Big Gun Cannons - Let's get more ships on the water!

I commonly hear that there is no vendor for Big Gun Cannons, and that holds back the Big Gun folks quite a bit. After building cannons for ~ 8 years, I like this design and am willing to help others get on the water with it. It's currently set up for 0.25" in a triple configuration, but can be configured otherwise including a sweet little reloading triple torpedo cannon. The current Bill of Materials comes out to ~$70 not including assembly labor. Let me know if anyone wants to build with these and we can figure out how to make it happen. I am machining 18 sets of the accumulator/valve bases and can work with interested parties in how to complete them. Happy Battling!

 

Fantastic write up!

I can't tell how the depression is working? Are you flexing the plastic which the barrel is attached?

 

Are these based on the 3dp variations of the canons?... It looks to be from how the barrels are attached to the magazine.

 

Yes, the components that do the ammo handling and serve as the lower part of the barrel and barrel bend are printed in flex material. That material in addition to features designed to promote bending allow depression of the barrels. I have a version of this on a Gascogne quad turret that I used this past year and it works really well.

 

Yes. 3DP for most of the magazine components and ammo pathway. Stainless steel barrels though. The accumulator is mostly aluminum.

 

Whats the flex material that you are using? Id like to throw some depression into my cannon design.

 

I've been using this stuff. Nothing special here, just like the brand and their spools fit nicely in my Bambu printer.

SainSmart - 101-90-158 White...
View: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TI3JUUQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

TPU; Got it. Yup I have some of that, just don’t feed it into the AMS.

 

Oh, you're right... I don't use the AMS either. I've been looking at the Prusa XL because you can print mixed TPU/Non-TPU designs. That would be pretty cool, but it's a bit expensive for me right now.

 

Well consider me interested.

 

Absolutely interested. I can’t believe I missed this post 9 years ago :/

 

Yes also interested, looks like a great design!

 

tempted to pick up a set of 3 just for review to slap in my roma

 

First batch in process. I have 17 copies of the accumulator/ firing mechanism almost done. These are the machined bits. I can then finish the top half with printed parts as needed.

 

Fantastic! Thx for sharing this.

More details about- "but can be configured otherwise including a sweet little reloading triple torpedo cannon.".

Also, would this set-up be able to feed more than one turret?? Say, 3 single cannon turrets?

Thx again!

 

Nice design. Is there a spring pushing against the flapper to hold it closed once the pressure equalizes? If so, what are you using for a spring? I have had trouble getting the spring right on negative pressure cannons in the past.

Are you printing the entire flapper in something like TPU or Tenacious or is the seal a separate part?

[Edit] I just realized that this might be like the old potato gun manifold designs - so you are just relying on the difference in surface area. The whole flapper has some give and deliberately bleeds around the edges more easily in one direction. Very cool.

 

Here's an image of the torp cannon version. I don't have a lot of experience with it yet, but it fought well in the battles it has seen. Hold around 100 rounds.

On the single cannon turrets, I'm not sure how that would work. It would have plenty of power, but how do you get it to different turrets in different locations? Have to know more.

 

The seal is flexible like a lip seal in hydraulics. Flows easily in one direction (the charging direction) but forms a seal in the opposite to ensure crisp valve opening. No springs needed.

 

Would you mind posting some better images of the flapper? I am eager to experiment with the idea.