CO2 instead of Black Powder

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

Ahoy Maties!

For this years Rock Hall Pirate weekend another crew member and I built a CO2 powered cannon. This thing will fire any type of ammunition that'll fit in a 3" tube and is under a certain weight but for this weekend we stuck to water balloons

Here be a few photos of the finished product:

The Cannon itself measures 54" Long and the carriage is 36" long and about 21 inches high.

We were running off of a 20lb CO2 tank that is tucked away in the carriage. We fired over 50 balloons and BARELY put a dent in the CO2.

Firing at around 60 psi we were averaging a range between 40 and 50 yards. Since we were constantly moving on the water it was touch to get an accurate distance.

All in all we could not be happier with this project. We have a few modifications to make before our next event but it's safe to say we made one hell of a SPLASH!

Once I can get video of the cannon firing I will post that as well.

Capn Antonio Malasses

[Jas. Hook]

Neat, kinda like a giant potato cannon.

Imagine firing a load of grape shot , errrrrr... confetti from that gun.

Tony, what do you use to actuate/fire the gas supply?

Jas. Hook

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

Neat, kinda like a giant potato cannon.

Imagine firing a load of grape shot , errrrrr... confetti from that gun.

Tony, what do you use to actuate/fire the gas supply?

Jas. Hook

We have made confetti cannons in the past for parades. This is just a much larger scale and can fire almost anything.

There is a pressure chamber inside the cannon that makes sure every shot uses the same amount of CO2. Then when ready to fire there is a black lever on top. You just turn that 90 degrees. The faster the turn the further it shoots. With half a days practice we got pretty good at hitting our targets.

Capn Antonio Malasses

[Cascabel]

Neat idea, and well done sez I !!! What do you do to get the water balloons to survive the force of firing without breaking ?

>>>>> Cascabel

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

Neat idea, and well done sez I !!! What do you do to get the water balloons to survive the force of firing without breaking ?

>>>>> Cascabel

The pressure chamber releases the air into a cup that pushes the balloon out of the cannon. So the air is not hitting the balloon directly and the cup distributes the force throughout the whole balloon.. The cup is tethered to the inside of the cannon so it does not go flying as well.

Capn Antonio Malasses

[Capt Thighbiter]

For a trigger mechanism , try using a fire sprinkler solenoid, kinda like a dump valve. IT actuates very quickly, to release the CO2 the same every time. Then you can just regulate the pressure it sees and get some pretty good repeatability on your shots.

My brother made a CO2 rifle with a air tank, thats what he used.

WHy did I not see this at Rock Hall? Oh right, too busy playing music!

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

For a trigger mechanism , try using a fire sprinkler solenoid, kinda like a dump valve. IT actuates very quickly, to release the CO2 the same every time. Then you can just regulate the pressure it sees and get some pretty good repeatability on your shots.

My brother made a CO2 rifle with a air tank, thats what he used.

Our original design had such a valve however we found it wasn't staying open long enough to fire properly. This could have been the valve the I purchased. We may decide to try again with a new valve however for the time being I kind of like the manual release.

WHy did I not see this at Rock Hall? Oh right, too busy playing music!

I didn't get the chance to check out what was going on on the beach. I was stuck in a crows nest doing photo shoots with anyone who dared climb the mast.. LOL! However the cannon fired quite a few shots during the dinghy race.

Capn Antonio Malasses

[Gumbatz]

Antonio.....nice name by the way.....

I was drawing up such an implement the other day to use as a T-Shirt Launcher for another festival.

Would you mind sharing your drawings? I am working on another type of release valve as well!

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

Antonio.....nice name by the way.....

I was drawing up such an implement the other day to use as a T-Shirt Launcher for another festival.

Would you mind sharing your drawings? I am working on another type of release valve as well!

I can tell you that this would work B-E-A-Utifully as a t-shirt launcher. Depending on how tight you wrap the shirts you may not even need to use a piston or sabot.

Here is a diagram of what we ultimately ended up with.

Initially we were trying to use an electronic valve put sadly the one we bought was not opening fast enough to give us adequate pressure.

