted the method that I used to make Tagger’s that were unweighted, had domes that didn’t need to be sculpted, and prevented hot glue from dripping all the way down to the bottom of my dart (which has happened). I don’t expect everyone to make their darts the way I do, I just wanted to let people know there is an alternative to putting weights in their CDTS’s. But anyways, thanks for friendly reminder instead of flamming. I appreciate that.

Has someone given a writeup on how to modify taggers to shoot out of a longshot? The ones I have jam in the clip and don't fire anyway.

Really? Mine shoot just fine out of my longshot and it's completley stock. Maybe some of the foam on the top melted when you made your hole and that made it shorter. This may be the cause if it's jamming in the magizine. Or is it jamming in the breech and not letting the part that slides forward (the one with the peg) slide forward? I'm stumped.

And so I'm contributing to to the thread, I reformated part of my earlier post that can be applied to all darts (Stefans or CDTS's).

When making the domes of my darts, I leave my hot glue gun on for awhile and then pour hot glue on. I then turn it over and dip it in ice water for about twenty seconds or until the tip hardens.

Pros:
The tip is reflective when done for exactly twenty seconds
You don't have scuplt the tip by hand

Cons:
Weights can become unbalanced if using splitshots or if using smaller weights

Note: I saw the first post about dipping the dart in ice water by Davis, but I found out about the reflective thing and wanted to share it.

[sam]

No, nothing against you Shadow. I was talking to Lancaster.

[Falcon]

If you use 1/4" Steel Slingshot ammo for weights (in DTG Stefans, specifically) they'll never get off center. They fit perfectly into the hole in the dart, leaving the weight perfectly centered and held there.

Why is not having to shape the dome by hand a pro? I like doing it, personally...

And Cole:
I don't remember what the dart looked like. I didn't pick it up or anything. I never stick anything but my own darts into my gun, so I really can't answer your question.

Edited by Falcon, 13 September 2006 - 04:51 PM.

[General Cole]

The tips are about 1 cm in length, major aerodynamics there.

[Shadow 92]

Why is not having to shape the dome by hand a pro? I like doing it, personally...

It's easier to get somewhat of a consistency.


I've stopped making CDTS's now and just stretch my foam to the exact same width of tham instead. I plan on drilling holes in the ones that are going to be used in my airguns and not drill holes for ones in my spring guns. And to quickly tell the difference between the two during a war, I'll use the sparkley red hot glue for my air darts and and sparkley blue for my spring darts.


Thanks for clarifying that sam.

[General Cole]

Could I please get feedback on my Darts, please, please, please....