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Tennis Ball Combustion Cannon
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:48 pm
by Jumpin Jehosaphat
I want to make a hand-held combustion cannon because the little propane bottles are more portable than carrying around an air compressor.
I was wondering whether tennis balls safe to use in a combustion cannon, or if they will burn.
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:55 pm
by noname
They smell disgusting and if makes the end plug blast out of the chamber instead of the ball leaving the chamber, but they're fine other than that.
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:12 pm
by Jumpin Jehosaphat
Hmm, I might be better off using a CO2 pneumatic gun... but that can expensive.
Maybe I could just shoot golf balls with a combustion.
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:23 pm
by noname
I'm sure if you had the end plug in there really tight it would be fine, it's just that tennis balls fit really tightly in 2 1/2" PVC.
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:42 pm
by boilingleadbath
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:06 pm
by lukemc
noname wrote:I'm sure if you had the end plug in there really tight it would be fine, it's just that tennis balls fit really tightly in 2 1/2" PVC.
what? are you talking about making a cannon and not solvent welding??
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:13 pm
by noname
I have no idea where you got that from. I only screwed in the plug about 2 and a little bit of the threads and it got blown out. Why wouldn't I solvent weld something?
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:21 pm
by Flying_Salt
It will kick really hard and be loud. Why not?
A simple pneumatic can be made cheaply, unless you drop you tools in there then glue it up or something...
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:21 pm
by lukemc
this is an end plug.....
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:48 pm
by ammosmoke
Erm, he meant a cleanout plug.......
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:02 pm
by noname
Yeah, what Ammosmoke said. I thought it would be rather obvious, I guess I was wrong.
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:55 pm
by pyromaniac
If i remember corectly wow made a cannon on compresed propane.
since you dont want to spend money on a reg and you dont want groass tennis balls this may work.
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:22 am
by mark.f
Either way you cut it, (pneumatic or combustion), the tennis balls will burn. The friction inside the barrel being launched burns the fuzz on the edges of the ball. I, really, have only noticed black spots on the "back" of my tennis balls whenever I use a rich mix, since the spark is at the back of my chamber. The pressure rises enough to get the ball moving before the flame front reaches the back of the tennis ball.
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:00 am
by jimmy101
Like markfh11q said, a combustion gun for tennis balls will work fine. Some scorching but not a big deal.
A threaded cleanout plug should not blow out of a standard combustion gun, it it does, something is seriously wrong with the plug.
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:07 am
by noname
Yeah, it's getting sticky and hard to unscrew now. I'll just get a new plug today.