I watched this video two years ago, remembered it, and revisited it for help for an engine project I’m doing now. You helped me create a vision then, and you’re helping me finish now. Thanks dude 🤙
I've been wanting to build a PVC vacuum pump for ages, but at the moment, I've got no reliable way to cut an even groove. This is exactly the video I needed. Cheers!
This video was far from uninteresting, I was trying to figure a way to get rid of all that filing but this just solved my problem! The timing of this video was impecable
Thanks! This is exactly what I was needing to find. I’m planning to build a regulated piston to push my unclamped tailstock at a calculable, adjustable pressure for those long, slow drilling sessions on the lathe.
Much better than the last method. I duct taped an end cap to the chuck of a drill and ran a file over the cap asI ran the drill. It worked but took some time.
This is great. I made one of these pistons myself, last year, using 1/2" PVC, I don't remember the size of the ring though. Unfortunately the Airsoft gun I was trying to make, didn't work due to other reasons, including a bad spring, so I never got the chance to see if the pistons actually worked! Good to know they do! I'll revisit my project in the future, with some better equipment then what I had.
This is a great idea to make a solid piston part with materials of equal tensile strength. Thinking about making a lowering device like Mark Rober. This will be helpful
good idea , you should be able to stretch the Oring over the end caps after its glued meaning no glue and you should be able to do that when an Oring perishes to replace it.
I tried it out and it actually worked For me because I live in a country that uses metric sizes were a little different 32 mm outer diameter PVC pipe,endcap,push coupler and 33x6 o ring makes a good piston in 50mm outer diameter (45mm inner diameter) tube O ring is a bit loose but it doesn't really matter and if you want it can be fixed with a hint of electrical tape
Hi, your O-Ring 33x6 has an inner diameter of 33mm and an outer diameter of 39mm, right? but your tube has an inner diameter of 45mm. so have you applied a 6mm thick layer of electrical tape an streched the O-Ring on it?
@@muslimdogan196 you fell into a classic blunder To get the outer diameter of the o ring ye gotta add it's thickness twice As it's thickness "surrounds" the inner diameter
Brilliant, I tried building a PVC pump with O-rings the exact same way. Cutting out a notch for the O-ring. Basically, when you suck up water, and you bring the pump out of the water, the water seeps out. I could never create a good vacuum. Hopefully I can modify your invention to satisfy mine! Thank you!
I kinda miss this old format. The one which didnt have any music, and all the audio is just your voice-over. Not that I dont like the current format, however! It just feels nice to take a step back to those early days of your channel. But once again, a nice little tutorial! I look forward to seeing that handheld cannon of yours! Keep it up!
I want to make a small excavator for a kid. I was thinking of making tubes similar to this and fill with water to give a feeling of hydraulics. I saw a similar idea for a smaller project in a video that uses a syringe at each end of a hose to get a back and forward motion.
By classic do you mean that you've seen this particular method for making pistons before? I first used it in my video "How To Make A Nerf Style Artillery Launcher" in 2014 and at the time I thought it was original. I'd be interested to know if someone thought this method up before I did.
I did a quick little search on the Spudtech forum archives and found this post from 2006: www.spudfiles.com/spudtech_archive/viewtopic.php?p=143658#p143658 , but I remember seeing it pop up a few times earlier than that. I used it myself in ~2009. It's a good way to make pistons... better than using duct tape and petroeum jelly in any case. :D
Cool, that's the first I've seen of someone else using the same method. I don't use a piston face though, I've got another trick for that I'll get into in my air cannon video.
I am building a past air cannon of yours, the coaxial piston cannon to be exact and my problem with it not working is the airtight seal for the piston I used the hockey puck piston idea and it didn't work but I was wondering if this piston might make that seal. Because everything is built I just have air coming out of the barrel and I think the piston is not pushing up to the bottom end of the barrel.
This piston is too small for the 3" chamber of the cannon i think you're referring to. You probably need either a piece of softer rubber glued to the front of your hockey puck, or just smear the face of it with TFE pipe thread paste. That can help to make a better seal.
