Cennydd

Feh.

Allright, tomorrow after I tell 200 people that I blew up their email, schedules, and contacts and the backup tapes were annihilated in a flood, I'll try to get out to my test range.

Tsk... sounds like exchange server from here.

Backup tapes? Are those actually in the budget? We probably will never need them....

Where can I buy that G2 stuff? That sounds awesome.

To be honest I'm not sure where in the states... I know it's a Canadian product, I use the stuff in the shop mostly. You can try Canadian Tire, it's a hardware outlet in Canada, they may sell online. I'll check and see who our stateside supplier is. It's remarkable stuff... I use to fill worn areas in violin bows where finger acid and pressure have caused a divet. That repair lasts years.

Try this link:

http://www.plasticworld.ca/Epoxy$.htm

Then wouldn't that mean that the line's being discontinued? ...Let the hoarding begin!

Hmmm.... that means they should start showing up in the thirft stores next month... time to go on the prowl again.

Bah, screw epoxy.  

We use an epoxy in our shop that is strong enough to actually fabricate parts out of. It's called G2, we use it because it will bond to oily and acidic woods where most epoxies will not. It's nothing short of amazing. Normally I wouldn't mess with epoxy either, but I love this stuff.

 

Can you describe in more detail the porting and polishing mods?  

To polish a barrel, you basically just use a series of jeweler's rogues and buffer to put a mirror polish on the inside of the barrel. You have to get a little creative and make the inside buffer yourself, but they are easy, I just used a small buffing attachment that I sized and stick on the end of a drill bit. Best results come from using it in a drill press, but you can do it by hand. The port is just a series of holes at the end of the barrel to let the air expand so it doesn't push the tail of the dart around when it exits the barrel. (barrel wash) You can use shorter barrels that way since you don't need to allow distance for the speed of the dart to exceed the speed of the air. They exit straighter and with less noise. I did see a mod where someone was porting the end of their pvc barrel.

It's my guess that it will increase performance, but how much? Who knows. I am going to try it shortly and do a before after, so I guess we'll see. It looks cool too.

I tried similar materials to the ones you listed... that's a tough road to travel. The case is not strong enough to support that stuff. I suppose the right epoxy and a strong polymer of somekind would work for reinforcing, but I think you would be better off just running strips of tool steel (small...1/8" or less) along the plunger with epoxy. That will never break. You could do the same to the stress points, sheet metal and epoxy to support what's already there so you don't have to remake it.

So some of that and it will support stronger spring... but then you need a better plunger...I guess you already know all that. I gave up and went back to bands.

I'm definately impressed with your other mods. That's what really got me interested in Nerf again. Your barrel work is fascinating, have you tried porting and polishing... ala paintball barrell mods? I have done that with copper and seen noticable improvement.

Good luck.