| zoharjackon.com -Pneumatic bottle canon |
|
At the end of junior year my friend, Max Dayan, showed me how to shoot a cap off a 16oz water bottle. Its very simple all you do is empty the bottle put the cap on, twist the bottle such that the air inside is compressed and then spin/flick off the cap with your thumb and boom! The cap fly’s 12ft. But that is rather boring. So I thought “Hey, why not pump a bottle up to 60psi and then blow the cap off!? I didn’t get around to it until the middle of my senior year. I took a presta bicycle inner tube, chopped it in two, then inserted the valve through a hole i drilled in a 2L bottle put on two washers and a nut, then tightened the hell out of the nut. The rubber tube was sucked into the hole sealing it tightly.
It worked, there were no leaks and the pressure held indefinitely. Over the next couple hours I bravely tested higher and higher pressures, eventually reaching 90psi! Be very careful, all bottles are different and will explode! You dont want to end up with plastic shrapnel in your eyes. The noise made from firing at 60psi is comparable to a gun shot,the velocity of the cap is around 30mph. We wondered how much it would hurt to be hit by the cap. My friend Adam Palmer volunteered to be a test dummy, we fired at his butt. He said it didnt hurt much, a little sting. Conclusion For $3.25 this makes a great project! Go to a local bike store buy a presta inner tube.and some washers Parts:
Make sure to wear protective eye wear! Plastic shrapnel in your eye is not pleasant. I am not responsible for any injuries or damages related to this project. |
