Vacuum Cannon (revisited)

Make a super simple vacuum powered cannon that will shoot projectiles with a good amount of velocity. The nice thing about this project is that it is a very simple design and easy to build.

Step 1 Gather Materials

For this project you will need the following: PVC pipe (a 10' length of 3/4" was used here), a "T" connector (sized to match the PVC), duct tape, a vacuum, some newspaper, and any ball that will fit inside the PVC (in this case, paintballs).

Comments

[thebluemartyr]

do u need to put the paper? cuz from what i understand, every shot requires the replacement of the paper, you should just put a hinged circle of plastic or something so you could fire rapidly

[Thoth]

The plastic flap idea could work well on the breech end (the side where you're loading the gun) of the barrel. Though probably would not work on the muzzle end on the barrel because either the projectile will not have enough force to pop open the flap against the force of the vacuum. Also the impact in opening the flap would greatly reduce the speed of the projectile.

[uberdum05]

you could make a mechanism so that you have a PVC flap on either end linked by a piece of cotton or thin steel wire so when you open the flap to fire it, the other flap automatically opens in time with it :)

[guitarplayer128]

its really cool but since i dont have paintballs what else do u suggest i use?

[Notbob]

Sharpened pencils.....

[mr. clean]

ha i like the way u think

[wow-amazing]

Maybe you could use a cylinder of styrofoam with a coin imbedded near the front.

[howtern]

anything that fits in the pvc tube should work. we initially thought this would shoot "spit wads" or marshmallows that fit snuggly in the tube, but objects that could roll (read: travel smoothly) through the tube were much higher performance, and dangerous, ammunition.

[supersaddy]

made one today! it's realy simple to make, i didnt have paintballs and i found blueberries fit well(i was using a 1/2 inch pvc). It launches them really hard!

[ItsTheHobbs]

i might make one today. does the pvc have to be so long?

[Da_Fudge]

very nice. might try this on the weekend. look out brother and sister....... :)

[WonderWheeler]

2 1/2" thinwall PVC pipe, if you can find it, is the right size for a tennis ball. I made a carbide cannon with it.

[gnose]

why doesnt the ball get pulled along with the vacuum when you turn it on?

[CameronSS]

That last video clip is sweet. It seems that if you used wider PVC that tennis balls would work.

[crappyjoejoe]

cool!!!