Parade Cannon

BlackWater18 · Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:12 pm

Hello,

This summer my Uncle is going to have a float in his towns parade. Now I was thinking, what about making a SAFE pneumatic cannon, if thats possible. So we could shoot confetti, or candy, or T shirts, or balloons. Something along those lines. Now I might get skewered for asking this. But I have only built combustion cannons so I can figure out some of the pneumatic stuff. But would i need to make like a special cannon or would any old cannon work? I was thinking you would probably want a shorter barrel, to get more spread. Because you really don't want to blast a 2 year old with a 6" spread in the face with candy.

But I was just thinking aloud and wondering if any one had some ideas.

Thanks for your time.

-BlackWater18

thespeedycicada · Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:22 pm

a sprinkler valve should do you nicely.

SpudUke5 · Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:27 pm

Pneumatics can be built very safely. you just need to know a little bit about them and they can be your bestest friends

you will most likely need a onboard regulator and i recommend using compressed air or HPA tank rather than a Co2 tank.

Sprinkler valve should be fine, and you may want interchangable barrels depending on what you are shooting, candy, t shirts, etc.

daberno123 · Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:28 pm

I would suggest using just a simple 1" modded sprinkler with a 3" barrel if you want to shoot t-shirts.

If you're using it just in a parade you won't need much power, so go with a short 3" diameter chamber. You could use 12g co2 thingies to decrease charging time.

It should look somewhat like this except with a 3" barrel

BlackWater18 · Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:34 pm

Alright, that looks good.

If I were to want to shoot candy or confetti, I would probably need a disk or something to fit tightly in first right, and then pack in the candy or confetti? So what would I use to do that?

-BlackWater18

thespeedycicada · Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:39 pm

you could just use an old rag or paper towel.

BlackWater18 · Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:43 am

Ok, Thank you.

daberno123 · Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:41 am

Plastic milk caps fit well in an 1.5" barrel

BlackWater18 · Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:56 pm

Alright, I have a question about the sprinkler valves. I saw the tutorial on You Tube on how "mod" it. But I was reading other peoples posts when I was searching and they said to put the blow gun straight to the valve, how do you do that? Do you need something thats 2 sided for a connecter? Sorry its just not clicking in my brain tonight.

Also, once you have the blowgun set up, do you pressurize the chamber through the blowgun? Or do you need a inlet on the chamber, and the blowgun is just the trigger?

I searched around, I didn't see any direct answers. If I missed them, my sincere apologies.

Thanks for your time.

-BlackWater18

ShowNoMercy · Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:38 pm

You just use a pipe nipple in between the valve and the blowgun. And you pressurize through the chamber not the blowgun. The blowgun remains just a trigger.

BlackWater18 · Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:55 pm

So does it really matter whether you have a direct connection to the blow gun? Or is it fine if you use pressure tubing?

ShowNoMercy · Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:08 pm

I personally believe that unless you have a hundred feet of tubing you will not see a difference in performance. Granted other members will denounce me for that, cough JSR but I use about a foot of tube and it works great.

pizlo · Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:12 pm

A direct connection decreases the pilot volume, which will increase responsiveness, and slightly affect performance. If you don't want to mess with one yourself BC ARMS sells premmonded sprinklers with or without hoses.
http://www.bcarms.com

BlackWater18 · Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:43 pm

alright, thanks a bunch.

I see it much more clearly now.

-BlackWater18