Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Stryke 9 on January 14, 2003, 07:10:21 pm

Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 14, 2003, 07:10:21 pm
I'd just liek to take the time to say...

This guy (http://www.angelfire.com/80s/sixmhz/biggun.html) is my hero.


I've been looking for a good resource for EM catapult blueprints for almost forever (at a considerably larger scale), and then he just pops up with it down to the crap you can get out of your junkyard.

Now, the question is whether I can make a 2-pounder and still be able to get it around short of by truck. And where to get high-voltage capacitators and a car battery or two...
Title: ...
Post by: Stealth on January 14, 2003, 07:26:33 pm
SWEETNESS!!!!!!!!!!
Title: ...
Post by: deep_eyes on January 14, 2003, 07:28:14 pm
@ first i was gonna say ... BUT THEN ME THINKS.... did this guy build a home made rail gun?
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 14, 2003, 07:28:56 pm
I particularly like how he used SCRs, which never occurred to me, even though I have a couple handy (I think).

Might stick to the photoelectric cell, tho.
Title: ...
Post by: Styxx on January 14, 2003, 08:18:32 pm
Quite nice.
Title: ...
Post by: ZylonBane on January 14, 2003, 08:36:51 pm
Quote
Originally posted by deep_eyes
@ first i was gonna say ... BUT THEN ME THINKS.... did this guy build a home made rail gun?
Not quite. A gauss gun (http://www.ballistictech.com/essays/gauss.html).
Title: ...
Post by: Sandwich on January 14, 2003, 09:07:59 pm
You finally found it, eh? Hehehe... :)
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 14, 2003, 10:27:16 pm
AKA Coil Gun, AKA Mass Driver, AKA EM Catapult. Railguns, I don't like, because on further research it appears that:

1. They take a ****load of power. As in, more than I can provide, without an extension cord and wall outlet.
2. They tend to be single-use, with the high amount of wear that is put on them by hteir firing process. I don't think any in history has survived first shot. I'm gonna probably take a month to make this, I don't wanna set it off once and then it dies.


Plus, I have the capacity for a coilgun, anyway. Two 250V capacitators, four 200V, a lot of wire- I still need to work on the barrel and triggering system, and find a housing, but with all that done all I'll need is a pair of old recharged car batteries.


Think of it... recoilless fire, fair to middling velocity, and an EMP that'll trash anything silicon within a couple dozen yards... I'm in love already.:D
Title: ...
Post by: Nico on January 15, 2003, 03:33:01 am
Quote
Originally posted by StrykeIX
AKA Coil Gun, AKA Mass Driver, AKA EM Catapult. Railguns, I don't like, because on further research it appears that:

1. They take a ****load of power. As in, more than I can provide, without an extension cord and wall outlet.
2. They tend to be single-use, with the high amount of wear that is put on them by hteir firing process. I don't think any in history has survived first shot. I'm gonna probably take a month to make this, I don't wanna set it off once and then it dies.


Plus, I have the capacity for a coilgun, anyway. Two 250V capacitators, four 200V, a lot of wire- I still need to work on the barrel and triggering system, and find a housing, but with all that done all I'll need is a pair of old recharged car batteries.


Think of it... recoilless fire, fair to middling velocity, and an EMP that'll trash anything silicon within a couple dozen yards... I'm in love already.:D


once it done, give it a cool looking casing :p
Title: ...
Post by: CP5670 on January 15, 2003, 03:38:07 am
This looks pretty interesting; I need to see if I can make one of these here...
Title: ...
Post by: Fetty on January 15, 2003, 06:06:06 am
hlp gaus gun gang :wtf:
Title: ...
Post by: Sandwich on January 15, 2003, 06:46:52 am
Quote
Originally posted by Fetty
hlp gaus gun gang :wtf:


:lol:
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 15, 2003, 08:27:19 am
Y'all best reco'nize.

*shoonk*
*boom*




That "boom" being either a hit or the power supply/capacitators blowing up, of course.
Title: ...
Post by: Tar-Palantir on January 15, 2003, 09:31:19 am
Quote
Plus, I have the capacity for a coilgun, anyway. Two 250V capacitators, four 200V, a lot of wire- I still need to work on the barrel and triggering system, and find a housing, but with all that done all I'll need is a pair of old recharged car batteries.

Think of it... recoilless fire, fair to middling velocity, and an EMP that'll trash anything silicon within a couple dozen yards... I'm in love already.


