124 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
124 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
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BASIC PIPE CANNON -= Exodus =-
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A simple cannon can be made from a thick pipe by almost anyone. The only
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difficult part is finding a pipe that is extremely smooth on its interior.
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This is absolutely necessary; otherwise, the projectile may jam. Copper or
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aluminum piping is usually smooth enough, but it must also be extremely thick
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to withstand the pressure developed by the expanding hot gasses in a cannon.
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If one uses a projectile such as a CO2 cartridge, since such a projectile
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can be made to explode, a pipe that is about 1.5 - 2 feet long is ideal. Such
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a pipe MUST have walls that are at least 1/3 to 1/2 an inch thick, and be very
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smooth on the interior. If possible, screw an endplug into the pipe.
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Otherwise, the pipe must be crimped and folded closed, without cracking or
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tearing the pipe. A small hole is drilled in the back of the pipe near the
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crimp or endplug. Then, all that need be done is fill the pipe with about two
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teaspoons of grade blackpowder or pyrodex, insert a fuse, pack it lightly by
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ramming a wad of tissue paper down the barrel, and drop in a CO2 cartridge.
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Brace the cannon securely against a strong structure, light the fuse, and run.
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If the person is lucky, he will not have overcharged the cannon, and he will
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not be hit by pieces of exploding barrel. Such a cannon would look like this:
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__________________ fuse hole
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V
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________________________________________________________________
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| |_____________________________________________________________|
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|endplug|powder|t.p.| CO2 cartridge
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| ______|______|____|____________________________________________
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|_|______________________________________________________________|
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An exploding projectile can be made for this type of cannon with a CO2
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cartridge. It is relatively simple to do. Just make a crater maker, and
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construct it such that the fuse projects about an inch from the end of the
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cartridge. Then, wrap the fuse with duct tape, covering it entirely, except
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for a small amount at the end. Put this in the pipe cannon without using a
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tissue paper packing wad.
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___
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When the cannon is fired, it ( )
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will ignite the end of the |C |
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fuse, and shoot the CO2 | M|
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cartridge. The | |
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explosive-filled cartridge | |
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will explode in about three \ /
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seconds, if all goes well. [] <--- taped fuse
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Such a projectile would look []
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like this: []
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! <--- Bare fuse (add matchheads)
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ROCKET FIRING CANNON
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___ A rocket firing cannon can be made exactly like a
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/ \ normal cannon; the only difference is the ammunition. A
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| | rocket fired from a cannon will fly further than a rocket
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| C | alone, since the action of shooting it overcomes the
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| M | initial inertia. A rocket that is launched when it is
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| | moving will go further than one that is launched when it
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| | is stationary. Such a rocket would resemble a normal
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|___| rocket bomb, except it would have no fins. It would look
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| E | like the image to the left.
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| N |
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| G | the fuse on such a device would, obviously, be short,
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| I | but it would not be ignited until the rocket's ejection
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| N | charge exploded. Thus, the delay before the ejection
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| E | charge, in effect, becomes the delay before the bomb
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|___| explodes. Note that no fuse need be put in the rocket; the
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burning powder in the cannon will ignite it, and
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simultaneously push the rocket out of the cannon at a high
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velocity.
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REINFORCED PIPE CANNON
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In high school, a friend and I built cannons and launched CO2 cartridges, etc,
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etc. However, the design of the cannon is what I want to add here.
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It was made from plain steel water pipe, steel wire, and lead.
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Here is a cross section:
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_______
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| xxxxx_____________________________________________ 2" ID pipe
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| |_________________________________________________
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| | .................... <- steel wire }
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| | _____ } 3/4" ID pipe
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this | | | xxx______________________________________}_________________
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wire | | | |__________________________________________________________
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holds | |....| |
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it up |>|....| |
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in the| | | |__________________________________________________________
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cooker| | | xxx________________________________________________________
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| | |____ }
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| | ..................... } <- cast lead
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| |_______________________________________________}_
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| | _____________________________________________
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| xxxxx
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|_____|
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We dug into the side of a sand pile and built a chimney out of firebrick.
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Then we stood the assembled pipe and wire on end in the chimney, sitting on
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some bricks. We then had a blowtorch heating up the chimney, so that the pipe
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was red hot. Then we poured molten lead into the space between the pipes. If
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the caps aren't screwed on real tight, some of the lead will leak out. If
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that happens, turn off the blowtorch and the pipe will cool enough and the
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lead will stiffen and stop the leak.
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We used homemeade and commercial black powder, and slow smokeless shotgun
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powder in this thing. After hundreds of shots we cut it up and there was no
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evidence of cracks or swelling of the inner pipe.
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