I Built a Supersonic NERF Blaster

Let me know what targets should I use for the next one!

[MikeShake]

Edit: In pt.2 I'll obviously measure the speed of the supersonic shots to verify it's actually supersonic. Also I’m gonna get better darts (half length) and try a few interesting projectiles. Also I’m currently trying to organize something here in the US for part 2 so there’ll probably be another video in between, but I think it'll be worth it.

Edit 2: shout out to Joerg (slingshot channel) and IDAT who made similar projects way back, I wasn't aware of them but they're great. Check them out too!

[SnowblindOtter]

There's a few things going on here that the lower pressure solved for you.
First, the darts will explode and get shredded at higher pressures because they're smaller than the diameter of the barrel. When the valve dumps, that sudden blast of air pressure forces the foam to expand outward and squeeze to the inner diameter of the barrel, creating an air-tight seal. This is known as Obturation. If your pressure rises too high too fast, the projectile will expand too much and seal too tightly against the barrel, and that will shred it from the pressure differences, acceleration forces, and friction. This also causes the head to fly off, and the dart to leave in more than one piece, since the foam section is smashed against the walls of the barrel while the smaller dart head is free to separate. The lower pressures are more gentle, allowing the dart to fully obturate the barrel immediately and accelerate more uniformly, staying together and leaving the barrel in one piece with all of the pressure remaining behind it the whole length of travel for maximum efficiency.

Second, the hissing sound you hear at higher pressures is called Valve Lock. This happens a lot when trying to tune Large-Bore hunting PCP airguns. Whether because the projectile is being shredded or leaving the barrel before pressure can equalize, the pressure in the barrel drops too fast, and the valve can't close until you reset the system. Or put your hand over the muzzle, probably. Rapid-dump valves like this need forward pressure from the barrel to help close the valve again against the static pressure in the bottle, and this usually happens before the projectile even leaves the barrel. The lower firing pressure means that the valve can equalize more quickly and close properly, conserving air and dumping its energy more efficiently.

It's this efficiency that got you the greater velocities.

[uncivilized_caveman]

There's something really nice about a channel run by a guy who doesn't know what he's doing, admits he doesn't know what he's doing, show's us his failures, shows us the genuine shock when something works, and all around takes the audience for the entire ride through a project

[SkillJoy.]

I love how this guy comes up with the most batshit insane stuff

[taylorbrown]

This is honestly amazing. That is a super sick looking blaster, and the fact it uses air to shoot something faster than the speed of sound with a relatively simple setup is mind boggling to me. Congrats on pushing through the pain and worry -- that blaster is a trophy of engineering, and I'm definitely jealous you have it.

[Judbutnotspud]

Now challenge children to a nerf battle

[TheIncinerator]

"Nothing exploded so far! Definitely a good sign." A true engineer

[LarsKuhlmannCourtwright]

Bro I'm pausing the video immediately to say THANK YOU for the real time animation of the system! (9:00) That is so incredibly helpful for my understanding and visualization of what's going on. I really wish more video of this style would do it like that! Where reasonable of course. in matters of things that are to fast for human perception i would just like a nice unit of ten scaled speed.

[kuris]

Mike Shake is becoming an Italian version of I did a thing😂

[fontajo]

morgan&morgan sponsoring a guy to make a dangerous machine with youtube videos as their core research is honestly 4D chess on their part

[sasjadevries]

21:58 Be sure to make those darts nose-heavy, because if you just print them out of solid plastic, the center of mass will be behind the aerodynamic center of pressure.
(make the rear part of the dart hollow, add a little weight to the tip of the dart)

[kristianvm]

Those 22 minutes felt like 8 minutes so good!!!

[unknowneth]

Honestly, Mike, I don't mind it taking long for videos to be edited because you're working on them yourself.
The quality is always top notch, AND I am entertained while feeling more educated going out of one of your vids.
Keep up your work!

[night.owl]

“Hey wanna play nerf guns?”

“Sure, let me get out my new toy… “💀

[Mike__B]

"Next I'm going to 3d print some darts" I guess calling them "darts" keeps you out of trouble instead of saying "bullets"

[Vali.N]

The honesty when messing up, the strive to continue, the fact that you are showing both the metrical and hamburger numbers for anyone to understand, the pure frustration and pure joy, the project itself, everything is perfection. Congrats, well deserved round of thunderous applause 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[bramwolters]

wow the content really changed. it went from mike trying to survive, to learing skills. to him making the sickest weapons ever that can shoot (almost) as fast as a gun. Good job!

[Ismail_ibn_Ishaq]

As someone who has some 'Nerf for adult" blasters.
Dart Zone and Worker half length darts are considered to be one of the best in the scene right now.

Some of the high end blasters (Dart Zone Pro line, Gameface Trion and Worker blasters) are doing 200-300 FPS out of the box so those darts are made with these numbers in mind, where Nerf Elite darts are designed for 70-80 FPS.

The community would be more than welcome to help you out!

[der_alte_zcker]

For those who are interested: The arrows from the blaster have an energy of 58.821 joules at the speed of sound. Not too bad...

[TJOC-eq]

"Heres how to NEVER lose a nerf war, Step 1, Build a supersonic nerf blaster."