A quick run down of a few key components. The CO2 tank we used ran through a regulator which cut the pressure from 1500 down to 60-75 (depending on the distance we wanted. Then we had a shut off valve which allowed us to fill the Pressure Chamber inside the cannon shell and the shut off the CO2 feed so we didn't waste air. Once the Pressure chamber was filled we stuffed the Sabot(piston) and the water balloon into the barrel. Then all you had to do was pull back on the firing valve. This released the pressure chamber and shot out the sabot and water balloon.

My initial discussions about this project and a few more schematics I made can be found HERE!

Feel free to ask any questions you like. I am very proud of this project and I doubt mind talking about it. Next year we are hoping to have a whole arsenal of CO2 cannons.

Capn Antonio Malasses

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

As promised here is the video of us firing the CO2 Powered Pirate Cannon.

A few notes:

1)We have made a few changes including changing out the PVC sabot for one made out of Boeing Foam. Yes the stuff the use on airplanes. (Don't ask how we got it LOL)

The foam cushions the balloons and as well as reduces the strain on the tether.

2) We were able to fire an entire bag of 150 balloons out of one 10 pound CO2 tank. Even we were impressed! We even bumped up the chamber pressure to 120 PSI and fired a onion over 100 yards.

3) Our next task is to add some sort of aiming system. It is more then a bit tough to keep the cannon set at the right angle.

And now on to the show:

Hope you like it

Capn Antonio Malasses

[jendobyns]

As promised here is the video of us firing the CO2 Powered Pirate Cannon.

A few notes:

1)We have made a few changes including changing out the PVC sabot for one made out of Boeing Foam. Yes the stuff the use on airplanes. (Don't ask how we got it LOL)

The foam cushions the balloons and as well as reduces the strain on the tether.

2) We were able to fire an entire bag of 150 balloons out of one 10 pound CO2 tank. Even we were impressed! We even bumped up the chamber pressure to 120 PSI and fired a onion over 100 yards.

3) Our next task is to add some sort of aiming system. It is more then a bit tough to keep the cannon set at the right angle.

And now on to the show:

Hope you like it

Capn Antonio Malasses

Cool! My sons (20 and 15) were totally impressed. You may have a recruit or two for next year *G*

Mistress D.

[Shortshanks]

Totally awesome! I bought a water balloon launcher off the web. We've used it for airsoft re-enactments (naval fire for Tarawa) We're using it for D-day OP(german 88) coming up. We have used ALL kinds of things but the BEST are nerf howler rockets. We get 1500ft at 100psi. We're in the process of making a carrage for it for our pirate part. Also making a fiberglass shell to go over it. Kids will fire water ballons across the lake at a target. Just thought I'd share.

[CharityRackham]

Nice! Now where is that video, man?

When a production or parade can't use black powder they use similar methods to get the item of choice fired off. When I shot canons on the island at the Port Alberni Tall Ships, oranges and lemons (for the real little guys) worked well but if just too much black powder was was put into a canon you got more Orange juice or lemonade. A good gust of wind we got nicely scented outfits.

With these sorts of methods (gases and the like) you do have more control. It's also a lot easier to move the 'weapon' around as there tends to be a few less regulations involved and there are more of the same regulations from spot to spot. Brilliant and good on you AND I WANT TO SEE SOME VIDEO!! Please.

If you are looking for additional options and inspiration let me quote another post from another topic here, as well.

Hello all! I've been watching this forum a bit over the past couple of days, and would like to add some alternative ideas. Having worked in the film industry for 15 years, and taken part in many productions and events, I've run across alternatives to black powder. Mostly useful for cannons (but could be adapted for hand-guns as well), calcium carbonate, when mixed with water forms acetylene gas. There are a number of groups out here in BC who use it at parades and the like. It won't produce quite the smokey blast that gunpowder can, but a most satisfying pop. Once you've sorted out the actual gun regulations, you may want to look into this as a less restricted alternative to black powder (you can still purchase little toy cannons on the internet with calcium carbonate to fire them with). To see the kind of nice bang and fireball you can get with acetylene, you can view our exploding gingerbread house from last year.

