SpudFiles

BACKSTORY

So first off I am a quad and wheelchair-bound with limited hand use. I also live in a small town with eight different golf courses. I am unable to swing regular clubs and this is where I need help with my idea.

My Idea

So with the above stated I would like to build a co2 powered golf ball gun with adjustable PSI that I can take on the golf course along with the putter to have something to do in this small town. Now I have built a potato gun before with PVC pipe and an electric BBQ igniter with Hairspray. However I am looking for something a little bit more predictable and safer for me. I am looking for ideas and maybe some tips for accomplishing my goal for the golf ball gun. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated even if it may seem like it doesn't matter I am treating this as I am a complete beginner.

Criteria

1. Most importantly I'm looking for something stable that won't blow up my hands.

2. I'm looking for something relatively compact. Or as compact is can be. It doesn't have to be small but I don't want to go out there with the huge 10-foot Cannon either

3. It has to be adjustable PSI so it coincides with the yardage I have to go on the course.

4. Being that I will be playing golf with this either 9-hole or 18 hole I'm assuming it will have to be refilled on the course numerous times so some sort of easy refill or recharge that I can do without carrying a compressor around with me would be amazing.

I can't think of anything else at the moment but if you have ideas don't hesitate to run them by. I thank everyone in advance for helping me out on this project.

Some questions to be able to point you in the right direction:

- what's you budget?

- what materials and tools are available? Are you limited to PVC parts from home depot or is a bit of metal welding an option?

- what is the maximum distance you would like to achieve?

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:Some questions to be able to point you in the right direction:

- what's you budget?

- what materials and tools are available? Are you limited to PVC parts from home depot or is a bit of metal welding an option?

- what is the maximum distance you would like to achieve?

First and foremost I would like to thank you for your response to my thread.

I don't really have a budget but I don't want to get too expensive. I figured a couple hundred dollars. As far as the materials available to me I live in a small town but I can get pretty much anything I need. I was told to possibly use metal for the CO2 chamber for less chance of things going wrong or use SCH 80 or 120 PVC. But I'm definitely up for advice and options as all I have ever made is a potato gun that I'm sure wasn't the safest.

As far as welding and stuff I know many people and I could be done very easily if need be.

As far as distance I would be okay with 300 yards. Like I said I just want to be able to play some golf I don't need anything to deadly. I also would like it to be adjustable PSI so I can go from the tee and crank 300 yards but I'm also able to adjust it down so I can go any yards that may be needed 50 yards 30 yards 20 yards 10 yards. Which I think would be pretty easy to accomplish.

From the small research that I have done I came up with something along the lines of this...

paintball tank with valve > regulator > asa to pipe thread adapter >steel reducer > 18" of 2" steel pipe > steel reducer > 1" sprinkler valve > pvc barrel the size of golfball

Also I found something about doing the barrel SDR-21 pipe for barrel fit inside SCH 80 or 120 PVC.

But as I stated I don't have that much experience building these in a safe manner other than the potato gun I made when I was a teenager and didn't know s*** what I was doing. I want this to be a safe and effective as possible. All your help is greatly appreciated. If you have anymore questions or need things clarified don't hesitate to ask I will give you all the possible information I can

Just a small idea. Got for a construction that can hold the full presurre of CO2, just to be sure. Also, CO2 tends to freeze everything and I wouldn't trust PVC as it gets brittle when cold. Search for 3/4" or 1" quick exhaust valve from eBay or similar, that should get you started pretty well. There are tons of piston valve launchers here and for a good reason.

Here's a virtual launcher modeled in Gas Gun Design Tool:
I used a modified 1" sprinkler valve, 12 inch long section of 2 inch pipe as a chamber and a 3 foot long barrel.

As you can see we're in the ballpark of 300 yards range at 150 psi with a golf ball.

Such a launcher would be very easy to put together without specialized tools, there are plenty of examples of such launchers on this forum.

In terms of gas, I would advise against CO2 because of its temperature sensitivity, you're better off with compressed air.

A paintball tank would be ideal as a compact air source, you can get very good regulators from Palmer's Pursuit that will drop the 850 psi output to 0-150 psi easily. It's also advisable to get your hands on a low output pressure tank (or one that can be modified like those made by Ninja that can be dropped to 450 psi by removing shims) for better efficiency.

Given your situation, electronic actuation would be ideal as a switch needs minimum force, and it will also me more consistent, so you might want to consider a conventional solenoid operated sprinkler valve that actuates a second sprinkler valve.