I tried using this for a syringe style suction pump. Just sucking water and sand up and I was very disappointed. Technically it did work but not well enough to be worth the effort. I see he advertises it for multiple uses so maybe you'll have better luck on one of them. Looked cool. Good luck
@@Nighthawkinlight Thanks for your reply. It just doesn't create enough suction. Im using it in a 2" pipe maybe thats too much weight in water to expect it to pull. My pipe is atleast 3' long. Saying it can hold a gallon, im only able to get a couple cups. Thats not involving sand which doesnt seem to change much when i do try to pull it up. It seems as though its a perfect seal but just isn't pulling like I hoped. Im at a loss cause this was by far the best design i found on youtube.
Hey Ben, we create videos on science and for one of the videos, we require a customizable sand timer. A sand timer with a regulator attached to it's neck which can control the diameter of the neck so that the clock can be used to measure varying intervals of time. Please design such a thing and tell us the idea.
Not sure if still relevant but if I wanted to do something like that I would think about drill and tapping a screw in the bottleneck area so as you tighten the screw the hole gets tighter and as you loosen the hole gets larger.
Probably a coaxial piston cannon, which he already did a video on EDIT: apparently it is a QEV based design which basically works the same way a coaxial piston cannon.
Yep - I'm having problems finding the ring also - found 10 online with one supplier, but $5 something for the rings and $11 for shipping. A model and part number would really help and maybe a link to the part? Did you find them?
I haven't messed with them in a while. My first two alkali metal videos didn't get enough views to pay for themselves and I can't afford to make more right now
I am one of your many subscribers and building up to your piston valve cannon for a bait launcher. I found a video,How to Build a powerful baseball cannon REAL HOWITZER from Curt Graber with a disc sealer. I would appreciate your input, as my thoughts are around the maintainance of that system as opposed to your piston method.
You don't need a 2 1/2" piston for a barrel that size. The valve can be made from smaller pipe. Otherwise you probably would have to turn one on a lathe.
When will the video for the air cannon be out? I'm building an air cannon for a camp that I'm leading on, and it looks like your design is pretty optimal (and I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into it.) The camp starts on the 20th of April (exactly a month away) so if your video won't be ready by then, could you point me in the right direction in terms of sources for a quality design? Thanks in advance :)
Hello. I'm building a hockey drying rack for my son. I'm using 4" pvc as the main trunk and using 1.5" to "branch" off of the 4". I cut holes in the 4" and installed male 1.5" couplers backed with conduit lock rings and jb welded the gaps. Just wondering if you were aware of a better method to use? Thank you
Where did you get that o-ring? We are using 1 1/4" PVC for the piston and 2" for the barrel, but are having trouble finding a 9mm thick o-ring. The standard o-ring table stops at about 6mm thickness, which is too small to fit in the inside of the 2" barrel.
Nighthawkinlight do you think it would be possible to make a pvc internal combustion engine fueled by alcohol? I've been sitting on that idea for a while but haven't tried it yet.
I haven't had a ring wear out yet, and I've used them in my vacuum pumps for probably 5 years since I made them. The ring itself is not glued to the PVC in this design, but it would be hard to slip a new one on because of the size of the fittings. The whole piston is only like $4 so if a ring wears out it's probably best just to make a new one. Fire the old one as ammo from a cannon with a 2" barrel.
I just made one of these and didn't put the o-ring on until after I cemented the pipe and fittings together. it would be hard to get off without damaging it, but it went on just fine.
Ann Marie Clarke 2002 the orings I used I found in the specialty hardware section they were .79 cents apiece but they work perfect. Even better when I put a little Vaseline on them
For 1 1/2" you have to find something other than pvc parts. None fit right. You can use a lathe or a drill and a hole saw to cut plugs of the right size
Can someone pls. tell us the 3 dimensions of O ring is it 41.275 mm X 50 mm X ??? mm ? An O ring should have 3 dimentions for example 120 x 114 x 3mm, something is missing in the video .
There are no end caps that are the right size for a piston in 3" pipe. You either have to go to up to 4" or down to 2" with this method. Unless you can find 2.5" fittings, but they're not common and I'm not certain they would fit in 3" anyway.
