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Mythbusters Web Shooter

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:21 pm
by Juicey
Hey guys, not sure if anyone else watched the episode of Mythbusters that came on tonight, about birds in flight in the back of a cargo truck, but they had a rather nice pneumatic gun shown for just a min. I had a few questions about what u guys think.

I am pretty sure it was a pneumatic although they didn't state it The chamber was about 6'-8' of steel 4" or so pipe. The valve was on the end then attached to a weird multi barrel they created. 6 2.5" barrels protruded from it each at about a 30 degree angle. Each tennis ball was tied to part of a net and then when fired was able to encase Adam. (Now i'm not referring to shooting at a person, as is prohibited by rule 2 on this site, just stating how they tested it)
Discussion of shooting anything at any person and/or animal is prohibited, and may result in a permanent banning of your account.
I was curious of what type pressures and configurations would be required to achieve 6 balls leaving the barrels at relatively the same time in order to achieve a proper "web-like" effect. It seems to me it would take a huge amount a pressure and possibly some interesting barrel configuration in order to keep the balls together. Just curious as to what yall think.

PS, sorry if I posted in the wrong area. New to the site.

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:49 pm
by Technobob
Here are a couple screen caps for you to look at

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 7:24 am
by jackssmirkingrevenge
It doesn´t look like it would match up to the "Blowhard 3000" monster they had made for their Pirates Special :shock:

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:58 am
by PAspuder
Well...how far were they shooting the balls? That would play a major factor in how much PSI. I watch mythbusters, but i have not yet seen this episode.

If all 6 "barrels" or what ever you want to call them were all positioned at equal angles into the chamber at equal spacing, AND all the barrels were the same length and friction, and all the balls were identical, and the air was released in a straight direction (not swirling like some valves may create), they should all fire simultaneously. (pressurized gas will attempt to equal out)

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:07 am
by Juicey
Thanks for posting those pics Techno, I was looking around and couldn't find any. But they were using the shooter to capture pigeons for their tests. Which means they weren't trying to send the balls into orbit or anything. It did seem to shoot the balls and net around 50 Yards or so.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:05 am
by super spuder
yea. i watched that episode. i reject your reality and substitute my own :D

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:39 pm
by Smiley
it was a great episode LoL @ super spuder

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:57 pm
by spudthug
that episode last night wasnt one of their bests..it was pretty boring actually i fell asleep at the end...the only good part was when they dropped the boat...and they werent shooting that tennis net thing 50 yards it was more like 10 yards and they probably used like 30 psi...dur it uses air why would it have a valve and a quick connect on it if it wasnt pneumatic....

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:41 pm
by Juicey
Yeah I agree that overall that episode was kinda lame. Did enjoy the boat falling on the crane though lol. And the first test I know wasn't long at all Spudthug, but when u watch the 2nd shot outside the net and balls go well past where they were trying to capture the birds. And pardon me for not seeing the quickconnect since it I didn't have a stillframe to look at, just wanted to come on and ask a couple questions. I appreciate your "support" to someone iterested in spudding.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:15 pm
by JDP12
Yes i saw that episode.. I agree with Juicey, that episode was pretty lame. But the cannon was SWEEEETT. Definitely the coolest I have ever seen. iF it was quieter, it probably would definitely have caught the pigeons though.