Potato guns
 

So who has a potato gun?

Ive got two, both combustion. One is just over three feet long and the other is around 8.5 feet long. The little one has had all the kinks worked out of it and actually works better than the big one as of now. My fuel of choice is cheap hairspray.

Please put up pics if you got'em, ill have some of mine up soon.

Re: Potato guns
 

I have a potato gun, too. I call it my spud gun, but that's just me. It is 3 feet long, ABS pipe, 1 1/2" diameter barrel. It uses engine starter spray, the stuff that you spray into the car's air filter on cold mornings. I think it is called ether, and it works great. :D

Re: Potato guns
 

Wow, i figured that there would be more spudgunners amongst all these engineers.

Re: Potato guns
 

I used to want a potato gun, but after seeing what can happen I really don't think I want one anymore.

The whole idea is cool tough. :) Launching stuff can be pretty cool.

Re: Potato guns
 

As long as you are methodical about putting it together and follow all the general safety rules and are using a tame fuel (hairspray) there is no more chance of hurting yourself then any other activity involving firearms. Your more likely to hurt someone else than yourself and thats only if your doing something stupid.

Re: Potato guns
 

I have 3 guns capable of launchncing starchy vegatables. with varraying levels of sucess. one with a small cumbustor chamber one with Direct propane injection and one With CO2. The Co2 gun is by far the easiest and most powerfull of the three. the direct propane injection is nice but requires hours and hours of tweeking to get the fuel/Air mixture right. and the one with the small combustor chamber was such a pain that i suddenly became very dumb. and shook up about 8 ounces of high-grade gasoline up in the chamber along with propane and lit the mixture from the rear of the gun thinking that i could close it off fafter than the fire could escape. CLearly i was incorrect. And ended up in the emergency room being treated gor second degree burns ofer the top of my hand. there is no comparison i can even imagine to the ammount of pain there is from that burn. so istick with my co2 cannon. its very easy yo use, the other night we werre shooting clear through computer cases and old laptops with it. its all fun but still very dangerous so be carefull before you do anything stupid.

Re: Potato guns
 

My Scout troop has 3, all about 5-foot long PVC. Fuel: hairspray.

Re: Potato guns
 

Our Mechanical Captain actually made one during the build season. It was really powerful though; almost crossed a football field and even more. :ahh:

Re: Potato guns
 

I'm gonna be building one once school gets out (last class is Friday morning). I want something to mess around with when I get bored and to play with when I have my bonfire this summer.

Re: Potato guns
 

God i feel like a retard, how do I put pictures in?

Re: Potato guns
 

That picture of someone holding a potato cannon on their shoulder should be on the Darwin Awards website. PLEASE do not hold a potato cannon next to your head when you fire it. About 10 feet away with an electrical switch is about minimum. Behind a row of sandbags would be better.

I especially disapprove of holding the combustion chamber :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: next to the head. Really, really dumb. Really.

Disclaimer: my son and I own and operate a small cannon. I've never held it next to my head. I have talked to owners of exploded cannons.

Re: Potato guns
 

got 1 fuel=hairspray it has about a 3 inch barrel, and can launch a potato 200-300 yards

Re: Potato guns
 

ive got two... one big combustion gun and a nice pneumatic one with a switchable barrel, i even have a toilet paper launcher attachment! fun stuff! :)

Re: Potato guns
 

Is it possible to make a t-shirt launcher attachment for a spud gun? That would be a really cool. :D

Re: Potato guns
 

why yess it is. my co2 gun can tak any size PVC including 4" witch is a good size roll for a tshirt. af course mine are Armor Penitrating T-shirts at close range.

Re: Potato guns
 

Seriously, how do I put a picture in my post?

Re: Potato guns
 

I've owned both a combustible and a pneumatic, I liked the pneumatic better and thought that it *seemed* safer (I can't really tell); it was at least easier to use.

A few websites I've enjoyed (and still have bookmarked).

PVC Ballistics
Spudgun Technology Center

Re: Potato guns
 

I don't have one, but I'm looking into making one. It's next up on my list after making nitrogen triiodide, flash powder, and more gunpowder for 4th of July. (I've decided that fireworks prices are highway robbery) However, if I'm in Canada for the 1st, I won't be doing anything at all like that.

