Making A Rail Gun (again!)

[Rp181] is at it again with version 2 of his rail gun project (link dead, try Internet Archive). The original did have some power with 18 400V 3900uf capacitors, but he’s ramped it up to now using 40! Reaching more than double the amount of joules of energy, 12kJ vs. the 5.6kJ! Some other changes include a new injector solenoid setup and revision 3 of his breakwire chronograph. Sadly, he doesn’t mention if this is as green as his first rail gun. Check out a video of just the injector firing and an animation explaining some new updates after the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN52O5qJiSY

24 thoughts on “Making A Rail Gun (again!)

  1. Hello all:
    If you have any questions, email me :rp181@ymail.com

    The animation is poor in telling what the end product will be, I changed LOTS of things. The best thing is to read the build log V2 category on my blog.

    medix is right. The voltage is exactly the same, so unless your clamping your body parts to the capacitor bank, you would react long before the bank discharged.

  2. Looks good Ravi! – make sure to send mr video of what it dies to the bullet proof glass I sent ya!
    maye we can compare results when I get mine built in a couple months for my senior project.
    -Jimmy

  3. yep! Im making a mount for them soon, either with welded steel, or PVC pipe I molded. The hard part is getting the railgun lined up with the chronograph (with sufficient distance to disperse some plasma), then the relatively small target, with room to record. I should be able to record with at least 2 cameras (one HD), and hopefully the high speed.

    I will probably do a single 3″ square piece as the target. I expect to fire on the 14th or 21st.

  4. I love this! It’s so OBVIOUSLY suicidal it’s charming. {OP doesn’t have a cat or dog (any more) I presume}

    You could always fall on it I ‘spose if you wanted the full effect.

    Mind you, old spark transmitter stations had banks of oil-filled mica caps that would put this in the shade. Just a dinky little wooden handrail between you and instant vapourisation – one flash and you’re ash.

    To the point; good electros can be had free from your local computer repair shop in “dead” power supplies, free for the asking. They can also be recovered from photoprocessors in used disposable flash cameras, also free for the asking. More;
    http://ozvalveamps.elands.com/ava100/ava100psu.htm

    “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone,
    but they’ve always worked for me”. Hunter S. Thompson

  5. @Taylor (Magnets):
    The projectile is pushed forward due to the interaction of the current through the projectile and the magnetic field of the rails (generated by the current in the rails). Increasing the magnetic field will also increase the acceleration of the projectile.

    Therefore I would even recommend magnets above and below the rails for better performance.

  6. Hey guys, I am competing against ravi in rail gun design. I have one rail gun built so far that is very similar to his but has many noticeable improvements(15-18kj for one haha). I will be building a new and very improved model with the next two months.

    I don’t have a site (I’ve been too busy to make one)but I do have a flickr you can check out.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/44221552@N03/

    I have not updated it in the last few weeks (again to busy) but I will update it very soon.

    Good luck on your Thursday shooting Ravi!

  7. Nice design, but what is the air tank for(if that is an air tank)?

    SUggestion for future project… As i am currently building one myself, with 40 x 1.25 farad car audio caps:

    – If you are using an airfoil-type projectile ( ring shaped), put a rotation in the rails- like a 180 degree roatation per 2 feet. Theoretically (havent tested yet as i am not finished), the roatation combined with the air-foil projectile will dramatically decrease drag and increase stabilty and energy.

    However, i also am using the capacitor bank with another rail setup to experiment with projectiles traveling at appx. 75% the speed of light in a continuous circle… Experiment with hyper-velocity megnetic induction and disturbance with opposing poles. SO far i’ve melted a few rails since the speeds cause enormous friction.

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