SpudFiles

I have dodged so many questions when the store workers by my house were cutting me some PVC, me and my friend were there and we were like "We can't use cellular core because...uhh...it'll...break, yea"
"We can't use these [DWV] parts, they're uhh...not...going...to work...yea"

We're only 14 and they give me the feeling that if they knew what we're doing they wouldn't sell us anything anymore.

Another time I was not there, my friend was in the aisle next to some guy and overheard him talking to a nice old worker. It went like this:
"Shouldn't you be watching him to make sure he's not shoplifting?"
"You know, not all teenagers are like that"

What workers have been bogus or really nice to you guys?


EDIT: Woah how did I become a Sergeant? Sweetness.

On my latest cannon I ventured out to a plumbing merchant I had never been to before, nice little shop. Straight away he knew what I was doing so I decided to tell him, he understood about piston valves saying he didn't know anyone who had made one but had heard of the concept.

He then told me the police had raided his store a few years back saying he can't supply PVC to minors because they might build spudguns, so he told me since i'm not building a typical spudgun, I know what i'm doing and i'm building something new, he let me buy the stuff anyway

MrCrowley wrote:On my latest cannon I ventured out to a plumbing merchant I had never been to before, nice little shop. Straight away he knew what I was doing so I decided to tell him, he understood about piston valves saying he didn't know anyone who had made one but had heard of the concept.

He then told me the police had raided his store a few years back saying he can't supply PVC to minors because they might build spudguns, so he told me since i'm not building a typical spudgun, I know what i'm doing and i'm building something new, he let me buy the stuff anyway

Nice.
I don't think the police have the authority to say what he can and can't sell unless they have an actual legal statement saying so.

frankrede wrote:

MrCrowley wrote:On my latest cannon I ventured out to a plumbing merchant I had never been to before, nice little shop. Straight away he knew what I was doing so I decided to tell him, he understood about piston valves saying he didn't know anyone who had made one but had heard of the concept.

He then told me the police had raided his store a few years back saying he can't supply PVC to minors because they might build spudguns, so he told me since i'm not building a typical spudgun, I know what i'm doing and i'm building something new, he let me buy the stuff anyway

Nice.
I don't think the police have the authority to say what he can and can't sell unless they have an actual legal statement saying so.

I was just thinking that. Don't they at least need a warrant or something?

Well, at my hardware store, they know what I'm doing. One, because I used to work there, and two these things (luckily) are not illegal in the states. It also helps a bit that I am 24 years old, too.

Just tell the man you are building them for a science project (they have science fairs on summer vacation, don't they).

Coodude26 wrote:

frankrede wrote:

MrCrowley wrote:On my latest cannon I ventured out to a plumbing merchant I had never been to before, nice little shop. Straight away he knew what I was doing so I decided to tell him, he understood about piston valves saying he didn't know anyone who had made one but had heard of the concept.

He then told me the police had raided his store a few years back saying he can't supply PVC to minors because they might build spudguns, so he told me since i'm not building a typical spudgun, I know what i'm doing and i'm building something new, he let me buy the stuff anyway

Nice.
I don't think the police have the authority to say what he can and can't sell unless they have an actual legal statement saying so.

I was just thinking that. Don't they at least need a warrant or something?

Yeah I would think so too, maybe they did maybe they didn't but the police told him to report any youths buying PVC pipe and fittings or deny service... the guy could easily make up an excuse not to sell to a youth like 'Sorry we do tradesales with certified plumbers only'...

i went to an ace hardware once and i was getting materials for a copper piston cannon and this racist guy was like" im sorry boy but uh i cant sella ummm that there epoxy". and i asked him why and he said"uhhhh because umm you are under 18" and i showed him my driver license too show that i am 19 and he said "im sorry but i still cant sell that to you because they passed a new law that umm epoxy is illegal or something" and i asked him why he still sells it and he kicked me out the store . but its all good because a month later he was caught buying fake "substance" from an undercover police officer.

