Shotgun-Style Homemade

[rock force6]

Fellow SSCentral Members,

Here's my story. I just got out of school for summer and the summer lacrosse league doesn't start until early June. I'm bored and I have lots of time on my hands. I got a Flash Flood the other day and it's great, but then I saw the article about Homemade water guns. I want one so bad, but I just don't luike the look of it. I want to make an Air Pressure Homemade with a different look. But first, I have some questions/ comments.



From what I understand, in and APH, you pump the water from the resovoir and it goes into the Pressure Chamber. The water in the pressure chamber is then released when you turn the valve. Help me out, I'm a inexperienced user at this stuff.



There's my design. A few questions that I have are:
- How exactly does a pump in a homemade get the water from the resovoir into the PC.
- Will the resovoir on the bottom of the butt stock in my design be able to feed water into the PC.

I really want to build this, but I'm going to need help. If you guys can help me work out the problems with my design then I should be able to build it. My main concern is if my design will work. I don't know if there are internals that I need to make or not.
Help a inexperienced user who wants to make a gun out. :huh:

Thanks,

rock force6

[DX]

Currently, your design would need some adjustments in order to work. First, you'll need 2 check [one way valves]. One has to be between the reservoirs and the pump, the other has to be after the pump, but connected before the pcs.

Suction is how water is pulled from the reservoir and carried into the pc of a homemade. When you draw out the pump, water moves in through the 1st check valve and it closes, so the water can't back out. When you push the pump in, the 2nd valve opens and allows the water to flow into the pcs, closing afterwards.

Your design also shows a tracked pump, or at least it looks like it to me. Not many people have used tracked pumps in their homemades, you have to make one from scratch, but it is not that hard. [I have one so I know] You need to drill 2 holes in a pvc pipe at the ends of where you want the "track." Then, saw from one of the holes towards the other, so a screw could be placed across the cut and move up and down. Choose a pump handle, and drill a hole through so that you can fit a screw through the track, and handle.

Sorry if my description is somewhat confusing, the making of a homemade tracked pump is not documented and pictures don't exist as far as I know. I could get pics if my camera was working... But despite the shaky description, I would still go for a tracked pump, it makes perfect sense with pictures. I'll try to get some, for everyone's benefit.

Anyway, if I haven't lost your attention with all that rambling, I'll add that regardless of what kind of pump you use, you have to get a smaller pipe that fits inside the pump, and wrap electrical tape around it to make sure the seal is good. The hardest part of making a homemade IMO is getting a perfect seal. If the seal isn't good, the necessary suction won't occur.

[Drenchenator]

I would believe that the barrel would actually decrease the range. In water guns, the longer the barrel increases the friction inside and there is no real benefit in the laminar flow. It will also make the gun really long and homemades like this are already big enough.

Also, the butt will not help you aim or help with stability, but it is not hurting the design. Homemades do not have much recoil, so a butt is not needed.

[rock force6]

What other type of pump could I go with? I can't really tell what kind of pump is in the Air-Pressure Homemade on the website.

By the way, here is my new, hopefully fixed design. I added the check valves and what I think would be where I'd want the water flow to go.



Is the pump in the right place, or should I mvoe it back? By the way Duxburian, please let me know when you get those pictures up.

Thanks,

rock force6

[Hunt_and_Annoy]

you would want a tube going to the bottom of the bottom reservoir, so it will be sucking up the water at the bottom instead of the air at the top.

[RacerSoaker445]

This is the preffered design for maximum water flow:



The arrows mean which way the check valve should be placed.

[rock force6]

Here's my Semi-Final Plan



Tell Me What you think!

I'll have my final final plan and the list of parts I'll be using soon so you can tell me if I'm missing anything.

Thanks,

rock force6

Edit: Is 1" PVC a good size for the "tubing" (for lack of a better word) for my Water Gun?

[Hunt_and_Annoy]

I think its great! 1" will probably work fine, but maybe 3/4" would be better for a starting APH...I don't know...doom should be able to give you the best suggestions...

I like that design a lot, I might even build one, congratulations on your first homemade design.

[rock force6]

Could someone help me out with a list of parts I'd need to make that? I need to know what I'll need for the pump internals & how to make the pump. Or, if I took my design to Home Depot, do you think they could help me get what I need? I think my plan should work if I can figure out the pump internals. I'd like to build this thing. Other than that, I think I'm set. Thanks!

rock force6

[RacerSoaker445]

IMO, Lowes has a much better plumbing section then Home Depot.

[rock force6]

I'll have to check that out. Thanks.

[death angel]

Isn't laminar flow increased if the if the route water takes from the PC out the nozzle as straight as possible ? Because I noticed on most designs the PC's are facing downward, instead of facing toward the nozzle. Is there some reason for this type of design? :unsure:

[DX]

The reason most air pressure pcs face downward is because the air goes to the top within the pc. If the pc faces the nozzle, the air will be at the top still, but you'll get air mixed in the stream instead of at the end because there's air near the pc's opening. In the normal facing pc, the water always drains first. Range is affected by a straight route, laminar flow is most affected by the nozzle [s]. Lowes also has a better selection, in fact parts I couldn't find at Home Depot were easily found at Lowes.

The design seems pretty long right now, you might want to cut your connecting pieces of pvc as short as possible. My APH is modeled after Doom's dual chamber design, yet is about half the length because I made those pieces really short.

For size, I would use 3/4". You could use 1", but the gun will be bulkier and slightly heavier.

[death angel]

The reason most air pressure pcs face downward is because the air goes to the top within the pc. If the pc faces the nozzle, the air will be at the top still, but you'll get air mixed in the stream instead of at the end because there's air near the pc's opening.

Ohhhhhhhhh. Thanks for explaining. Is that why it would work to have a PC facing the nozzle in a CPS gun?
If your looking for PVC, just check you local harware store. My hardware store has quite a variety, though probably not as much as a big store such as Lowe's. But you local harware store is probably more convient.

[DX]

CPS doesn't have that problem, so the pc can be in a direct line with the nozzle. Local stores usually have the common sizes of PVC and common fittings, but the selection of fittings can be unreliable. For example, I've never come across check valves, barbs, some reducers, etc. at the local Sears.