6 replies to this topic

[TheCheatIsNotDead]

Hey everyone! It's TCIND... again. I've been kinda busy lately.

Ok, well, you remember how I found that blue SuperMaxx 3k? I was all excited! I was all like "Cool! A gun I didn't have to spend money on!"

Then I tried to open up the turret. That wasn't working. I asked for help, but didn't get any good answers. I gave up, and started ripping the piece off. That was going no where fast. So I decided to just cut it with the saw.

What I had NOT considered was that it had been in the freezing garage for years, and the plastic had become as dry and brittle as... something... really dry and brittle.

Long story short, it exploded on impact.



CARNAGE.

Well, the turret was shot STRAIGHT to hell. No chance. But the tank itself was relatively untouched, and was working fine. So I decided to try to single it.



This was about as far as I got. The pumping handle broke off when I first opened up the gun, and so I used PVC to make an extension. That worked... sorta. But I hated how big it was when so much was dead space. I could integrate a titan, four Nitefinders and a RF20 with room left over. C'MON!

So I tried my very first homemade to make a shell for it. This is what I have so far.



It's made of PVC, and cardboard. It's pretty sloppy now, and will be completed with cleaned-up PVC end caps and couplers and all that jazz.

It's the pump on the bottom... mostly unchanged. Replacing it with a bike pump is likely in the near future.

Also, the tank for the gun is pretty small. What could I use for a bigger one?

I trimmed the tube from the pump to about 2", and sealed it with copious amounts of High-temp hot glue. But the valve loses it's charge in SECONDS. About 6 seconds after a pump it wont even leave the barrel.

Some general tips would be appreciated, as I'm winging it right now. Thanks!

~TCIND

[Fireshot]

Until you cement/epoxy your pvc you will lose lots of air. You should be using epoxy or plumbers goop to seal the gun up, not high temp hot glue.

[ompa]

Try something other than hot glue. I've done a few things similar to what you're trying to do with shortening the pump tube. Let me assure you that hot glue doesn't work as well as we would both like it to. I would say the hose/hose barb connection where you hot glued it is where it's leaking. Otherwise, if it has indeed been stuck in the garage for a long time, the o-rings inside the tank may be shot, in which case you're going to need to cut into the tank and replace the o-rings. On the plus side, if that is the problem, you might as well try a tank expansion while you're at it.

Another possibility is that the check valve on the pump is screwed up. If that's the case, I'd just replace the pump. But seeing as you were planning on doing that anyways, well, yeah.

~ompa

[TheCheatIsNotDead]

Wait... what? I could have sworn I already posted a reply...

Oh well.

I'll definately do that Ompa. I'm kinda bummed. That hot glue was working great for damn well everything.

I'm going to go look up tank expansions and that stuff. Any advice or links you could post would be great too.

And since this is my first air gun, what would be the best type of barrel material?

OH! And I've been wanting to ask this one for a long time.

What tool do people like boltsniper use to so accurately and cleanly cut pieces of PVC in half (hot dog style (that's just fun to type))or what have you. And HOW IN THE HELL does he make it so it SCREWS together? I've never understood. I don't understand what he is screwing into. Or how he does is.

Maybe it's because Bolt's guns are powered by JESUS.

Whew! That's a lot of questions.

Thank you in advance!

~TCIND

Edited by TheCheatIsNotDead, 11 January 2007 - 12:49 AM.

[Meaker VI]

What tool do people like boltsniper use to so accurately and cleanly cut pieces of PVC in half (hot dog style (that's just fun to type))or what have you. And HOW IN THE HELL does he make it so it SCREWS together? I've never understood. I don't understand what he is screwing into. Or how he does is.

I'm pretty sure he uses a dremel and sheer skill. However, if I were going to cut a peice of PVC all the way in half (and not make a slot), I would probably try to use a table saw or something. I've tried a band saw before and it made a really bad cut. And actually, a dremel wouldn't be all that bad, as long as you have a steady hand and have marked out your cut it should be fine. I make kind of a dashed line when cutting with it, plunging it in then withdrawing (to get the speed back up), and continuing on untill the cut is made. It seemed to work well that way.

And as for your second question, well... How does he make it so it screws togeather or how does he make it screw togeather? He makes it so it screws togeather by his amazing design skills, and actually I was screwing all the parts togeather on my (not currently functional) shotgun. If you ment how does he screw it togeather, first he found a screw that wouldn't penetrate all the way through the PVC he was using, then he probably drilled a pilot hole smaller than the diameter of the screw, and then put the thing in. He uses and I've been using the round-headed machine screw, but I hate slot-headed screws so I'm planning on finding philips headed screws that I can use.

[TheCheatIsNotDead]

Well, I did more work on it and ... HEY! It looks like a gun now!



It doesn't work right now though. The trigger mechanism was inherently flawed. I forgot KISS... Keep it simple stupid.



The basic mechanics are sound, but execution was heavily flawed.



i am however beginning to feel confident that I can do this. With patience, It's really not that difficult. Just trial and error, and time. I have a redesign planned, which puts the barrel on the BOTTOM (this will fix trigger problems) and make the pump work better (Putting a pump-action handle on the top). I'm fairly certain that this design will at least be FUNCTIONAL.

Feedback/suggestions always appreciated. Should be finished in a day or two.

~TCIND

[The Inventor Guy]

I lol'd as soon as I saw you were trying to cut something with a saw like that.
I always use a Dremel-type rotary tool and reinforced Cut-off wheels, or a hacksaw and either my feet or a vice/clamp. I wouldn't recommend using body parts to secure projects in place while cutting them unless you're also some psycho Aussie.

Epoxy is great for securing, fixing and adhering things to one-another and also sealing small leaks.
However, it is brittle and, by experience, I would suggest against using Epoxy for fixing leaks like this. It's not that it's dangerous, well it could potentially be I suppoe, it's that it cracks under pressure; thus rendering the leak-fix completely useless.
I would, however recommend supergluing sheet plastic over leaks. This works fantasticly if you do it right.
Other than that, another good strong bonding or adhesive agent such as JB Weld or Plumbers Goop.

Reccomends:
-Dremel; Rotary tool (Any quality Rotary Tool substitute will do)
-Dremel; Reinforced Cut-Off Wheel
-JB Weld Steel Epoxy Adhesive
-Plumber's Goop PVC Sealant

Hope I help someway,
Good luck!
-Tidge.