Plusblow 5

Files are here: http://www.thingiver...om/thing:929380

The Plusblow 5 is a double-barreled blowgun with a 24-shot dart capacity in dual inline clips. This version is designed to fit Buzzbee suction darts, and WILL NOT WORK WITH NERF BRAND DARTS. However, I am working on a version for streamline/elite darts, and a version for taggers and other Nerf big headed darts may be on the way as well. Just tilt back, rotate the mouthpiece, and you've got 2 shots ready to blow. 

To load the magazines, push darts past the flaps into the thinwall PVC magazines. With this length, you should be able to fit 11 into each of the two magazine tubes. To load darts into the firing chambers/ barrels, just tilt back and rotate the mouthpiece/dart holder drum 90 degrees. To fire, just blow each of the two mouthpiece holes in front of the barrels.

Photos are at the end.

1) Print 1 each of the .stl files. You may need to adjust the hole fit for your individual printer--a .stp file is provided for those that have a CAD system to edit the parts.

2) Cut 2 pieces of thinwall 1/2" PVC pipe to a length of 28"

3) Cut 2 pieces of schedule 40 1/2" PVC pipe to a length of 28", and bevel the inside of one end. This will be where the dart enters.

4) File the top of the dart holder drum so it's smooth enough to superglue, then glue that surface to the bottom of the mouthpiece, lining up the holes as best you can.

5) Drill out the center hole to 1/4" as needed, then put a 6" long 1/4-20 screw through the mouthpiece, dart holder drum, and the magazine holder drum. The smooth bottom surfaces of the dart holder drum and the magazine holder drum should be pressed against each other. The head of the screw should be on the mouthpiece side.

6) Put a 1/4-20 nut loosely on the screw. Tighten it down so that the dart holder drum and magazine holder drum are gently pressed against each other.

7) Put a dab of superglue just above the nut from step 6, then put another 1/4-20 nut on the screw. Tighten the nuts against each other, but not against the printed parts. At the end of this step, the magazine holder drum should be pressed against the rest of the assembly, but not so hard that it's difficult to turn.

8) Insert the barrels (28" of 1/2" schedule 40 PVC pipe) bevel-side first into the magazine holder drum. They should be diagonal from each other.

9) Insert the magazines (28" of 1/2" thinwall PVC pipe) into the magazine holder drum. They should be diagonal from each other as well.

10) Place the front magazine holder on the barrels/magazines at the front of the blowgun. Press everything together.

11) Add a strip of rubber or other flexible material in the provided slot to create a dart-retaining flap. I hot-glued a couple strips of rubber in there, but you could achieve the same effect with cardboard or folded paper if need be.

12) Put some orange tape on the tip of this to prevent anyone from getting butthurt about toy gun ID.

To load the magazines, push darts past the flaps into the thinwall PVC magazines. With this length, you should be able to fit 11 into each of the two magazine tubes. To load darts into the firing chambers/ barrels, just tilt back and rotate the mouthpiece/dart holder drum 90 degrees. To fire, just blow each of the two mouthpiece holes in front of the barrels.

The dart retainer is extremely crude, but it works well. My first rubber strip was too thin, so I put another on top of it. Both are attached with hot-glue, and can 

The rotation occurs between the top two pieces as shown here--the bottom one (the mouthpiece) is glued to the middle one (the dart holder drum). There is no indexing, but the alignment doesn't need to be perfect and it's easy enough to do manually.

The printed mouthpiece looks super-nasty. It's actually only slightly nasty, and is very comfortable. If I were patient, I'd vapor polish this and wait 2 weeks before putting my face on it.

I'm very pleased with how this turned out. My first version had major performance problems, but this version shoots about as well as a regular singled blowgun of the same length. The feed mechanism seems to work perfectly when fed buzzbee suction darts only, and the blowguns don't ever squeak/fart at room temperature*. I did have had a couple of jams due to darts. Mostly these were from accidentally putting a Nerf brand suction cup in the blaster, but I also found a few Buzzbee suction darts that had leftover flashing from sloppy molding, and did not fit in schedule 40 PVC. 

*Anyone who's used PVC blowguns has probably experienced "dart-farting", when the dart slowly travels through the barrel in a forced oscillation, making a loud noise and not going very far. This seems to happen more often in warm conditions, and I expect the Plusblow 5 will not be any different.