bowling ball mortar

Gotta make one of these.

http://www.docsmachine.com/nonPB/mortar.html

I thought used up old bowling balls had plutonium cores in them...he must be using newer bowling balls. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

"WOW!"

Normal Bowling balls come UPTO 14 lbs, not 10, so add 40% to the energy calculated!

I always thought regular bowling balls weighed 16 pounds...if that's the case, the cannon would have even MORE kinetic energy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif
I'd hate to be the pinsetter with that cannon around. :toliet:

The 'normal' range is 10 to 16 pounds, mine is a 12 and solid acrylic except for it's off-center weighted core (off-centered to allow for it to be balanced after the finger holes are bored out). My wife's was a 10, and my father in-law's was a 16.

There is a much easier design. Take 2' of schedule 40 "black iron" pipe and arcweld a 1/4" mild steel plate on one end. Bury the plate end abt 18" deep in the ground, with it angled down range. Fill a 35mm "film can" with 1F blackpowder, poke a hole in the top, and insert a piece of green fuze. Projectile consists of a 1# coffee can abt 3/4 full of plaster of paris/concrete/etc. Light the film can and drop it in, followed by the coffee can. Hang time in the sky can exceed 20 seconds! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif (Don't try this in the People's Socialists Republic of Taxifornia- it constitutes a "destructive device." If you live in a free state, they're awsome fun! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif (not to mention "bang-for-the-buck."

Larry

"Three ounces of Pyrodex, an old garage-sale-special bowling ball, an old chair and some sewer pipe... Fire in the hole!"

Three ounces?!!

Brightnorm

hot dam!

oh man...how can i <font color="red">not</font> build one of these?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/drool.gif

That beats the heck out of my 45 year old Golf Ball Mortar..



Range: 600 yards on a 100 gr. load of 4F Black powder. Very satisfying Boom..

Also from that era, Ole WP's Beer Can cannon..



Only about 350 yards on 120 gr. 2F powder and plaster of paris filled can. Again, satisfying Thump!

Haven't fire either in 30 years, seems what was a nice afternoon's fun suddenly became a felony. Won't even get into our Sterno sustained hot-air ballons trailing Radar reflecting chaff strips. We think they may be still looking for us..

[ QUOTE ]
tvodrd said:
Light the film can and drop it in, followed by the coffee can.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't want to sound like anyone's Mom here, but this is not a real good idea. Loading your cannon after it's lit could have some unintended consequences, ranging from serious injury to death. A piece of defective fuse, or a spark from the fuse that gets through a gap in the film can could easily put a permanent end to your fun. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

If you do fool around with a device like this its a good idea to bury as much of it in the ground as practical. Use a design that allows for everything to be pre-loaded. Light fuse, and retire quickly.

[ QUOTE ]
brightnorm said:
"Three ounces of Pyrodex, an old garage-sale-special bowling ball, an old chair and some sewer pipe... Fire in the hole!"

Three ounces?!!

Brightnorm

[/ QUOTE ]

Pyrodex and Black powder are not the same thing. The performance of Pyrodex is highly dependent on a good gas seal between the projectile and the bore. Unless you have a nice tight fit, Pyrodex is not going to give satisfactory results in an application like this. Coarse grained (2Fg or "Cannon" granulation if you can find it) Black powder is a much better choice.


Peter

my spud gun rocks and is so economical

Doesn't anyone use a slingshot anymore?

I used to make "polish cannons" out of pop cans (the steel ones, not those whimpy aluminum ones you see today) that used Ronsonol cigerette lighter fluid as the explosive charge and tennis balls as the ammunition. And if you squirted lighter fluid on the tennis ball before shooting it, you'd get a flaming ("tracer") projectile that looked really neat at night. Provided, of course, that you didn't shoot it at houses or flammable weeds. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Oh, the things that big brothers teach you... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif :toliet: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif