Picture of all my toys

[BowerR64]

Dug out all my toys and set em all up on the kitchen floor, i think ive fired just about all of them a time or 2 and put the videos on youtube. Its been fun building these im sure by the time the 4th of july rolls around ill be about bored with em by then.

updated:

[RESAL]

Those are all great guns.............

They all look great ! The paint jobs on those are EPIC !
I guess everybody other than me is good at painting........



Have you ever thought of making any pneumatic toys ??

Love your toys. Keep them coming....... We want moar!

[cammyd32]

Wow, you've amassed quite a large arsenal of good looking cannons there, I'm really pleased you painted them all nicely, they all look, well, professionally made, I think a lot of people neglect the finer final touches sometimes, it saddens me when someone makes a brilliantly performing cannon then soaks it in cruddy paint, or plasters it in bondo that they never bother to smooth down.
So to your fine little collection there, I say well done

[BowerR64]

Thanks man!

As much fun as they are why not paint em up? Alot of the fun is building them right?

[BowerR64]

uhuh updated: Ive built a few more since April

[Boomer58cal]

Haha same thing here. My garage is getting pretty crowded.

The only reason I haven't built something excessively large is I just don't have the room for it. My golf ball cannon is over 8 feet long and will easily max out current a quarter mile range. I'm sticking with the small easy to store stuff for the time being.

Do you order your carbide online or have you found an off the shelf source?
A carbide cannon is definitely on my short list.

That's one beautiful collection you got there.

[BowerR64]

Well when i first started, or first heard about carbide cannons my friend had one of the little big bang cannons from the 60s his dad got and i was curious to see it work. I ordered the bangsite in the little toothpaste tube off amazon for like $7. its nice because it has a little cap, its a decent amount to carry around but with larger cannons like what i have they just use to much for the bangsite in the little tubes to be worth it. Now they do stay sealed till you puncture the spout so that could be a + if you dont use it alot you always know you have some fresh stuff.

This stuff absorbs moisture so the less you open and close the lid the longer it stays good.

I wound up buying a pound from this site called "cheapcarbide.com" i first ordered the little pea rocks i thougtht that would be easier to just drop in a little rock wait a bit and BOOM then if i wanted the powder i could just crush it up. This stuff is like concrete its REALLY hard stuff, it will take a press or a hammer to crush it. I wound up buying another pound in power.

The rocks are ok if the wait time isnt a problem each little rock takes about 2:00-2:30 to desolve, the powder is ready to fire in about 10-15 seconds.

I keep it in these little makeup containers i found from walmart with electrical tape around them to keep them air tight. This way i keep the pound jars closed as much as possible. So far so good. The cost is about the same as real black powder IMO its about $15-$20 a pound depending on how much you buy and the brand (compared to black powder/substitutes)

Im still planning the 6" one, im thinking just to glue a bunch of couplers together with a cap like i did the cannon in the carriage. Simply pour the water and powder in from the muzzle, plug it with foam or a light weight cap and set it off from a touch hole near the top sort of where a normal cannon fuse would be located. I would use an electric igniter though with a decent length of wire.

Have you searched "carbide cannons" on youtube? Its really popular in a few other countrys they use these old metal milk jugs or barrels or something that were designed to hold like 10-20 gallons of milk plugging them with a soccerball and lighting them with a tourch. Simple, safe and im sure LOUD as hell. Not very creative for me though. It would be good for those who dont want to try PVC with this stuff though since its made of metal.

[Boomer58cal]

"cheapcarbide.com" Bookmarked Thanks.

I've checked out Bangsite and I'd prefer to buy powder in bulk. Like I do my black powder

I'm just looking for a party popper for America's B-day and to relive my childhood.

I've been thinking about using a burst disk to maximize the bang.

[BowerR64]

I dont know what a burst disk is or does i guess.

I use a sock or a cardboard disk with the rocks because the rocks break down so slow all the gas can leak out before its ready.

You could start cheap, get the carbide first and then start with say a pringles can. I get a decent bang using a plastic cotton candy cup with a lid. Just use sissors and poke a hole in it large enough for the long candle lighters put it up enough from the bottom to hold a little water and let it rip.