I don't want to sound like a killjoy but why would you need one?
Title: ...
Post by: Shrike on January 15, 2003, 09:35:56 am
I fine you one credit for vague threat title.
Title: ...
Post by: ZylonBane on January 15, 2003, 09:49:54 am
Quote
Originally posted by StrykeIX
Think of it... recoilless fire
Gauss guns aren't inherently recoilless. Just because you're pushing with magnetism instead of gas pressure doesn't mean conservation of momentum goes away.

BTW, "mass driver" usually denotes a large-scale gauss gun system that delivers its payload via a reusable bucket. Useful for chucking non-magnetic materials around.
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 15, 2003, 03:06:47 pm
Well, effectively recoilless. Since no force is really being exerted on the weapon itself by the projection, there's next to no kickback, particularly when compared to standard rifle-type guns, where the bullet's propelled by a fairly powerful explosion of radial force.

If you use a vacuum to suck a ball out of a secured tube, the tube doesn't start flying around- same sort of thing here, it's getting pulled out without a huge explosion of force, only in this case by magnetism instead of air pressure.
Title: ...
Post by: Sandwich on January 16, 2003, 05:53:51 am
Quote
Originally posted by StrykeIX
Well, effectively recoilless. Since no force is really being exerted on the weapon itself by the projection, there's next to no kickback, particularly when compared to standard rifle-type guns, where the bullet's propelled by a fairly powerful explosion of radial force.


Sorry, that's not the reason. The magnetisim is anchored to something, this case being the gun. Otherwise you might as well argue that refridgerator magnets should not be able to stick to the fridge, since it's magnetic force that's doing the attraction. :rolleyes:

Reverse force is being exerted on the gun, but it's the manner of acceleration which makes it seem like less kickback than a normal gun. With a normal rifle, the explosion "instantly" accelerates the projectile to its top speed, which is what causes the kick-back. With railguns/ gauss guns, the acceleration is actually being spread out over a period of a few milliseconds, which is enough to significantly lower the kick-back.

But probably of far higher import is the mass ratio between a rifle and its bullet compared to the mass ratio between a railgun/gauss gun and its projectile.
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 16, 2003, 11:50:32 am
True. Except that the coil gun BARREL is relatively light- maybe a pound or two heavier than an average rife, but after all it's just a (thinner, hollow) barrel with some wire coils and a triggering system for the series electromagnets. If you want to reduce the number of wires, you can add in the capacitators like I am, which don't come out to more than maybe a pound. The power source is what's heavy, and generally you'd either wear it as a backpack/satchel (for mobility) or have it in a separate box (if on a vehicle or stationary)- it'd invariably be heavy enough that connecting it to the catapult element would render it inoperable, if not snap the barrel in half.

I was guessing a pair of car batteries for a roughly rifle-sized coilgun. Odds are, the power requirements are actually a fair bit higher. They're energy hogs.
Title: ...
Post by: Stealth on January 16, 2003, 11:52:52 am
Quote
Originally posted by StrykeIX
Well, effectively recoilless. Since no force is really being exerted on the weapon itself by the projection, there's next to no kickback, particularly when compared to standard rifle-type guns, where the bullet's propelled by a fairly powerful explosion of radial force.

If you use a vacuum to suck a ball out of a secured tube, the tube doesn't start flying around- same sort of thing here, it's getting pulled out without a huge explosion of force, only in this case by magnetism instead of air pressure.


there's still recoil, just as Sandwich said, the acceleration isn't instant, it's gradual (still in milliseconds, but nonetheless gradual)

... "for every action there is a reaction"
Isaac Newton
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 16, 2003, 12:00:15 pm
I wasn't denying that- I hadn't taken the magnetic counter-pull into account previously. Still, the recoil would be significantly less, and spread over time, so it would be very close. And significantly less is a very handy thing, with guns. I remember trying to use a shotgun as a kid- damn thing near took my arm off, and I think the pellet spread ended up going at about a 45* angle to my target. Pistols are better, but not too impressive- mostly good for breaking bottles. This would be a happy medium.:D
Title: ...
Post by: Sandwich on January 16, 2003, 08:30:02 pm
Quote
Originally posted by StrykeIX
I wasn't denying that- I hadn't taken the magnetic counter-pull into account previously. Still, the recoil would be significantly less, and spread over time, so it would be very close. And significantly less is a very handy thing, with guns. I remember trying to use a shotgun as a kid- damn thing near took my arm off, and I think the pellet spread ended up going at about a 45* angle to my target. Pistols are better, but not too impressive- mostly good for breaking bottles. This would be a happy medium.:D


Meh - just wait till the 30th, when I get the first weekend break from another month of army reserves. Yay. :rolleyes:
Title: ...
Post by: Anaz on January 16, 2003, 09:28:49 pm
I ought to build one of these just for the hell of it...

