Id go the route of making your own 3-axis mill or printer. You can build a printer for less than $300 with not too bad specs. I built a custom extrusion and gantry system for Boeing research a few years ago - you'd be surprised at how easy some of these things come together. Search for 3d printer (o...

I used to visit almost every day. I'm down to about once a week to lurk around now. College has sucked up all available time.

What part do you need?

ramses - Unfortunately, because of how the research is funded and who the research is for, I cannot give details. I can, however, say that the support material is not breakaway OR soluble thermoplastic (or even any type of plastic polymer, for that matter). I know that what I just said will certainl...

You may want to stay tuned to a few research projects at the University of Alabama - I know of a friend testing the mechanical properties of ABS thermoplastic set by means of a Dimension Elite 3D printer. He is basically testing the practical limits of the machine and the material. On top of that, I...

battlelava wrote: Thats the exact one i wanted to build :censure: :mumum: Makes me kind of mad lol

Haha that's kind of ironic..

But to be honest, even though mine was really well powered and looked cool (to me, at least), I did an awful job building it.

I've since sold it.

Pest control, or shooting living things in general, would tend to shift the connotation or perceived purpose of a "spud gun" from recreation to destruction, which is arguably the purpose of a firearm. As such, making and using homemade cannons / guns for this new purpose would change the legal statu...

Gotta love those predator engines. I built this one last summer using a similar engine:
[youtube][/youtube]

D_Hall wrote:Not once have I felt out of place or outclassed because I didn't go to [insert elite school here].

Does that hold true for both undergrad and graduate degrees? I've been told the only real thing that matters is where one gets their Master's or Doctorate degree.

I'm just finishing up my first year at the University of Alabama. I'm currently double majoring in mechanical engineering and mathematics, minoring in computational research, and am on an expedited schedule to cram in a masters in ME in around 4 years. Yikes. Just a few words on high school vs. coll...

I've only modified Toro and Rainbird valves before. They're really all about the same once you've modified a few. With Toro valves, I remember there being a few extra holes that needed epoxy, but it was nothing major. For the 3" Toro valves that I have, I used a 3/4" sprinkler valve to pilot them, b...

You will get better flow from using the 90 degree setup. Inline valves have some extra twists and turns that the large sprinkler valves (2" and larger) minimize by offering two different configurations: the globe configuration (inline) and the angle configuration (90 degree). You can see the differe...

While I was home for spring break, I decided to throw together another quick pneumatic cannon (AND actually start on my first hybrid! but that's a whole different topic). It's a Toro P220 3" valve smashed onto a 4" by 10' chamber.

[youtube][/youtube]

Has anyone measured the flow coefficient of their piston valves? I would be very curious to see how much higher the cv of a piston valve is compared to a the cv of a modified sprinkler valve with equivalently sized ports for a given amount of air (same pressure, temperature, and volume). I would als...

Just happened recently:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46639868/ns ... 1apQPES29V