Here’s a photo of my completed “Thumper”
(Viper golf ball cannon).
I went with a camo theme instead of “Star Wars”.
I epoxied all threaded unions except the female barrel
threads and the trigger. I went teflon tape on those.
No leaks detected.
I made three braces of 1/2” Gatorfoam, and
fiberglasses them for strength. They fit the barrel
and air cylinder perfectly, with a 5/8” gap between
barrel and reservoir.
Black zip ties lock it all together.
Since I live on a private golf course, I can safely
let the Thumper “stretch its legs in the backyard.
Wow! I am amazed.
The hang time for golf balls is more than eight seconds!
If I don’t use high visibility orange or yellow
golf balls. I can’t see them after five or six
seconds, but I can hear them “Thump” when
they land.
Good thing there are so many poor golfers in the
club.
It guarantees a fresh supply of free golf ball ammo
bouncing off my roof and my pool enclosure every day.
I need to get a rangefinder to check maximum range,
but it’s way over 200 yards.
I haven’t dragged out my old Caldwell chronograph
yet, but I’m guessing velocity at the muzzle
will be 600+ feet per second.
Once I get some numbers I’ll pass them on.
With the weight of a golf ball, that is a lot of foot
pounds energy for air power.
“Not a toy!” is for sure. Quiet too!
I’m gonna buy a bunch of wildflower seeds and
“shotgun” them into a field nearby to see
if it seeds a large area.
It’s great. I love it!
Mick -
Thanks again for the help. The irrigation supply company had the 1.5"
Class 200.
This was a fun project with my 13-yr old son. It works as advertised -
easily shooting 600'+!
Pat Bailey
Mick -
This made an awesome Christmas gift for my sons.
Nothing says happy holidays like launching golf balls a couple hundred yards!
Great simple and safe design.
Thanks,
Tim
Thank you so much!
i will be recommending other people to your site, Great Customer
Service!
Brain Gelsinger
Hey Mick,
When I first contacted you last year, the idea was to be
able to launch a golf ball up to 400 yards.
We have never gone more than 380. And that’s okay because
the most fun the guys have is on holes that are 280 in length,
over water.
When the ball hits the green from that distance, there is
actual cheering on the tee box.
Your cannons are awesome,
Marty Perlmutter
Marty Perlmutter from LeaderBoard of Miami South Florida
Golf Foundation Board of Directors and Columnist for The Tee
Times newspaper used a custom built Golf Ball air cannon to
raise money last week. "The first event last Friday was a
hit.
I think the tournament raised like $800 just from the
launcher." said Marty. Here is a short video of the cannon in
action. Contact American Air Cannons for your own custom built
cannon
Hi, my name is Price,
I use my air cannon for launching a tool line over the tops
of the trees on my property so I can trim the branches.
Since the trees are over 100 feet tall, the air cannon is
the only way to launch a lead line over the tops of the higher
branches.
This cannon is also a great source of entertainment when my
grandsons come to visit. As you can see we had fun painting it
with some spackle furniture paint.
These cannons are the best... Price Bethel
Mick,
Thanks. Didn't have a camera handy. But I did have my video
camera.
We had a great time building the cannon. An evening of assembly
and a coat of hammered silver paint and we were ready to
go.
My nephew and I had as much fun shooting at targets as
shooting the potatoes straight up and seeing how high they
would go. Thanks for the great plans!
Jameel
Mick,
Attached is a picture of myself
and the student who built the cannon.
My students and neighbors
really enjoy it. We appreciate your
plans.
Pete
Karpyk
All USA
Teacher
Weir
High
Hi MIck,
I am writing to apologize. The SDR pipe did fit inside the SCHD 80. Only question
for future builds is, is there an easy way to sleeve the SDR pipe? I used WD40, a
rubber mallet, and everything else! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
and here is a pic of my build. Thanks again.
Ron Baisden
Hi, my name is Jeff Bracken,
and I am a high school chemistry teacher who purchased the plans for your
T-shirt launcher last fall. It is with great joy that I tell you that my
physics students fired over 80 t-shirts into the bleachers at last week's
Homecoming football game. Absolutely terrific to see the physics kids getting
recognized by the audience.
I shared your website with about 35 Central Ohio HS chemistry teachers at a
meeting today. They were incredibly impressed with the finished product (my
cannon). I hope that they will contact you to purchase the plans. What I said a
year ago still holds true, the $20 for the purchase of your plans was an
incredibly worthwhile investment.
Thanks again... Jeff Bracken
To whom it may concern:
I have purchased plans and build the MBTS Air cannon. It has worked phenomenal and
have got much enjoyment out of it. Not just myself but also many many spectators at
the football games.
I did purchase a portable CO2 compressor to facilitate wtih the loading process. I
am inquiring if it is possible to convert this type of cannon into a self -loading
repeating cannon? If you have any suggestions or answers please share this
information with me or let me know if it is available.
Thank you Ricardo Ledesma
Dear American Air Cannons,
The Cannon is great. Kick ass. The orbit valve has a lever that manually
bypasses the solenoid. No real need to tap the valve. Also I installed an air
nozzle inline with my air feed. After launch you just squeeze the nozzle to
desired pressure and boom, launch again. I also used all galvanized steel
fittings from the valve to the launch tube except for the slip bushing.
Talk to you soon Thanks again for the excellent design
Dear American Air Cannons,
"I did a few things to trick it out and then took it to a friend's property
to test. At 85psi, it shoots about 250 yards. I will try to take some pics and
send them when I get the chance."
Anthony Toni
Dear American Air Cannons,
"Cannon worked awesome at the opening of our new football stadium, thanks
for working so quickly with me."
DC
Dear American Air Cannons,
My water cannon is awesome. I was surprised at the amount of recoil it has
when I load the barrel with water. The only item I had trouble getting was the
pressure gauge. I finally ordered it from Amazon.com, but it cost $12 plus
another $7 for tax and shipping. Do you have any better suggestions?
Thanks, Patrick
Dear American Air Cannons,
I successfully completed the cannon and I must say I’m very pleased! It
works as well as you said and was fairly straightforward and easy to build.
Thank you, Tim Arnold
Dear American Air Cannons,
"We all loved the potato launcher! Our local black bears love the
potatoes"!!!
Suzi Carey
Dear American Air Cannons,
Your plans and additional suggestions are probably the best $20 investment I
ever made!
Jeff
Dear American Air Cannons,
The air cannon just arrived and my husband LOVES it! He said to congratulate
you on your ingenuity and design and declared anything that is dangerous, runs
on compressed air, has a trigger, and fires something is the best present
ever.
i MIck,