Sandman...That is just bogus... I hate racists.

i know man but after a while you kinda just think to yourself that they will always be wrong

Mostly I get along with the family that runs the local DIY. They know exactly what I'm doing, and they even have some good suggestions of their own for ways around plumbing problems.

I have said before, if what I'm looking for isn't in there, it doesn't exist. Not quite true, but they have stuff in there that I haven't even found on websites.

Seriously, it's like a TARDIS in there. It really is somehow bigger on the inside - they've found a way to pack so much in to the space that they've warped spacetime to allow them to pack even more in.

Combined with that, the prices are pretty competitive too. Best place in the world.

self-service shops are ok.. you get in, buy what you need and get out

unfortunatelly in my town there are only traditional shops where you have to tell the guy what you want and he hands you the stuff... eventually it's cheaper to drive 20 km to do the shopping in a nice self-service shop where they don't ask stupid question (and their stuff is really really cheap)

I don't know who buys plumbing equipment in my town but they have to be retarded... one guy wanted about 20 PLN for a BV when they normally cost between 6-8 PLN (I know no one really knows how much it is in $ but at least you get a rough idea of how unfair the price was)



Once I've found a shop selling pneumatic equipment.I was like "WOW !! a pneumatic shop in this shXXXXX !!"
it turned out that the shopkeeper was an old men (about 65 years old) and he knew nothing about pneumatics...

I asked him if they had QEVs (of course I used its polish name and I explained what it is used for so it's not that I fucked up anything.. he did) he didn't know what it is and he never heard of it....

then I asked him about spoolvalves... again I got the same answer and he handed me a catalogue saying that 'son there are some valves here'....

I was getting the impression that he knew basically nothing about his stuff... before I left I pointed a pressure hose with my finger and I asked 'what is its pressure rating?'.... and he said "it's ok" or something like that

ok there are incompetent guys at plumbing shops and I can understand that (sort of) but that guy made me %%%@#%$%@%@#%#%!

Almost everyone I buy from locally knows what I'm up to. Mostly because, if someone can't leave me to my own devices, I won't be buying anything from them if I can avoid it.

The welder, while taking a horribly long time to actually accomplish anything, is great to talk to, and seems to know what he's doing. I've realised by now that I don't even need to tell him what type of steel to use - I just give him the outline of how the thing is going to work, and he figures out for himself what is most viable. It's a lot easier for someone to work to your specifications if they understand what's being built, and therefore know which deviations from the original scheme are acceptable, and which are not.

In that respect, I'm really glad I don't live in a city. Almost everything I need is less than a half hour's bike ride from here, and you can actually tell people about most of what you're doing without worrying about an unwanted visit early in the morning.

There is a small hardware store close to my house that is really nice, my parents are sort of friends with the owner, so he doesn't really mind when I spend 15 minutes laying out a launcher in the middle of the store isles. He even asked me if he could see one of my launchers, so I brought it to the store and we shot some boxes in the storage room.

The only bad thing about the store is that the prices are a little bit high, but I'm thinking about getting a job there after farm work dies down a bit, so that will most likely take care of the high prices (if I get a discount).

DYI wrote:In that respect, I'm really glad I don't live in a city. Almost everything I need is less than a half hour's bike ride from here, and you can actually tell people about most of what you're doing without worrying about an unwanted visit early in the morning.

Use a false name, pay cash and collect rather than having it delivered 8)

Well that's how my machining is getting done anyway, that and making the hugely suspicious grip section myself ^_^

Use a false name, pay cash and collect rather than having it delivered

Well that's how my machining is getting done anyway, that and making the hugely suspicious grip section myself ^_^

It scares me that some people still believe the UK is a free country when a man has to go through such contortions to build an air rifle without worrying about being arrested as a terrorist...

Canada has some ridiculous laws as well, but the enforcement is so poor, and the punishment so insignificant, that very few people in the rural areas have to worry about the legality of what they're doing. Of course, due to this lack of enforcement, we have lazy and stupid criminals, which, through some sort of evolutionary process, makes any real harmful crimes even less common.