SpudFiles

Just wondering, what is the smallest size pipe a vortex block can be put into?

Uh, who knows?

Rough guess... the vortex hole has to be at least a couple times bigger than the ammo. For 0.17 BBs the hole probably needs to be an inch or so across. 0.5" might work but it might not feed very well.

The vortex block needs to be larger than the vortex hole. So figure 1.25" at least for the block. 1.5" is probably closer to a practical limit.

So, a 1.5" fitting is probably easily done. 1.25" or 1" fitting might be possible but you may have to get creative with part of the design.

Most of the vortex blocks I make are for 1 1/4" or 1" (Sch 40 or SDR sizes). I have squeezed a vortex block into 3/4" pipe but it was extremely hard to do, and that block broke because I dropped the gun and the block was wedged very tightly into the pipe. The vortex hole was a fraction of 7/16."

Oh, ok thank you for the help. I guess I will use 1" pipe since I accidentally bought it last time I was at Home Depot. >_<

Edit: One more question, does adding the metal skirt thing make alot of a difference in firing?

Edit: Nevermind, I found the answer.

I would say as small as you can get the ammo.I wouldn't go any smaller than the cake balls from supermarkets.SO probably 1/2 cm hole. and about a 4x4x4 Vortex block.

Happy Spuddin'

A 5 mm diameter hole wouldn't even allow BBs to fit inside of it, because the vacuum would pull multiple BBs toward the hole and jam it up instantly.

One more question, how long would a vortex block made out of bondo last?

Long enough that before it starts to wear down you won't use it anymore.

It depends on the trigger valve, type of BB, mass of BB, ect. Not much more than 10k round though.

So the block would wear down after 10k rounds? Well thats depressing.

Bondo is cheap though so its no big deal.
and I'm sure there is a way you can make bondo better.
steel reinforce it. put mesh steel into it.

Frank, that's not going to help... When a vortex block is "worn out," it means that the circular motion of the BBS traveling aroun dit has worn a groove into the block, causing feeding errors and misaligned barrels.

So Bondo isn't a very good material for a vortex block is it.

themoosegoesmoo wrote:So Bondo isn't a very good material for a vortex block is it.

It is a good material to start out with. Though, NoName sells acrylic ones for 5 dollars. It's a steal.

Well, I just made a vortex block out of bondo. Took me 6 tries. I suck.

Heres a picture of it, my camera sucks at taking pictures that are close to it.