Re: Potato guns
 

[quote=lukevanoort]It's next up on my list after making nitrogen triiodide, flash powder, and more gunpowder for 4th of July. [quote]

:ahh: WHAT?!?! :ahh:

Re: Potato guns
 

I have several guns, but my favorite is my latest creation.

Fuel: Propane
Combustion Chamber: 4"Dx18"L
Interchangeable Barrels: 2"Dx3.5'L, 2"Dx6.5'L, 1.5"Dx4'L, 1.5"Dx6'L, all barrels have functional muzzle breaks.
Igniter: Lantern Flint

As for the safety of air over combustion... my air cannon was the only one to ever explode on me, and as long as proper construction techniques and materials are used, everything should be fine.

I did the calculations for the MAXIMUM IDEAL PRESSURE generated by the perfect combustion of propane and air... 132psi, well within the 220psi operational limit of the Sched 40 PVC I use.

Re: Potato guns
 

Just recently, I rebuilt the accumulator of my air cannon so I could enjoy it. I originally built it for a physics class projectiles project and never gave the PVC cement enough time to cure before I pressurized the tank, thus, why I had to rebuild it. :p



Anyway, mine runs off of compressed air pumped into the accumulator by a standard bike pump. I test fired it for the first time since I rebuilt the tank last week, and I have to say I love the results! I've been using pine cones and redskin potatoes as ammo, and I've had a pine cone go about 150 feet!

I also built an electronic trigger for the sprinkler valve, but getting to 24 volts with batteries takes a lot of batteries (Two 9 volts and four AA's in series). I have been using just 18 volts to run it, but it doesn't open the valve fast enough, so I've just been using the manual pressure release instead, with great results. So I'll probably just scrap the electronics.



My air cannon makes a very odd sound when fired, that I think has something to do with the shape of the inside of the sprinkler valve I'm using. But in any case, it's very satisfying when accompanied by the kickback of a firing. :D

On a side note, does anybody know the Michigan laws for air cannons? I've been unable to find anything pertaining to them through Google searching.

Re: Potato guns
 

sweet pat. you got to let me know how you rigged your sprinkler valve, I'm trying to put a co2 harpoon gun on a vex bot triggering it off a spike and i figured i could just use 2 9v batteries.

as long as were bringing the thread up again Here is my Bolt-action potato gun before i used it and eventually destroyed it (and my haircut) because i forgot to lock the bolt into place before i fired it the last time and the bolt flew out the back of the gun and went God knows where? yes it was called the "FUNGASIM"

Re: Potato guns
 

I don't have a spud gun, but I do have a sling shot that can shoot just as powerful. Its made of eight strips of !0' long latex surgical tubbing. The ends of the tubes are tied to clips so you can wrap it around an object and hook it onto itself. I've managed to launch a party balloon full of water (frozen so it wouldn't pop). You have to be careful when using it, sometimes the slingshot catches whatever its throwing and hurls it back at you. :ahh:

My friend has a spud gun, It uses compressed air and a butterfly valve to work. Normally we shoot the barn or into the cow pasture.

Re: Potato guns
 

A friend I have an assortment of cannons. The most recent, and impressive, has made use of a lot of fancy shmancy threaded connectors, allowing us to try different barrel lengths and such.

The best results have come from a ten foot barrel. We can't buy lengths any longer, and frankly, couldn't handle the weight. It's heavy! The chamber is perhaps 18 inches in length not including fittings and fueled by propane. We have not yet metered the propane, and just open up an unlit torch for about 8 seconds. It's worked well enough that we don't feel the need to invest a lot of time and money in a metering pipe.

We use an old flint style igniter. We prefer this over electronic because it gives a huge spark. I've never felt confident sitting there clicking away at a barbecue lighter waiting for something to catch. With the flint, we know it'll go if there is any fuel in the chamber. It also adds a nice tactile feel to the cannon.

We've also got a nice little muffin fan on the rear cap. It seems to do a nice job of stirring up the chamber, and it sure makes it a heck of a lot louder!

The next project to perfect is the silencer. We had a good proof of concept, but it requires refinement. We just have to figure out how to keep it from spewing confetti everywhere.

-Local

Re: Potato guns
 

My friends and I have built a couple of cannons, one for potatoes and the other for tennis balls. We had to order the 2 1/2" PVC special off of the internet. It's about 7 feet long and can shoot about 200 feet. We shoot it at night occasionally, and when we do that we pour some glow stick stuff on the balls so we can see them fly.