A cheap bucket from walmart for stiring paint and the ball is like $1.50 or even a paint can with a lid. only danger is the lid they can fly off a little awkwardly

Use a full scoop from a spent .22LR shell for the cotton candy cup 1-1/2 -2 full .22LR shells for the paint can or the smaller mixing bucket. Bangsite or the powder carbide from chapcarbide.com

[Boomer58cal]

I have copious amounts of 3 inch schedule 40. Maybe a 4" Tee reduced to 3" for the barrel. Figure I could use the 3" tennis balls I use in my larger pneumatic if I wanted to launch something.

Thanks by the way, for the heads up on the 3-inch tennis balls. I didn't even know they existed until I saw you were using the Chuckit! balls.

Burst disk... http://www.spudfiles.com/spud_wiki/inde ... Burst_disk Wikispud can explain better than I can.

I use foil inside a union.

[BowerR64]

When are you going to build it?

You dont have to use a Tee but the Tee is best if you plan to change the angle of the shot. The cannon i built in the carriage has a fixed angle so the water wont spill out it just sits down in the corner (cheap design). The Tee holds the water in a little spot below the chamber and it can be tipped back and forth some what without spilling the water out.

The first few i built i put cleanout caps on both sides, i figured ide want to "clean them out" now and then. I found it just made more of a headache because the bottom one ALWAYS leaked if i left it loose enough i could unturn with my hands. The last few i built the water sits in a cap glued using the slip fittings so i pour it in from the back and then sort of forget about it.

I watched one youtube video this guy built a carbide cannon and his design was a little different. Not like a cannon but IMO setup to be a little easier to use and cleanout. I havnt built one yet i had all my 4"-3" built before i seen it or i would of built one like his.

He used his tee 90° from the way i normally use mine. He dumped the water in, and the powder in from the top with a small spoon. The ignition could also be on the cap too to repair or replace with a backup cap. I thought it was clever

My traditional build (copied off youtube plans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUuwCsNL1lI) top, his design on the bottom.

[Boomer58cal]

Hopefully before the 4th of July

I just started thinking about this the other day. A Diet Coke/mentos marshmallow cannon for my kids. Put a few layers of tin foil in the union, load a marshmallow in the barrel, pour in some Diet Coke, drop a few Mentos in and close the valve. Y la a blast of foam and a flying marshmallow. And don't think because it's a marshmallow it's not dangerous. I've shot marshmallows througth plywood.

It's missing the barrel of course and its not glued together, but you get the idea. Same thing only know ignition. the pressure just builds untill the disk pops. It's not going to be pretty but it will be fun for the kids. It runs on candy and soda pop! How cool is that?

[BowerR64]

I want to see it work.

Are we the only 2 that post on this forum?

[Boomer58cal]

I want to see it work.

Are we the only 2 that post on this forum?

I'll post it... if it works

Us and JSR

[BowerR64]

I looked at the chuckit balls in the 3" and they were to hard and heavy for me.

Walmart has a 3 pack of wilson starter kids balls that are 3" and they are almost flat. They are designed for low bounce for short kids just starting where you swing is slow and the bounce is low more for their hight. These are thinner rubber and IMO absorb some of the force of the explosion.

Thinking about your burst disk idea, what are your plans with that?

Ive read people say not to use acetylene because it can explode on its own but carbide doesnt work like that in the amounts we are using. Maybe pure oxygen and acetylene can but not this. Ive put a cup of water in a 1 gallon sprayer bottle with 1/4 teaspoon of carbide and left it for hours. After a few hours i filled some water balloons and lit them like little fire balls.

If you put a big chunk of carbide in water it can build up enough pressure to burst say a 2 liter bottle but thats only from the pressure of the expanding gas. It doesnt ignite on its own in this form. IMO that is a waste, the amount of carbide it takes to create enough bressure to blow up a bottle you could fire a cannon like 20 times.

If you wait long enough for the gas to rupture a burst disk you have depleted what little oxygen there is and it would be a dud.

I use a sock because the gas is lighter then air and it can escape out before there is enough built up in the chamber to make a decent boom. With the powder it reacts so quickly there isnt time for it all to escape out 10-20 seconds and you ignite it.