PVC Air Cannon

About a month ago, my friends and I had too much time on our hands. And, as most devious college students are wont to do, we decided to make something that went BOOM! And so, we came up with plans for what we now call the Thompson's Nightmare Class Air Cannon. Our version has been known to launch water balloons over 250 feet!

This also happens to be my first instructable. I hope you enjoy!

Here's how to make one:

Step 1 The parts

For the cannon, you will need a bike, an air pump, and PVC (hence the PVC air cannon). Here's a full list of parts:

6 feet of 3" diameter PVC pipe
1 1 1/4" PVC ball valve.
1 3" PVC end cap
2 3-2" PVC reducers
2 2 - 1 1/4 PVC threaded reducers (the 1 1/4" end needs to be threaded to fit the ball valve)
1 Husky 12V inflater with light

All the above can be bought at Home Depot for about $40.

You'll also need an old bike tire.

Tools for this project:

PVC glue
electric drill
hacksaw
file
boxcutter or X-Acto knife
super glue

Comments

[ALEXBUF]

Actually cant find PVC pipes and part in the UK. all i seem to find is copper :S

[jimbob1996]

you used to be able to get a few things like PVC pipe and end caps in B&Q but you cant now. i made a spud gun about 3 years ago and i cant seem to be able to find the parts now. there are websites that sell them in the uk but they are EXPENSIVE and the pipe only comes in 3m lengths which is realy stupid. if u manage to find any then please tell me cos i can't

[lukev2]

could this shoot snowballs? i wanna whoop my uncles butt in a snowball fight.

[ElectroFrank]

DON'T EVER use anything like this to shoot at people. As it says on the last page, stuff comes out at 90 mph. That means it will injure or kill people. This might easily be classified as a deadly weapon.

[lukev2]

kind of late.... i broke his arm.... oops.....

[ElectroFrank]

I would like to suggest that all high pressure air cannon instructables should include a warning such as:

"These air weapons can shoot things fast enough to cause severe injuries. Never use them to shoot things at people."

[DannytheGreat]

how much did this cost?

[agravelin]

without the compressor this is under 20 dollars im guessing ive made one a bit different and it was cheap u just gotta find an old tire maybe a neighbor has a popped tire laying around or maybe u cud pop ur neighbors tire and steal it and u can use a bike pump sure its annoying but it works and is so worth it when u see the look in ur friends eyes haha

[jlumpkin1]

it is so awsome!

[DannytheGreat]

that isnt an amount

[timmy1234s]

I kind of hate the 3" part of the PVC pipe. I had to call and go to like 5 different places and still couldn't find it. Will a 2" or 2 and a half inch pipe work? I dont care about the limitivity of the things I can shoot? Will it still work? Help

[struckbyanarrow]

with 2 1/2 inch you can shoot tennis balls like mine!

[DannytheGreat]

or soda cans......

[Tycho7]

You can't find 3" PVC? Strange. Home Depot usually has boat-loads of the stuff. Either way, yes, you can use 2" PVC. You just have to get rid of the 3-2" reducers and replace the 3" end cap with a 2" version.

[brickman93]

could i use a 2inch ball valve? home depot dosent have 1 1/4 

[timmy1234s]

Thanks about saying that i can still make the cannon. But here in California, I cant find it. Its not at Lowes,Aces,Home Depot. All they have is DWV pipe that is 12 dollars. It is 3". Where do you live, as in state? Curious.

[bob the builder #2]

in virginia it's perfectly easy to find the pipe, anyway try looking in the plumbing section.

[hammer39]

No glue needed. When you pull a tire valve through the hole it seals because of its shape. Look at a car tire, You can see how it seals.

[Circuit7]

Its better to be safe than sorry though. That thing somehow slips (not likely) then there is no way to get that thing out without destroying your gun.

[kef4444]

could anyone tell my where the hell getting this damned pvc pipes from? i don`t find any internet site that sells em ... thx

[H20]

maybe home depot?

