I Built a Shockwave Cannon

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:08]A few months ago, I tested a device that turns air into a shockwave.

[00:00:16]And now, the plan is to bring that concept to the extreme, making a much bigger and much more powerful cannon.

[00:00:23]And then, see what happens when I use it against a few interesting targets.

[00:00:26]Now, this device used two cartridges with compressed air at a pressure of 4,500 psi. A car tire, for comparison, runs at 30 psi. And then, when you press the trigger, you release the compressed air all at once. But, even though that was very powerful, the volume of air inside the cartridges is actually very small.

[00:00:48]And volume makes quite a difference when it comes to compressed air. Like, this is 4,500 psi, but with a small volume of air. And this is 570 psi, so eight times less pressure, but with a very large tank.

[00:01:08]Do you see where I'm going with this?

[00:01:09]These cartridges can hold 0.025 L of air at atmospheric pressure. Now, what if I used 10 times that volume with the same maximum pressure?

[00:01:21]Well, using a 0.25 L tank should do just that. It would be like shooting 10 cartridges all at once. So, what if I used a 3 L tank instead? This tank is 135 times the volume of a single cartridge. So, am I going to get 135 times the destructive power?

[00:01:42]I'm also curious to experience what the recoil is going to feel like with this thing. The only reference I have of big tanks with compressed air is this video of a guy knocking the valve off a tank similar to the one I have.

[00:01:58]Yeah.

[00:01:59]>> [laughter] >> The thing is, I'm going to use literally double the pressure they used. I'm going to like take off. To find out, I first need to build a cannon, which is going to have two main components. The pneumatic parts that are going to contain all the pressurized air, and then the trigger system whose entire job is going to be to release all the air as fast and violently as possible. Starting from the pneumatic parts, first I got this massive tank which contains 3 L of air at atmospheric pressure, and it can hold up to 4,500 PSI. Now, at that pressure, there is going to be 918 L of air in here. And they're going to be released in milliseconds. And then, in front of the tank, there is going to be on one end a quick disconnect fitting.

[00:02:47]Basically, this little thing that will allow me to fill the tank connecting a PCP compressor to it. While on the other end, there is a ball valve that is going to release all the pressure in the tank when switched open. All right, this system is pretty simple so let's see if it works. For this first test, I'm filling the tank for like 2 minutes just to see if there are no leaks and everything works.

[00:03:11]So, the pressure gauge was at zero after 2 minutes.

[00:03:21]I'm not sure if you understand how insane that is. I wasn't joking, the pressure gauge was literally at zero when I stopped the compressor. And based on some rough calculations, there were about 30 PSI in here. 30 PSI is literally 0.7% of the maximum pressure and it did that already.

[00:03:44]That's crazy, especially because pressure makes a huge difference in damage and power. Just to give you a quick demonstration of what I'm saying, I'm going to shoot a few times using the 0.25 L tank because it's definitely faster to fill than the big one. And so, this is a shot at 100 PSI.

[00:04:04]Now, 500 PSI.

[00:04:07]Now, 1,000.

[00:04:12]>> [laughter] >> AND NOW AT 2,000 PSI.

[00:04:25]It kicks so much. You see how much it changes.

[00:04:33]That's not even half the power.

[00:04:35]That's insane.

[00:04:37]So, if this is less than 1% of the maximum pressure for the large tank, what 100 times that looks like.

[00:04:49]By the way, something I haven't mentioned is the noise.

[00:04:54]The supersonic crack this thing makes is deafening.

[00:05:00]It's literally like a firearm.

[00:05:03]Now, volume and pressure are fundamental to create a destructive shockwave, but there is a third element that's important to generate as much power as possible.

[00:05:13]And that's the speed at which the valve opens. Right now, I'm just pulling the lever of the valve with my hand.

[00:05:20]And that's the slowest and weakest way to do so. And at full pressure, it's going to take me even longer if I did it manually because high pressure creates friction inside the valve.