I can see it now...

Dad: You want a pair of car batteries for WHAT!?

or...

Dad: You used that pair of car batteries for WHAT?!
Title: ...
Post by: Fetty on January 16, 2003, 10:00:49 pm
or even
why is my car not starting ?
:D
Title: ...
Post by: Knight Templar on January 16, 2003, 10:05:07 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Analazon
I ought to build one of these just for the hell of it...

I can see it now...

Dad: You want a pair of car batteries for WHAT!?

or...

Dad: You used that pair of car batteries for WHAT?!


I could hook you up with some, less legitamate car batteries for relatively cheap..  ;7
Title: ...
Post by: Sandwich on January 17, 2003, 05:29:17 am
Quote
Originally posted by Knight Templar


I could hook you up with some, less legitamate car batteries for relatively cheap..  ;7


Meh - just get a 100-pack of Energizers and combine them into a grid-computing-type power source. :p
Title: ...
Post by: Knight Templar on January 17, 2003, 11:00:00 am
Quote
Originally posted by Sandwich


Meh - just get a 100-pack of Energizers and combine them into a grid-computing-type power source. :p


I guess it'd be relatively the same price
Title: ...
Post by: Stealth on January 17, 2003, 11:00:58 am
Quote
Originally posted by Knight Templar


I guess it'd be relatively the same price


but the batteries would have much more strain on them

EDIT:  if you want car batteries, go to a local scrap/junk yard, buy like 5 batteries (probably less than $5.00 each) and then take them to NAPA... they'll test them for free, and i'll bet at least 2 of them will just need some more water, and a charge, and they'll be good as new :nod: :D
Title: ...
Post by: Bobboau on January 17, 2003, 11:07:48 am
or you could just plug it into the wall...
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 17, 2003, 03:05:50 pm
YES! I can see it now...

The new Smith and Wesson Coilgun... the rifle you wouldn't leave home without, if you could leave your room with it!
Title: ...
Post by: Sandwich on January 17, 2003, 08:18:44 pm
Quote
Originally posted by StrykeIX
The new Smith and Wesson Coilgun...



{Gollum voice}.... and we WANTSSS IT!!!!!{/Gollum voice}
Title: ...
Post by: Martinus on January 18, 2003, 03:40:54 pm
[color=66ff00]Bloody Hell!!

That's an impressive bit of DIY, would be rather dangerous to build given the mess a bad connection or short circuit could make, still it might be a worthy addition to the urban warrior's armory.

Still it doesn't even compare to this bit of inspired lunacy : Insta death (www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,46570,00.html)

You can keep your coil guns, I want one of those! :nod:

[/color]
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 18, 2003, 03:47:24 pm
What would you do with one million rounds a minute? Really, really kill someone?

The caseless thing's nothing new. It's also nothing special, in my opinion. Keep in mind you have to CARRY all that ammo you're using up in less than a second, and that this thing'd be a real ***** to load. Never mind that the barrel'd wear down pretty quickly, and, once again, what'd you DO with such a high rate of fire?


And yeah. There's the chance for the odd electrocution. But given the relative simplicity of the wiring and the fact that most any cheap civvie-model gun could explode when jammed and kill or maim you, it's not that bad
Title: ...
Post by: SKYNET-011 on January 18, 2003, 03:51:07 pm
Bah, these don't come anywhere near the military's new-
*is run over by tank and carpet-bombed*

:D
Title: ...
Post by: kasperl on January 18, 2003, 03:51:16 pm
one little, very anoying question:
what the hell are you going to do with this thing, stryke?
i mean,except for impressing people with it, what use is it? does it has any?:doubt:
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 18, 2003, 03:51:50 pm
Depends on how big I can make it, and whether it works when I'm done.;)
Title: ...
Post by: Martinus on January 18, 2003, 03:53:56 pm
[color=66ff00]Mount it to a car! :D

It's not caseless, it's simply got no firing pin.


BTW for portability, ease of construction and use, cheapness and availability of ammo/propellant and sheer bang-for-your-buck you really can't ignore the spud gun. It really is a thing of beauty. :nod:

[/color]
Title: ...
Post by: Stryke 9 on January 18, 2003, 04:02:02 pm
Yeah, but everyone with access to a basic workshop and interest in things that make other things move fast has one of THOSE. Not really all that impressive.