SpudFiles

Over the weekend i got to wondering if other positions of barrel and air inlet on a vortex block besides 90 degrees work just as well.(say 180 or 0)...



...and how well vortex caps work in various positions...



...So I built three vortex caps of the three air inlet positions (0 ,90 ,and 180 degrees) and tested them in the various positions.I found that all combinations work fairly well, but that the 180 degree sideways can jam a bit.That got me thinkin...


(the block on the opposite side would be duplicated on the near side)

Slot block: Like a half block but upside down.
Thoughts?

If you have any solid numbers, could we see them? I trust you, but I would like to see how effective each was.
I have always doubted the principals of vortexes, the thought that hundreds of bbs per second follow a nice path is a bit optimistic. I've always believed they were more like "controlled clouds" in the sense that they work on the same principal, but the vortex shrinks the "chamber" for higher effeciency and less air expansion, yealding better results. But I guess we won't know until one of our high speed camera owners gets a block of lexan and some clear PVC, or atleast a clear vortex cap...

I almost forgot what I was going to say about these new vortex cap designs: the 0 degree one looks more like a hopper fed full auto, and the 180 design was bound to experience jams with all the turns

Actually, I built a 1/4 block vortex a while while back, before I joined spudfiles. Cut the block out of wood, and housed it in aluminum with I think an arrow shaft as the barrel and a pen housing as the air input. Used an unused pesticide sprayer with a schrader valve superglued in as an air chamber.

So, actually, what I built is the shape of a 90 degree sector with the input pointed at 90 degrees, and the barrel pointing at 0 degrees. Worked wonders, except then I got into piston valves and shooting more advanced stuff. I think I'll be digging that out soon, even if only for the purposes of this discussion, because I don't think I ever saw anyone else use a 1/4 block.

And with a quarter block there's really no way that it can behave like a cloud because the BBs are so constrained, as soon as they go into the block, they must exit via the barrel, they can't circulate. But yeah, I'd love to see a quarter block with a clear construction and a high-speed.

It looks like it could work. I would suggest putting the slot block at the bottom of a v-shaped section. If you had it flat like in the pic you would tend to have the last bunch on bb's rolling around, although a bit of shaking should fix that easily enough.