New Mini-NASAW Build

[madmattd]

It's been a long time since I got the chance to do a new build. Mini-NASAW, a prototype for what became the full-size machine most of you are familiar with, was a wooden frame with metal moving parts (arm, hanger, carriages). The wooden tracks simply didn't last well, especially through somewhere near 200 launches and several times dropping the weight with the gates un-opened. The last time out, a bit over a year ago, splintered much of the track support and gate section, and needed to be totally re-built. So, instead, I did something I'd been toying with for a couple years, and built an all-steel frame for the same moving parts. It still breaks down into individual pieces, and thus stores/transports nicely (well, it should, this aspect hasn't actually been tested just yet, but the setup is similar to the old wooden one, but with smaller volume parts). After a coat or two of paint, this thing should be good to have lots of fun with!

The gallery is up, , (you should not need a Facebook account to see them - let me know if that is not the case).

[Nick481]

That thing is sweet Matt. Love those clean and well built metal frames and it has the super nice carriages just like the full size one. I would love to see some video of it.

[madmattd]

Thanks Nick. I got it finished in time for our annual demo event at Wickham Farms last weekend. This year we brought this machine and Janus, and once we cocked them let the kids take turns pulling the trigger. Mini-NASAW performed brilliantly, shooting 1-1.25lb mini-pumpkins in the 500-600ft range with a 70lb counterweight. It is SO much smoother than the old wooden frame (which used the same arm, hanger, and carriages), and the tuning was awesome. The arm carried less than 1 foot onto the downrange rails, there was just no energy left in the system. We did probably 60-70 shots, not a single issue or misfire.

I'm working on a couple videos (I was too busy operating the machines as we were short-handed this year and only got a couple videos), but the farm did post a couple of videos, which perhaps you can ?

[Nick481]

That's amazing that it scaled down so well. To build a treb and fire it immediately with great performance consistently is an achievement. In that video it looks like it has that trademark nasaw smooth action to it. I've always wanted to build a faw but for now I will just have to enjoy y'alls.

[madmattd]

[KerikM]

Real nice! I will study the pix at leisure in days to come. To comfort myself for the loss of the 2 local events here in WA.