7 replies to this topic

[PissBacon]

I've been saving this post for a rainy day, and while it's not raining today, here's where I left off on a project started over a year ago. Sorry for the image quality; gotta love that legocam!


These are shots of the basic parts. That barrel is made of aluminum pipe, something I happen to have an abundance of in the perfect ID. It's got a cut halfway through it for about 2''. Next to it is a maglite solitaire (and a guitar effects box I'm working on).


Here we have an assortment of o-rings (you'll need to be lucky to find ones that fit just right), and a close up of the maglite, showing that when you unscrew it slightly, it can accomodate larger o-rings to create a seal.


If all of the blurriness is confusing you, this paint drawing might help. The maglite will be sliding inside of the back of the barrel, allowing a dart to fall through the opening, and then sliding back to create a seal. Lubricant and a perfect size o-ring will be needed for this to work properly. You'll also have to drill a hole down the center of the parts of your maglite, destroying it in the process, as this allows the air to flow through when the slot in the aluminum is covered. The drawing shows a cross section, one in the valve's open state, one in the closed state: the aluminum pipe is in white, the dart in grey, the maglite in hot pink (darker pink where threading is), a rod of some type in green for sliding the valve, and the o-ring in yellow. The hole through the maglite is where air will travel through when you fire a dart.

Soon I will be putting one of these in my LBB to test it out, and will post results (school's about to start though).

[notorious oxide]

That is some great work, but is it really necesary to use a maglite? Couldnt you use cpvc or a smaller size of aluminium?

[PissBacon]

The reason I had to use a maglite was because it could accomodate the o-rings. Since I don't own a lathe, I had no way of putting precise grooves into a piece of aluminum or other material; additionally I don't have any other materials that fit like this maglite does.

Edited by PissBacon, 25 August 2005 - 02:37 AM.

[euphemism]

You could make a rudimentary lathe (anyone get the reference?) using a drill (drill press if availible), a knife and probably some duct tape.

[PissBacon]

So nobody thinks the design of the valve is good though? I'm not sure this has been done before; it doesn't require shells for your ammo, and can load multiple darts if desired. It's also very clip-ready and compact, so instead of adding extra bulk on the outside of the barrel, you just need an extra couple inches for the action of the valve. The whole point of this, despite the name, wasn't that I used a maglite, but that there are better options than a breach valve that don't have to be complicated. I'm sure some kind of marker or other cylindrical material would work (even a wooden dowel), but like I said, I don't have a way to make controlled grooves in something (using duct tape to secure an unbalanced material spinning at high speeds sounds like a window/skull-breaker to me).

EDIT: I suppose I could construct a lathe if I felt bothered to.

Edited by PissBacon, 25 August 2005 - 02:41 PM.

[footemps]

I wouldn't necissarily call it a valve since it does nothing to regulate the airflow/pressure of the gun. I'd call it a breech mod using a mag lite.

[euphemism]

It's not that I don't think the valve or breech loader thingy is good, because it is good. I'm just trying to think of a way that you can inrease airflow and decrease wieght while using the same concept/design

[flamebo388]

Those mag lites are extremly light weight, I have one just like his and it weighs less than the AAA battery it uses. Nice design, but you could mesure the ID of the pipe and the OD of the maglite and get the right sized o-rings easier.