WIP: Web Shooters

[webheadspidey]

So I have an idea for two different web shooters for my spiderman cosplay. One uses web fluid in a canister strapped to my wrist, and the other is a little more complicated. I'm going to wind steel cable around a fishing reel and use compressed air to fire a grappling hook. If all goes according to plan, I should have about 50ft of steel cable I can actually swing around on. Now I can either just retract the cable using the fishing reel, or use a motor. What do you think? Should I keep it simple, or add more science?

 

[SkySpider]

OH MY GOSH. No joke, I've been thinking about doing the same thing, thinking about if it's possible or not. I was thinking of doing the same thing with the compressed air, but I was thinking about using fishing line. I don't know if that would work, I'd have to look into it more.
As for the motor or reel, I don't know. I guess if you don't want to have to manually reel it in, a motor would be best.
Now how are you going about it with the actual grappling hook? Is it just like a hook at the end of the cable?

 

[webheadspidey]

Fishing line would definitely work, but you'd have to braid all of it by yourself if you want it to support a person, which is VERY time consuming. I'm going with the steel cable because it's cheap and requires less effort. I might go with the motor if I want to be able to zip up and down rather than climb, but it would definitely be heavy and bulky. As for the hook itself, it would be very similar to this one, except that it would only be about as long as your finger. I'd also give mine a pointed head so it can stick into trees and stuff.

 

[webheadspidey]

I got some parts for the grappling hook! All I need now is the hook and some cable.

 

[chaosprince]

Be careful. That's all I have to say. It looks like you're trying to make something FUNCTIONAL, and that can lead to all sorts of issues.
Remember that the laws of physics in the real world are much different than what you will find in comic books.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[webheadspidey]

It will be semi-functional when it's finished. I don't plan on swinging from building to building on this thing, I just wanna hang upside for a bit. I've made some regular gun-styled ones before, so I'm well aware of the risks. This is just a slight modification using a much smaller and actually slightly safer layout. It'll be no more dangerous than a potato gun when it's finished. I've been doing engineering projects like this for years. Trust me, I got this.

 

[xhard]

you got me totally subbed on this
good luck!

 

[webheadspidey]

Thanks! I'm buying the rest of the parts today, so stay tuned for some big updates this week!

 

[webheadspidey]

Some stuff came up and I was not able to buy all the parts yet. I did however have enough money left for this cold welding paste. It's a two part epoxy that has been used to fix cars and is rated at 3960 psi. I'm fairly certain it'll work for holding the hook together, but I'm testing its strength anyway on these two screws and some pieces of an old hanger.








Now it's time to let it sit overnight and see how it holds. More updates coming tomorrow

 

[webheadspidey]

Kinda late, but here are the results of the test.




They came apart on the first attempt because I was an idiot and knocked them over, so I tried again at different angles. As you can see, the first one failed. It was able to hold 30 lbs before the weld broke. So far the second one has been able to hold 50 lbs no problem. I had a video of that test, but then I deleted it by accident. The hanger did bend, but that was to be expected. I'll do more testing when I have time, hopefully with higher weight. For this next one I think I'll add a couple more prongs so that the weight is distributed better, reducing strain.

 

[webheadspidey]

Finally managed to break it. I don't think this stuff is actually strong enough, so I'll go to my backup plan and drill some holes in a pipe for the prongs to go through. It'll be a lot heavier and bulkier, but I'd rather not kill myself, so it's necessary. I don't think it'll actually be used for cosplay; it's too dangerous for that. I guess it'll just sit on the shelf and look cool like my other gadgets. I'll let you guys know when I've made more progress.