[00:05:33]The slower this valve opens, the less violently the air is going to flow out of the tank because instead of all at once, it's going to come out progressively. And by the time the valve is going to be fully open, the tank would be empty already. Basically, the faster I can release all the air, the more violent the reaction is going to be. So, there are a few valves that could open faster than the one I have, like solenoid valves or quick exhaust valves, the same one I used in my Nerf blaster project. But, many of them either restrict the flow, which decreases the power, or have a much lower maximum pressure than my tough ball valve. So, excluding burst discs, which would require me to disassemble the cannon after each shot, I think this might be the simplest and most effective option. I just got to modify it a bit so it opens very fast. And this is what I came up with.

[00:06:25]It's definitely not an Uzi, and it will definitely kick harder than one. The idea of this system is to open the ball valve very fast using the power of thick and strong speargun rubber bands.

[00:06:38]A local shop machined some of the metal components for me. Some I made myself, and I modified the ball valve so that all the trigger parts can connect to it.

[00:06:46]Then, I also 3D modeled and printed trigger and grip using a resin printer.

[00:06:51]Now, I have not tested it yet, so I have no idea if it's going to work when there's going to be pressure in it, but here's how it should work. The rubber bands are attached on one end to this plate behind the grip and the trigger, and on the other end to this weird ball valve lever. I'm going to come back to why this thing looks like that in a minute. Now, these bands are pre-tensioned, meaning they're stretched even when the valve is open. I did that by simply screwing this bolt right here.

[00:07:16]And then, they get to about 330% of their initial length when the valve is closed. At that stretch, these two bands should pull about 40 kg, which I hope it's going to be enough to open the ball valve even when there's going to be pressure in it. Just to give you an idea, those bands open the valve with so much force that they're already bending the steel plate meant to stop the lever.

[00:07:38]So, later I'm going to switch it to a thicker one and an aluminum stopper to soften the impact a little bit. Now, when pulled by the bands, the lever of the valve wants to turn, but the movement is blocked by this L-shaped element right here. That piece is connected to the trigger though, so when I pull it, the lever of the valve is now free to move and the rubber bands can snap the valve open. There's also another handle that I connected to the system with a Picatinny rail because I already know this thing is going to kick. And then, there is a laser for no reason at all because this thing shoots air, but I mean, why not? Now, why does the ball valve lever looks like that and not like this? Basically, with a normal lever, the rubber bands will only be pulling at the perfect angle for a split second, meaning when the bands are perpendicular to the lever. So, most of the rotation, I'd be wasting a lot of force. With this shape though, the rope wraps around the lever, so the bands are always pulling at the ideal angle. There is no wasted force all the way through till the ball valve is fully open. Now, I was planning to run the first test the next day, but I couldn't wait. I was so curious, so I went to the shop the same evening just with my phone and I tried filling the tank with 1,500 PSI, so about 30% of the maximum pressure and this happened.

[00:08:58]Jesus.

[00:09:01]Jesus.

[00:09:03]That scared me so much. Like my heart is pounding right now. I don't know if you can tell from the camera how much more powerful that hit was compared to without the rubber bands. That's insane.

[00:09:16]All right, guys. Today's the next day.

[00:09:17]Now, before running the actual test, shooting targets at full pressure with the large tank as well, I want to see what happens if I shoot the small tank at full pressure. Also, I want you to film this system in slow motion just to get an idea of like how fast this valve is actually opening. Oh, and I also printed out buttstock for the occasion.

[00:09:40]>> [laughter] >> Not sure if I like it this close to my face though.

[00:09:44]So, I'm taking some heavy safety precautions. All right, first shot at full pressure.

[00:09:54]Well, that was weird. And then, by checking the footage in slow motion, it got quite clear what happened.

[00:10:03]The rubber bands are barely strong enough to win the friction inside the valve.

[00:10:08]And because of that, they opened it very slowly, limiting the power. Well, I need more elastic bands. And so, I decided to increase the elastic power by 100% adding two more rubber bands. This way, I definitely think it's going to be enough force to open the valve very fast, even at full pressure.

[00:10:30]Oh, Jesus.

[00:10:32]Okay.

[00:10:35]All right, let's see if it works.

[00:10:38]All right, 4,000 PSI.

[00:10:41]Let's just do it.

[00:10:45]Oh, Jesus. Now, the kick and the impact were way stronger than before, and the air created a sort of spear that punched a hole through the box.

[00:10:58]Also, the valve opened very fast.

[00:11:02]But, not all the way through. So, I removed a few centimeters of rope, pre-tensioned the bands even more, and this time the kick literally pushed me out of balance.

