SpudFiles

*** UPDATE - 23 Apr 2008: Electrical system posted here.

So here's my pseudo build-log for those who were interested in my upcoming cannon. I chose the name CF, because the chamber has just over 1CF of volume, thought it was fitting. Please note, the tee/elbow and the flange assembly are dry-fitted and have not yet been glued. I barely had enough energy to pose the cannon for pictures let alone prep and glue those fittings.

Basic information

- The chamber is 6" ID, 60" long excluding the fittings.
- The barrel is 4" ID, 120" long excluding the tee/breech.
- The cannon weighs about 70lbs right now, it will weigh about 130lb when complete (stand, electronics, and breech block). No, I never wanted this to be hand-held.
- The propane meter will be approx. 22" of 3/4" piping, but I will calculate the total volume with the fittings before making this official.
- The cannon will feature a vertical sliding-wedge breech block for quick reloading of large ammunition. This is really the main reason I started this project -- the rest is just cake.

So yeah, it's a big gun, there's larger but this is respectable. Whatcha think so far? I have not shown any of the electronics yet, I haven't fully gathered what I need yet.

Nice size bud. She'l be pretty sweet when done. WHat are you using to power the spark strip?

It's likely that I'll be using a stun gun only because of the sheer size of the chamber. But I will be experimenting with that next week.

You have a perfect set up for a piston valve!

It would take forever to fill up with my compressor. The chamber has half the volume of my compressor as-is! (It's 15 gallons)

Ahh so there it is. I didn't really grasp the scale of the thing until I realized those were standard 6' foldout tables underneath..

So a breech loader...don't forget to calc the elbow volume into the tank size.

What have you decided on for ammo?

starman wrote:Ahh so there it is. I didn't really grasp the scale of the thing until I realized those were standard 6' foldout tables underneath..

So a breech loader...don't forget to calc the elbow volume into the tank size.

What have you decided on for ammo?

Applesauce jars.

I have also made some ammunition out of 3" PVC scraps. Along with my breech, I am designing an extractor that'll pull casings out of the breech when opened. Just like the real thing, though I may have to make it lever-operated instead of automatic, but that's fine.

Its big, its powerful, its clean and all together: SUPERB!
You should hold that with two man (or alone if you can) and feel the recoil
BLAM!

I assume your breech loading system will be a very interesting design.

This is gonna be one sweet sexy momma'

awesome so this is the beast

Bump, updated. See top of the thread.

so i guess this is what your big a** gun is goin to turn out to be
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Wow that thing is enormous
Dont see too many cannons out there with a chamber that large
im extremely impressed

and brother361 copy and paste the url not embed code

Edit: brother nevermind
Ive always been impressed by when he hits the tree and half of it falls over.

bigbob12345 wrote:Wow that thing is enormous
Dont see too many cannons out there with a chamber that large
im extremely impressed

and brother361 copy and paste the url not embed code

i know i messed up i fixed it your too fast

Well, that cannon's got a larger diameter chamber, but I have more volume. It also has a shorter barrel.

It also weighs less than half of my design right now, and his does have the portability of being handheld. I did not design my cannon to be handheld at all, going for structural intergity and the luxury of some of the nicer things a combustion cannon can have.

It's also muzzle-loaded, whereas mine will have a quick-opening vertical-wedge breech.

Elevating and traversing will be operated by a hand crank, worm-gear setup. The mount will be small enough to transport with my truck, though.

So I guess they're similar only in size -- but my cannon will definitely be larger and less mobile. But I think it'll also be more powerful though, with more volume, a propane metering system. HGDT calculated 4800ft/lb of muzzle energy with a 3lb projectile, though I did that using exactly a 60" chamber. With the elbow and breech, it's going to be more than that so teh figure will definitely change.