We did the video for a Discovery Channel 15th anniversary submission, and did it in Mythbusters style. If you don't want to watch the whole video, go to about 5 minutes in where I fill the gingerbread house with acetylene, and watch from there. We used an acetylene tank, but calcium carbonate works just as well. A model rocket igniter triggers our blast, but some groups use a match or wick to the touch-hole, or a modified spark plug arrangement. You could also look into some local farm or orchard suppliers, they sometimes sell bird deterrent cannons, which fire a loud boom every few minutes to scare birds away from the crops. They may be propane powered (more readily available and somewhat safer), but could probably be modified to suit a pirate cannon.

REMEMBER! This is very explosive stuff (like black powder isn't...), so use carefully, and always outdoors. Enjoy!

[Captain Midnight]

Thanks for posting this! What a great idea! It's funny you should post this, I too, have been working on a cannon that can be fired safely at festivals and parades without black powder. As in Christina's post above, my cannon will be a carbide-fired type, and as such, will not be intended to fire a projectile of any type. However, unlike most carbide cannons seen these days, mine will have a bit of a "twist" to make it a bit more unique...I will post pics of it soon, most likely under its own thread so as not to hijack this one.

[CharityRackham]

I'd love to see the pics. I have video and pics of me firing a cannon. Once I can sit still I should see if I can do a quick edit and upload.

ON that note... If you are going to move your stuff elsewhere you make sure you link from here so we can all follow. I would love to see how all of these turn out.

Later!

[PLUNDERING PYLOS PARKER]

does anyone know where i can find cannon balls and chain shot, prefer replicas but will buy originals also.

[hurricane]

Diosa and I had once planned to build the candy cannon for use at events. It is fueled by black powder, true, but it looks like it would be a blast firing a pound of candy to the kiddies.

http://stores.sheasmtn.com/Detail.bok?no=73

[CharityRackham]

Yum! Charred candy.

You invite me if you do, Okay?

[Captain Midnight]

Well, I have been working since late December building a carbide cannon in the form of (or as close as I can get to) a historical replica of a Spanish cannon, and here are pics of my project so far. Sorry for the poor quality of the pics, they were taken last night in low light conditions. Pay no heed to the dates on the pics, I have just not reset the correct date on my camera. The barrel is nearly finished now, it simply needs the vent (touch hole) drilled, and its final coat of paint. The red color in the pics is simply a primer coat. I hope to finish up the barrel in the next week or so, and then on to building its carriage. It has been a challenge; much planning, sculpting, casting...but I am well pleased with the results. I present to you El Azufre ("Brimstone")...hope you all enjoy!

A shot of the first reinforce, showing the Spanish arms in relief.

A shot of El Azufre's dolphins, and the casting date.

Forward shot of the dolphins.

The muzzle with the cannons name cast in relief.

The muzzle and bore.

Edited March 8, 2011 by Captain Midnight

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

Nice! Now where is that video, man?

I apologize to all for neglecting this thread. I didn't know it was still active. My Bad!

Charity,

I posted the video back in September. Is it not coming up for you?

Here is the link again:

I checked and the video is still up on Youtube.

Midnight,

That is some BEAUTIFUL work. I tip my hat to you. Do you have step by step pics or details on how you created this? I'd love to use some of the decorating techniques on my cannon.

Capn Antonio Malasses

[wes1761]

We shoot a candy cannon off at Rendezvous, and no charred candy! I use 1 cap of powder and for a wad we have a cardstock wad and a sponge wad. The card protects the sponge which protects the candy...I'll try to find a picture

[Captain Midnight]

Here are updated pics of my cannon's barrel. It is 99.9% complete here, it just needs the vent hole drilled. I am holding off on that until I find out what size hole will be needed for the ignitor to fit into. Some of the details that were not very clear in the previous photos I posted can now be clearly seen, such as the Spanish crest, the trunnion markings, and the patina.

[peglegstrick]

Now that is sweet ..........

Looks good, the bronze & patina made the details pop