This piston is supposed to mimic/replace a firing pin, right ? The vacuum will suck out air forcing the piston to retract on his spring then when the trigger will be pulled all the air will push the piston to the projectile and "firing" the gun. Am I right ? Have you planned to rifle the barrel to give it more precision ?
Not quite right. I'll get more into the details in my next video. I don't plan on rifling the barrel, that would be a series in itself to figure out how to make a rifling machine.
Probably not going to answer but can you please point me in the right direction for the rubber oring ive searched the internet hit the phone book and nothing so far
I sincerely this is what I need to make a piston for a pneumatic lift to raise my pop up camper temporarily until I can actually fix the lit system. My question is , why cant I place a steel rod in there with this piston and it work as a pneumatic cylinder to raise my pop up. This will work great I think. what do you think?
This is not boring. This is interest. Make more like this.
I have struggled with that exact problem! The O-ring was a great idea. That really helps me out!
I watched this video two years ago, remembered it, and revisited it for help for an engine project I’m doing now. You helped me create a vision then, and you’re helping me finish now. Thanks dude 🤙
It's these types of videos that are both of great use and entertainment, and why I will always come back to your videos
I've been wanting to build a PVC vacuum pump for ages, but at the moment, I've got no reliable way to cut an even groove. This is exactly the video I needed. Cheers!
Loved it! Previous design was good, but you're right in that this one is even better for those of us without lathes.
This video was far from uninteresting, I was trying to figure a way to get rid of all that filing but this just solved my problem! The timing of this video was impecable
Thanks! This is exactly what I was needing to find. I’m planning to build a regulated piston to push my unclamped tailstock at a calculable, adjustable pressure for those long, slow drilling sessions on the lathe.
Great idea
"uninteresting" - buddy, my brain is on 🔥fire🔥 with the possibilities this brings.
I just hope UK standard pipes work like this.
Sweet tip. I will be using this for sure. Thanks!
Much better than the last method. I duct taped an end cap to the chuck of a drill and ran a file over the cap asI ran the drill. It worked but took some time.
Yep, that method is not super fun. Best way I could think of at them time though.
I wasn't building an air cannon but this gave me an idea for a project i'm considering
I've loved watching your videos for quite a while!
I have made a Cannon like the one in your video and it's a lot of fun. but I use a air compressor to use it. love the video
This is great. I made one of these pistons myself, last year, using 1/2" PVC, I don't remember the size of the ring though. Unfortunately the Airsoft gun I was trying to make, didn't work due to other reasons, including a bad spring, so I never got the chance to see if the pistons actually worked! Good to know they do! I'll revisit my project in the future, with some better equipment then what I had.
👍🏻Good informative video, always looking for new ideas that are projectile oriented.
Subbed
Love it. I've always struggled with the piston when making a pump.
This is a great idea to make a solid piston part with materials of equal tensile strength.
Thinking about making a lowering device like Mark Rober. This will be helpful
Very effective tip that saves a lot of time!
Definitely a much easier way to make pistons. A great discovery.
Oh man I can't wait to see that cannon video.
good idea , you should be able to stretch the Oring over the end caps after its glued meaning no glue and you should be able to do that when an Oring perishes to replace it.
Hard to do without stretching out the o ring because the fittings are so much larger than the ID
For scuba applications we stretch it with a blunt pic and if its a tight one pre lube it
I tried it out and it actually worked
For me because I live in a country that uses metric sizes were a little different
32 mm outer diameter PVC pipe,endcap,push coupler and 33x6 o ring makes a good piston in 50mm outer diameter (45mm inner diameter) tube
O ring is a bit loose but it doesn't really matter and if you want it can be fixed with a hint of electrical tape
Hi, your O-Ring 33x6 has an inner diameter of 33mm and an outer diameter of 39mm, right? but your tube has an inner diameter of 45mm. so have you applied a 6mm thick layer of electrical tape an streched the O-Ring on it?
@@muslimdogan196 you fell into a classic blunder
To get the outer diameter of the o ring ye gotta add it's thickness twice
As it's thickness "surrounds" the inner diameter
@@gaborb.2926 oh my god, you are so right !! Sometimes it's the simplest things that you overlook. thank you very much
was i subscriber since the start. glad your back at again.