[00:11:20]This time, the valve opened in one frame, which is absolutely great, and the spear I was talking about before is even larger this time.

[00:11:32]I have an idea of what there is, but it's going to be clearer when I film it in ultra slow motion. All right, I'm in the middle of a forest, which means no neighbors, and so I can finally test the cannon at full power against a few targets with the large tank as well. Now, it would have taken me 4 hours to fill the big tank at max pressure with my old PCP compressor. So, I got a more powerful one that is water-cooled. With this one, it's going to be much, much faster. It's probably going to take me about 20 for the large tank and 2-3 minutes for the small one. Also, there is no electricity here, so I had to buy a gasoline generator just to power up the PCP compressor. But anyways, now everything is finally ready for the test. All right, guys, for the first shot, I want to use the small tank at maximum pressure and film it in ultra slow motion, but without blowing anything up yet.

[00:12:23]Because right now, I just want to see what happens right here when you fire this thing.

[00:12:29]All right?

[00:12:31]3 2 1 With a normal slow motion, you just see a sort of flash in front of the valve.

[00:12:41]But if we slow things down a little further, it gets very fascinating.

[00:12:52]And I think I know what there is.

[00:12:55]First of all, the reason why that thing is blue is because when the air exits the nozzle, it expands so quickly and violently that it causes some massive drop in temperature, like -100° instantly condensing the moisture in the air. So, the blue thing you see there is basically ice crystals reflecting the light.

[00:13:15]And then, since the air expanded at supersonic speed, in front of the nozzle, the pressure dropped below atmospheric pressure. So, what you see there is Mach diamonds. I'm going to leave an explanation here if you're interested, but in any case, I find that so fascinating.

[00:13:33]And painful. So, now let's see what this thing can do against the targets. All right, shot number two, watermelon.

[00:13:41]I don't want to stay Of course, point-blank is going to be the most powerful option, but I don't want to stay too close.

[00:13:49]I think from here should work.

[00:13:52]I think.

[00:13:54]It's going to be like taking a shower.

[00:13:56]All right.

[00:14:02]Oh, it didn't do anything. What?

[00:14:16]I guess it really just works at point-blank.

[00:14:19]Like damage 5,000, range one. But wait, I have an identical watermelon for later, so it's going to be interesting to see if with the large tank range is going to improve, not just power.

[00:14:33]Let me blow this watermelon up first, though. All right.

[00:14:36]Point-blank shot.

[00:14:38]Let's see if it works. This is like really point-blank.

[00:14:43]What?

[00:14:48]Yep.

[00:14:49]It worked.

[00:14:51]It definitely worked.

[00:14:57]Well, you can't really tell much from the slow-motion shot, but the watermelon basically disappeared.

[00:15:06]There is a piece here.

[00:15:07]>> [laughter] >> Like it went Oh my god.

[00:15:13]I see a piece there, right?

[00:15:16]And then I see a piece over there.

[00:15:18]That's crazy.

[00:15:20]>> [laughter] >> By the way, I'm not wasting food. Oh my god, there is a piece there. What?

[00:15:29]>> [laughter] >> I Look at how far I am. By the way, I'm not wasting food. I'm feeding wild animals. Now, before moving to the large tank, I want to see what happens if I use a tank that's twice the size.

[00:15:42]Just to try to get a scale of what I'm getting into.

[00:15:48]All right, middle tank at full pressure against the melon. I am scared.

[00:16:11]OH MY GOD.

[00:16:14]GEEZ.

[00:16:17]Oh my god, my back hurts. Now, seriously, that hurt.

[00:16:23]I don't know if watching this video you can feel the actual power of this cannon, but I believe this footage with my phone gives a pretty accurate representation.

[00:16:33]Oh.

[00:16:34]In any case, before moving to the large tank, I wanted to try one more shot standing a bit further away just to see if volume also affects range.

[00:16:49]And I believe it does.

[00:16:59]Then I also tried to film with a wide angle to see how far the shock wave travels through the air.

[00:17:20]>> All right, it's time for the large tank, which is five times larger than the one I just used. There is absolutely no way I'm going to stand behind this thing at full power.

[00:17:31]Not a chance. So, I'm clamping it down to the table adding a 40 kg sand bucket on top of it.

