Casting reinforced airsoft gears?
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Casting reinforced airsoft gears?
So I seen that the airsoft gears currently in the tanks today are very weak and strip if any modifications are done to the spring specifically the one in the picture. After constantly looking for metal replacement and outrageous quotes from gear manufacturers I have given up on that idea. After some thinking though I have come up with an idea I think would work but I would like y’all’s input. My idea is casting the gear out of a type of epoxy but adding fine metal dust to the mixture as a support material kind of like glass fiber reinforced plastic. Hopefully you guys might have input.
- Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Casting reinforced airsoft gears?
Hello and welcome to the forum.
It would be rather spiffing of you to pop along to the introduce yourself section as requested in the :welcome" private message you received when joining the forum
Please tell us a little about yourself in connection to our hobby, like what tanks you have etc. A lot of members consider it good manners, and it pleases us old folk
Also, as your first post isn't actually giving any Tips and Tricks, I'll move this post to the General Discussion section where it will be better suited
Mick. (Member of the "in house" elected forum team)
It would be rather spiffing of you to pop along to the introduce yourself section as requested in the :welcome" private message you received when joining the forum

Please tell us a little about yourself in connection to our hobby, like what tanks you have etc. A lot of members consider it good manners, and it pleases us old folk

Also, as your first post isn't actually giving any Tips and Tricks, I'll move this post to the General Discussion section where it will be better suited

Mick. (Member of the "in house" elected forum team)
Mick - The grit in the underpants of life!
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support YOUR TOTM competition, I'm doing my part, are YOU?
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- Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Casting reinforced airsoft gears?
Any reinforcing additive would need to be filaments rather than particles, unless they have a long grain structure that can overlap, there'll be nothing to hold the main material together. Also the reinforcing filaments would have to reach into every part of the shape, sadly to do that effectively, the ratio of additive to main material would be too high for consistent internal bonding and would cause weaknesses.
If you were to try this, you would need a pressurised cylinder to basically squeeze the mix of materials to its maximum density while removing any air as it cures. And with something so small, you may be better off having some kind of reinforcing pin in each tooth.
In my opinion, unless you are able to accurately cast brass or mould a good quality polymer, I think you will struggle with your mission.
For the sake of tank BB guns, I hope you can prove me wrong.
If you were to try this, you would need a pressurised cylinder to basically squeeze the mix of materials to its maximum density while removing any air as it cures. And with something so small, you may be better off having some kind of reinforcing pin in each tooth.
In my opinion, unless you are able to accurately cast brass or mould a good quality polymer, I think you will struggle with your mission.
For the sake of tank BB guns, I hope you can prove me wrong.
Mick - The grit in the underpants of life!
Always happy to spare the bytes
Apparently my mind works in mysterious ways
TOTM needs YOU
support YOUR TOTM competition, I'm doing my part, are YOU?
Always happy to spare the bytes
Apparently my mind works in mysterious ways

TOTM needs YOU

Re: Casting reinforced airsoft gears?
Hello
You're going in the wrong direction. You start at the end of the entire process of improving the power and therefore the range of your BBs cannon.
First, you must seal the whole assembly, starting from the barrel connection with the black rubber on the BBs outlet, and you need to improve the cylinder and piston tightness (check the compression as you do the injector test). The amount of compressed air in the entire assembly and its tightness is crucial. Only then can you think of a harder spring ... but this is a dead end because a harder spring will require stronger gears ( preferably steel - but even they could break teeth ) and, above all, a more powerful motor. The 130s motor may be too weak and you will not put anything bigger there because there is no place for something bigger, and the ESC driving the BBs may not withstand the higher power consumption (in HL TK 6.0 / 6.1 it is max 2A as far as I remember) .... And most of all. Throw away those yellow BB's junk. They can break even in the barrel. I buy my son quality BB's 0.20g-0.25g for airsoft guns and they work perfectly and repetitively (the range is smaller, but the accuracy increases)... A person with many years of Airsoft (AEG) experience tells you this.
Edit:
I forgot about the most important thing. The barrel in tanks with BBs is leaky / is too large in diameter and the air misses the BB while shooting ... It cannot be easily corrected because it would require inserting a second sealed barrel from the AEG rifle into the original barrel of the tank. BBs are about 5.95mm, a good quality barrel is usually 6.03mm and the best and most expensive (precision) 6.01mm. You can't do less because the BBs could get stuck inside ...
You're going in the wrong direction. You start at the end of the entire process of improving the power and therefore the range of your BBs cannon.
First, you must seal the whole assembly, starting from the barrel connection with the black rubber on the BBs outlet, and you need to improve the cylinder and piston tightness (check the compression as you do the injector test). The amount of compressed air in the entire assembly and its tightness is crucial. Only then can you think of a harder spring ... but this is a dead end because a harder spring will require stronger gears ( preferably steel - but even they could break teeth ) and, above all, a more powerful motor. The 130s motor may be too weak and you will not put anything bigger there because there is no place for something bigger, and the ESC driving the BBs may not withstand the higher power consumption (in HL TK 6.0 / 6.1 it is max 2A as far as I remember) .... And most of all. Throw away those yellow BB's junk. They can break even in the barrel. I buy my son quality BB's 0.20g-0.25g for airsoft guns and they work perfectly and repetitively (the range is smaller, but the accuracy increases)... A person with many years of Airsoft (AEG) experience tells you this.
Edit:
I forgot about the most important thing. The barrel in tanks with BBs is leaky / is too large in diameter and the air misses the BB while shooting ... It cannot be easily corrected because it would require inserting a second sealed barrel from the AEG rifle into the original barrel of the tank. BBs are about 5.95mm, a good quality barrel is usually 6.03mm and the best and most expensive (precision) 6.01mm. You can't do less because the BBs could get stuck inside ...
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Re: Casting reinforced airsoft gears?
Hello and welcome. I gotta ask.... why? How far do you want/need the airsoft BB's to go? I only have a couple tanks left but when I had my collection I could shoot the length of my house with any of them and my Jagdtiger and KT could do a little better. Just wondering how far you want it to shoot.
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Re: Casting reinforced airsoft gears?
Update
So I got in contact with a guy who can make carbon fiber infused nylon gears that is supposed to be around double the strength of the current materials used. I’ll let you guys know how good it works after I receive it. My goal is to be able to shoot through a metal soda can with it jackalope. At this point I’ve done all I could with the gun as far a a high grade airsoft barrel sealing it up and preventing vacuum on the secondary barrel so now with this gear being stronger I hope it will allow me to use my upgraded spring that keeps killing that specific gear.
So I got in contact with a guy who can make carbon fiber infused nylon gears that is supposed to be around double the strength of the current materials used. I’ll let you guys know how good it works after I receive it. My goal is to be able to shoot through a metal soda can with it jackalope. At this point I’ve done all I could with the gun as far a a high grade airsoft barrel sealing it up and preventing vacuum on the secondary barrel so now with this gear being stronger I hope it will allow me to use my upgraded spring that keeps killing that specific gear.