[Billgun]

And it does require something called paper money

[Billgun]

Homedepot, Lowes, Any hardware store that sales plumbing supplies, easy to find and you cannot buy it offline stop being lazy and get in your car a drive to your local hardware store

[ZCamilleri]

I made an air cannon similar to this and the design got up to about 100 - 125 PSI using a bike pump. Wouldn't recommend pumping past 100 though it wrecked my pump. 100 PSI shot a golf ball about 60metres.

[ZCamilleri]

I made an air cannon similar to this and the design got up to about 100 - 125 PSI using a bike pump. Wouldn't recommend pumping past 100 though it wrecked my pump.

[chickman1995]

Will this work with I bicycle pump send me a message please I wanna build this

[adam72]

I want to make a PVC air cannon for shooting tennis balls and airsoft grenades, but am having trouble finding the cheapest way to build it. I also like this design: http://www.instructables.com/id/crazy-golfball-cannon/ Does anyone know which one is cheaper? Or know of any designs cheaper than both of these? Thanks!

[ZCamilleri]

I was thinking of using this design in a science experiment - with a few changes. I just have some questions: Q1. I don't wont to buy a compressor just for this experiment, can I just use a regular bike pump? Will this create a high enough PSI? Q2. Assuming a bike pump could reach a high enough PSI level would it be capable of launching a golf ball? Would any changes need to be made to the design? Thanks

[thunil101]

can you explain how there are 8 parts in this picture? i see the 6 reducer and cap whats the other things

[jderksen1]

I found that the thread-in valves you get off motorcycle rims work good. You drill the hole, tap a thread in it and put a washing and nut on the inside. You can also put some silicon around it to seal it a little tighter as well. I find doing this acts as a more permanent fitting.

[Jarlaxle]

If you are going to use PVC primer you might as well use PVC cement and not glue here.  You can get the purple primer and PVC cement in a nice package at Home Depot.

[hammer39]

Just use a valve stem for car tires. You can get it at Auto Zone or wal-mart. Drill the proper size hole, and pull the valve through. No glue needed.

[GianniMora]

you would have to glue it some how or else there will be an air leak... is suggest JB weld

[tmandpea]

hey im kindof smaller than you (13 years old) and I wanted to make one. Im pretty smart so I can follow instructions...but do you think that if i made the length of the barrel shorter, that is would decrease the fire distance?

[wakojako]

the barrel needs the same volume as the volume of air pumped into the barrel for max velocoty

[schetleft]

no it would actually increase it. I;m 14 (but not small) and i know a lot about stuff.
making the length smaller would allow for more air compression. correct me if i'm wrong, but if you use the same amount of air (without putting too much in there) the air will decompress at a much higher rate. This will cause either a mass explosion or a really good cannon.

also for extra small ones, you could try using a valve and foot pump Instead of a compresser. (jump on the pump like theres no tomorrow because you;re small and need a lot of air in there) good luck ^_

[darthmullet]

sorry, but your science is a bit off. the projectile will accelerate only as long as it is being acted on by the air in the barrel.  wkojako is somewhat correct: the ideal situation is one where the pressure equalizes at the same moment the projectile leaves the barrel. you would have to calculate exactly what size that would be based on the intended pressure in the tank and the size of that tank. and since this is not a perfect system (there will be leaks and friction) making the barrel a little smaller than the theoretical perfect size would be ideal

[geodez]

actually, with chombustion it fires longer with a longer barrel because the expanding gases have a longer time frame to act on the projectile. (Not sure about pneumatic/hydraulic.)

[DannytheGreat]

it would act the same because these gases are expanding too, but in reference to length; shorter length wont make higher pressure, what they said length and equalizing pressure is correct, so a longer barrel with a smaller bore means more power

[geodez]

To a point, eventually you will reach a point where the pressure of the tank and barrel is equivalent to the pressure of the air outside the tank and barrel. At this point the projectile (if a gas-seal is formed) will either stop dead or fluctuate in the barrel due to inertia. However this would require either an extremely small air-tank or an exceptionally long barrel.