SpudFiles

Ok first off I know that this has probably been done a million times over , but for those that haven't thought of it yet, or those that want a clean looking gun this may be for you.

I'm in the process of building an advanced combustion with a 4" chamber. I want this one to have handles unlike my other cannons, however I want this gun to be "clean". The thought struck me when I was trying to decide on the type of handle I was going to use to get this "clean" effect I was looking for.

Anyway, this is the idea with some renders of a cannon I modeled in Max. The idea is to use reducing tee's bored out or cut in half then clamped with hose clamps. It would be a lot of work but in the end I think it would make the gun look so much more sophisticated and clean looking in the end.

With enough patience and enough tee's you could make attachment points for your meter pipe, propane bottle, and handles. These could also make ultra sturdy barrel supports for over/unders. I will let you figure out how to mount your fan control box.

BTW The sparker handle uses the heat and bend technique.

Well, I certainly haven't thought of it before. Looks good. I look forward to seeing your cannon.

The smallest reducing tee from 4" that I can find is 4" x 1" and at $12 a pop it ain't cheap.

To bore out a 4" tee you could use a 4 1/2" hole saw. I've done it several times with good results.

Lasco fittings makes a 4"x3/4" reducing tee. Ive seen these at my local hardware store, which is how I came up with the idea.

About the boring out part.. I'm kind of torn between doing it that way, and cutting them in half and hose clamping them down. I feel like the hose clamps would ruin the look.

Also if they were bored out to fit flush over the 4" pipe, would priming/welding them in place weaken the pipe enough to cause it to fail in a combustion?

If you were going to cut them in half, why not just go for a saddle tee?

As far as gluing, why would it weaken the pipe? Just let it cure, that's all. Every fitting is solvent welded on, these are no exception. You might find that a hole saw doesn't do a perfect job to allow the tee to slide easily over the pipe so you'll have to take some sand paper to it afterwards.

If you go with the hole saw idea, a drill press definitely helps and some way to brace the fitting to prevent it from spinning. Bore it out in stages, otherwise you WILL heat up the plastic to the point where it will warp.

Wow, that cannon looks AWESOME!!
I want one!
Now i just have to find those darn reducing tee's.

Also if they were bored out to fit flush over the 4" pipe, would priming/welding them in place weaken the pipe enough to cause it to fail in a combustion?

No they only make your pipe even stronger. (double layer of PVC)

But I would suggest to make it out of the tee's with pieces of pipe between.
So the chamber would be like:
Endcap-female adapter-pipe-tee-pipe-tee-pipe(repeat a few times)-tee-pipe-reducer to barrel size (adjusted for coaxial)

Or, just use the natural T that matches the piece that'll be added.

For example, to add a piece of 1" pipe as the handle; take a 1" T, slice it accross the top of the T, boil in water, bend the pipe out by hand, reheat in water then form on a piece of scrap the same size as the chamber. Glue in place with PVC solvent.

Might need to grind the inner lips off the T to get it to mount flush. (Which would have to be done with the method in the original post as well.)

Why don't you cut the chamber, and just prime/weld the tee in place, then plug up the 3/4" (or whatever size) hole?