[00:17:39]And well, I hope we're not going to see a flying table. Also, I moved the PCP compressor and the generator close to the cannon, and thanks to a cable extension, I can pump the air into the tank without having to move the cannon before the shot. I think the further I stay from this thing the better. So, I'm also going to activate the trigger with a cable.

[00:17:57]Well, I'm going to hide behind the car.

[00:18:00]All right, the first target is going to be a watermelon. I just got to wait about 20 minutes to fill the tank. By the way, a few weeks ago, AnyDesk reached out to me and told me, "Try to ask your audience the most insane, craziest, most expensive, and most dangerous idea they can think of, and we are going to back it."

[00:18:20]That's it. That was the ad segment for this video.

[00:18:24]I'm not going to ask you to download anything or pay for anything. I just want to know the craziest, most insane idea you can think of for this channel.

[00:18:33]And with the support of AnyDesk, I'm going to be able to make it happen.

[00:18:36]Moreover, if you're going to be the one responsible for the winning idea, you are also going to win a nice prize. To submit your idea, just click the link in the description and write it there. The craziest one you can think of. All right, I can't wait to see them and especially to make it happen. Huge shout-out to AnyDesk because this one is the coolest sponsorship format I've ever seen on YouTube. Now, they told me I don't have to say this, but check them out. You might find AnyDesk useful, and you can download it for free. Now, let's shoot this thing.

[00:19:06]We're at 3,000 PSI, a little bit more.

[00:19:09]We're almost there. I'm scared.

[00:19:12]I'm going to stay behind the car.

[00:19:15]But that thing scares me even from there.

[00:19:19]All right. [snorts] As soon as I shoot I got to run down there to stop the slow motion camera.

[00:19:27]It's already going right now. Yeah.

[00:19:30]All right, let's do this.

[00:19:35]Let's do it.

[00:20:11]Oh my god, what happened?

[00:20:15]What happened?

[00:20:17]The table broke.

[00:20:19]What?

[00:20:21]What?

[00:20:22]Do you see this? The legs of the table just got bent backward.

[00:20:30]What?

[00:20:33]And all the sand just gone. Now, I cleaned the cannon from the sand and since the sun is quickly going behind the tree line, I'm going to go straight to shooting the ballistic dummy head.

[00:20:42]And so, after waiting another 20 minutes or so, I was ready for the second shot.

[00:20:47]All right.

[00:20:48]The problem is that this time things got messy.

[00:21:02]>> [snorts] >> Well, I just made a rocket.

[00:21:08]All right, this is the aftermath.

[00:21:12]My table doesn't look like a table. Well, the cannon with the table flew 10 m backwards. I'm so glad I had the idea of moving the car away from behind the cannon and pull the trigger from the side. I definitely would have had a rocket-powered table into a car door. So, I couldn't get the ultra slow motion shot for this one because I I saw a flying table and got distracted.

[00:21:36]So, I didn't stop the ultra slow motion camera in time, but let's try to find the dummy head.

[00:21:42]Oh, jeez.

[00:21:45]I guess this guy kind of survived, but he wouldn't have a face anymore.

[00:21:51]Where is the neck, though? Maybe I see a piece of neck.

[00:21:56]There it is.

[00:21:57]Oh, it's >> [sighs] >> Oh, it's a jaw.

[00:22:02]I shot from there. Thing I'm extremely sorry about is that basically the cannon just flew away.

[00:22:10]Oh, I found the neck. Look at it.

[00:22:12]How did it How did it get inside here? I shot from there, and it went inside here.

[00:22:22]I bet it wouldn't be pleasant to be shot at by by that thing.

[00:22:28]Now, I can't shoot anymore because when the cannon flew away, it took the compressor with it and a few things broke. In any case, I'm working on something that's much more powerful than that.

[00:22:42]Basically, an overpowered potato cannon.

[00:22:45]And with that one, I'm just going to have to travel a little bit, but with that one, I'm also going to be able to shoot stuff. Also, don't forget to write the crazy ideas for the Anydesk project.

[00:22:55]Just click the link in the description and I can't wait to read them. If you enjoyed this video, leave a like and subscribe so I know you enjoy this stuff. And also, check this one out as well. I I think you'll like it.