That "upcoming video" looks crazy cool 😎
absolutely beautiful video as always! 👍 keep up with the high grade content ^^
Thanks!
How could I not subscribe after seeing this
Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.
Not uninteresting but rather tantalizing. I'm excited to see what's next.
Very helpfull idea 🙏
Brilliant, I tried building a PVC pump with O-rings the exact same way. Cutting out a notch for the O-ring.
Basically, when you suck up water, and you bring the pump out of the water, the water seeps out. I could never create a good vacuum.
Hopefully I can modify your invention to satisfy mine! Thank you!
nice ! elegant & efficient.
I kinda miss this old format. The one which didnt have any music, and all the audio is just your voice-over.
Not that I dont like the current format, however! It just feels nice to take a step back to those early days of your channel.
But once again, a nice little tutorial! I look forward to seeing that handheld cannon of yours! Keep it up!
Great video. I think I will try making a vacuum pump with it.
This is some rock 'em sock 'em fun right here.
I want to make a small excavator for a kid. I was thinking of making tubes similar to this and fill with water to give a feeling of hydraulics. I saw a similar idea for a smaller project in a video that uses a syringe at each end of a hose to get a back and forward motion.
Great idea!
I see a QEV cannon coming up :)
I'm gonna love it
great video keep them coming
Great Video!
So... this is what it feels to be early?
woah!
should get nobel prize for that
can't wait!
Great video on a classic maker hack!
By classic do you mean that you've seen this particular method for making pistons before? I first used it in my video "How To Make A Nerf Style Artillery Launcher" in 2014 and at the time I thought it was original. I'd be interested to know if someone thought this method up before I did.
NightHawkInLight I think kingrandom has a vid like this for one of his projects
I did a quick little search on the Spudtech forum archives and found this post from 2006: www.spudfiles.com/spudtech_archive/viewtopic.php?p=143658#p143658 , but I remember seeing it pop up a few times earlier than that. I used it myself in ~2009. It's a good way to make pistons... better than using duct tape and petroeum jelly in any case. :D
Forgot to include the link to mine: www.spudstalker.ninja/images/big/piston/143kni8.jpg
Cool, that's the first I've seen of someone else using the same method. I don't use a piston face though, I've got another trick for that I'll get into in my air cannon video.
good thinking might use this
I bet you can make your own water hammer arrestor with this.
Thank you!!
Very nice!
Yeah cool mate
I would like to know please the tickness of the O ring and if possible you can provide a link on ebay. Thanks
Thanks I actouly need this for an upcoming project I want to do
dude you're so awesome
Thanks!
that's survive the apocalypse smart
I am building a past air cannon of yours, the coaxial piston cannon to be exact and my problem with it not working is the airtight seal for the piston I used the hockey puck piston idea and it didn't work
but I was wondering if this piston might make that seal. Because everything is built I just have air coming out of the barrel and I think the piston is not pushing up to the bottom end of the barrel.
This piston is too small for the 3" chamber of the cannon i think you're referring to. You probably need either a piece of softer rubber glued to the front of your hockey puck, or just smear the face of it with TFE pipe thread paste. That can help to make a better seal.
@@Nighthawkinlight thanks for responding I will try that
NOTIFICATION SQUAD!!!
we'll wait, we'll see
it was interesting. nice
I tried using this for a syringe style suction pump. Just sucking water and sand up and I was very disappointed. Technically it did work but not well enough to be worth the effort. I see he advertises it for multiple uses so maybe you'll have better luck on one of them. Looked cool. Good luck
What about it didn't work as well as you hoped? Maybe it's something I could tell you how to improve. Sucking up sand might be hard on the o ring
@@Nighthawkinlight Thanks for your reply. It just doesn't create enough suction. Im using it in a 2" pipe maybe thats too much weight in water to expect it to pull. My pipe is atleast 3' long. Saying it can hold a gallon, im only able to get a couple cups. Thats not involving sand which doesnt seem to change much when i do try to pull it up. It seems as though its a perfect seal but just isn't pulling like I hoped. Im at a loss cause this was by far the best design i found on youtube.
