Air Cannon Fun

video Air Cannon Fun

I researched and built my first air cannon this summer. Here are some of the things I shot out of it.

WiseMagnus says: Feb 22, 2009. 12:11 AM

how much pressure do you put in

rock climber (author) says: Feb 22, 2009. 6:52 AM

It depends on what I am shooting and where I am shooting. Usually, I pressurize it to about 40 psi., which is pretty powerful, but sometimes I run it at 60 psi. I think it could hold a lot more pressure, but I don't want to go beyond the limit.

MrMystery96 says: Dec 16, 2009. 7:56 PM

i built a rifle of similar size, you should be able to pressurize this to about 120 psi, from there on out, you'd need a fairly large tank of compressed air, but i have used pressures much higher than 60 psi, not much of a difference, however you may need ear protection... hehehe...

The 4th Doctor says: Mar 7, 2009. 5:13 PM

Heres an idea, you could use a disposable camera circuit. that is the flash capacitor within instead of battery's. I think you would get a pretty nice increase in power. I've tried using on on solenoids similar to that on a sprinkler valve and gotten pretty strong pull. If you try it please tell me the results.

rock climber (author) says: Mar 11, 2009. 2:35 PM

That sounds like a great idea however, I no longer have any working spinkler valve cannons. The air tank on this one is messed up.

snowpenguin says: Feb 27, 2009. 3:24 PM

Hmmm... I power mine up to 90 PSI. I'm sure your cannon could handle it. I see you used a sprinkler valve... That can handle it for sure. What kind of air intake valve are you using? You could probably get a lot more out of your cannon than you think. Here are some pictures of my cannon. P.S. Have you ever tried shooting water from your cannon? You should try it- just be aware that there is an enormous amount of kickback involved. Just be ready and don't try to stop it from kicking back, because something will give.

MrMystery96 says: Dec 16, 2009. 7:57 PM

did you get the schematics for this from spud central, i seem to recall seeing a similar one there.

snowpenguin says: Dec 16, 2009. 8:08 PM

Nope, there was a U shaped one and I did use that as a bit of a guide target, but this was basically built with no instructions at all, just pictures of other cannons and general knowledge of the way it was supposed to work.

rock climber (author) says: Feb 28, 2009. 3:14 PM

I actually built another cannon that uses a Q.E.V. Valve and has a tank made of 2in. galvaniced steel, I pressurize it to as high as my air compressor will go.(100psi.) On it, I used a Female quick disconnect, however with this air cannon I used a tire valve that bolts into the PVC. Check out www.iluv2climb.blogspot.com for more information.

Paulper says: Aug 18, 2009. 4:46 PM

so are you just telling what you did or do you have an instructable on how to makit?

rock climber (author) says: Aug 18, 2009. 5:48 PM

I am just showing what I did. I didn't take any pictures of me building it or else i would have an instructable. But i did make a slide show of the cannon. If you want to build it, its pretty simple and you should be able to figure out how it works from seeing the pictures.