Hey Ben, we create videos on science and for one of the videos, we require a customizable sand timer. A sand timer with a regulator attached to it's neck which can control the diameter of the neck so that the clock can be used to measure varying intervals of time. Please design such a thing and tell us the idea.
Not sure if still relevant but if I wanted to do something like that I would think about drill and tapping a screw in the bottleneck area so as you tighten the screw the hole gets tighter and as you loosen the hole gets larger.
1:37 Would you happen to know what the o-ring’s ID and OD measurements for the 3-in piston/pipe are?
i love your content and would love to see you make a macro lens to photograph the iris
cheers lachlan
0:20 Did I just see a portable vaccuum canon with a ballvalve in stead of aluminium foil?
That's not a vacuum cannon, but I do have a very simple vacuum cannon design using this piston that I'll be working on shortly.
Probably a coaxial piston cannon, which he already did a video on
EDIT: apparently it is a QEV based design which basically works the same way a coaxial piston cannon.
Great alternative. I have been using a hot glue piston with a neoprene seal and had crap results
0:55 Nice thumb man.
Hey, I’m looking for that o-ring, but I can’t seem to find it. Where did you buy your’s? Greetings Skye.
Yep - I'm having problems finding the ring also - found 10 online with one supplier, but $5 something for the rings and $11 for shipping. A model and part number would really help and maybe a link to the part? Did you find them?
@@davebean2886 Napa Auto Parts has them part #BK7272326
How's the isolating alkali metals going?
Maybe you should try making the alkaline earths, since they're probably going to be less of a pain.
I haven't messed with them in a while. My first two alkali metal videos didn't get enough views to pay for themselves and I can't afford to make more right now
I am one of your many subscribers and building up to your piston valve cannon for a bait launcher. I found a video,How to Build a powerful baseball cannon REAL HOWITZER from Curt Graber with a disc sealer. I would appreciate your input, as my thoughts are around the maintainance of that system as opposed to your piston method.
Any idea what would fit 2-1/2 inch pipe for a tennis ball cannon?
You don't need a 2 1/2" piston for a barrel that size. The valve can be made from smaller pipe. Otherwise you probably would have to turn one on a lathe.
it's easy enough to cut the oring gland using a table saw.
When will the video for the air cannon be out? I'm building an air cannon for a camp that I'm leading on, and it looks like your design is pretty optimal (and I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into it.) The camp starts on the 20th of April (exactly a month away) so if your video won't be ready by then, could you point me in the right direction in terms of sources for a quality design? Thanks in advance :)
Hello. I'm building a hockey drying rack for my son. I'm using 4" pvc as the main trunk and using 1.5" to "branch" off of the 4". I cut holes in the 4" and installed male 1.5" couplers backed with conduit lock rings and jb welded the gaps. Just wondering if you were aware of a better method to use? Thank you
You could drill holes straight through the pipe that the arms fit through without needing a coupler
Cool
Where did you get that o-ring? We are using 1 1/4" PVC for the piston and 2" for the barrel, but are having trouble finding a 9mm thick o-ring. The standard o-ring table stops at about 6mm thickness, which is too small to fit in the inside of the 2" barrel.
I've found them in local hardware stores and on Amazon and Ebay
Nighthawkinlight do you think it would be possible to make a pvc internal combustion engine fueled by alcohol? I've been sitting on that idea for a while but haven't tried it yet.
It would quickly melt
Hmmmm, neat. I wonder if an easy/cheap fire piston could be made from small CPVC pipe in the same way.....
hmmm, could cpvc suffer the kind of heat fire pistons normally endure? It might work for a short time. Could be a great experiment...
What are the o ring sizes for other pistons
Clever design. Won't the o-ring become worn out and need to be replaced? Could the o-ring be slipped afterwards instead so it's not glued?
I haven't had a ring wear out yet, and I've used them in my vacuum pumps for probably 5 years since I made them. The ring itself is not glued to the PVC in this design, but it would be hard to slip a new one on because of the size of the fittings. The whole piston is only like $4 so if a ring wears out it's probably best just to make a new one. Fire the old one as ammo from a cannon with a 2" barrel.
Thanks!
Using some sort of grease might stop too much wear, too.
I just made one of these and didn't put the o-ring on until after I cemented the pipe and fittings together. it would be hard to get off without damaging it, but it went on just fine.
Awsome
What size O-ring is needed? And were do we find it? We purchased a 1 1/4 ID, 1-1/2 OD, 1/8 Width and it was too small.
1 5/8 id, 2" od. You can find them online of not in stores
Thanks for your help!
Ann Marie Clarke 2002 the orings I used I found in the specialty hardware section they were .79 cents apiece but they work perfect. Even better when I put a little Vaseline on them
Thanks! I found the size he mentioned last nigh and my son is working on his school science project right now. I will tell him about the Vaseline!
Thanks. I'm learning a lot from your videos. Have you experimented with making a piston for 1 1/2 PVC, for use with a ping-pong ball?
For 1 1/2" you have to find something other than pvc parts. None fit right. You can use a lathe or a drill and a hole saw to cut plugs of the right size
Didn't even realise I was early
Can someone pls. tell us the 3 dimensions of O ring is it 41.275 mm X 50 mm X ??? mm ? An O ring should have 3 dimentions for example 120 x 114 x 3mm, something is missing in the video .
Its suprising that you have 1Mil subs and only 3k viws in 1h
Can you take some measurement? How long will vacuum hold?
Is this possible for a 3 inch pvc pipe? Thanks in advance
There are no end caps that are the right size for a piston in 3" pipe. You either have to go to up to 4" or down to 2" with this method. Unless you can find 2.5" fittings, but they're not common and I'm not certain they would fit in 3" anyway.
@@Nighthawkinlight Thanks for the reply, I am 3d printing parts for it instead! Thanks for the idea for the piston design
Any idea where i can get 1 1/4" PVC or ABS in Canada? We mostly use ABS here and I can't find 1 1/4" anywhere
You may have to order it, it else ask someone from Canada who knows plumbing.
Right now all the results are just chain hardware stores but I'll keep looking, thanks!
Aidan Obee Home Hardware has some of the rarer varieties of abs
Pls make a free piston stirling engine!
What is the nominal width of the o ring? Thanks
So if I wanted to make a piston for 4” pipe, what would be the o-ring size??
Don't know. I've never made one. You'll have to measure yourself.
how about using this as the "head" of a large dart/bolt to be shot from a spud gun?
Can this be made smaller?
This piston is supposed to mimic/replace a firing pin, right ? The vacuum will suck out air forcing the piston to retract on his spring then when the trigger will be pulled all the air will push the piston to the projectile and "firing" the gun. Am I right ?
Have you planned to rifle the barrel to give it more precision ?
Not quite right. I'll get more into the details in my next video. I don't plan on rifling the barrel, that would be a series in itself to figure out how to make a rifling machine.
Hmmm, i'll check that out, it seems really interesting ! Thanks.
Plz make a video on how to make a Pulsejet engine
+NightHawkInLight I like it allready
You could probably pack sand into it for more weight
👍👍👍
Was that a QEV on your spud gun?
Yep, barrel sealing piston valve using the same piston I made in this video.
Way simpler that any other designs I have seen. Can't wait!
Probably not going to answer but can you please point me in the right direction for the rubber oring ive searched the internet hit the phone book and nothing so far
They are available on Amazon, ebay, or most hardware stores. Just type in the dimensions in a search
Where did you get the o rings
Local hardware store
Ok I was hoping for an amazon link but that is fine. To clarify it is 2 in outer diameter and 1 and 5/8 inner?
Yep. They vary a little in reality. Make sure they're a good fit between the two pipes before gluing on the end caps.
I sincerely this is what I need to make a piston for a pneumatic lift to raise my pop up camper temporarily until I can actually fix the lit system. My question is , why cant I place a steel rod in there with this piston and it work as a pneumatic cylinder to raise my pop up. This will work great I think. what do you think?
Should work. Don't exceed the pressure rating of the pipe. I would keep it well under 80psi and that should be more than enough.
man, ty for such quick reply, I was thinking of using a handpump or small 12 v tire compressor to control it
This is a vintage apache ramada pop up, cant afford to bend it it or destroy it, will never be able to replace it.
Nothing uninteresting here. Pretty cool actually.