Suggestions for a potato cannon?

[Joe2005]

Ok before you tell me to search I did! But that was an OLD thread and it was dealing with combustion based. I'm gonna be making a coaxial piston valve pneumatic spud gun with a 6' 2" barrel.

My question is do you think this is to big? I think it will be more powerfull than all get out and fun as hell, but 6'...not exactly something you can stick in the back of a comact car.

...suggestions...

[SAVAGE]

are you wanting to get it in a compact, if so, make 5 feet, just to be safe. also, make sure it ain't 2 wide 2 fit in your car(measure the car, then build the gun) i love potato guns! they're a hell of a lot of fun! i'll probably build one pretty soon... as for suggestions, try to make a sight for it and possibly put ridges on the inside of the barrel to make the potato rifle. it can be done, just look up potato gun.

[kington99]

Please be carefull, I have stood next to someone and watched them have a hole blown in the front of his head by a potato cannon failing. That kindof thing stays with you. We always used to build them to run off explosives rather than compressed air, I guess air is safer but still.

Now on the less serious side, we built one using a beer keg as the combusiton chamber, with a 5 foot long steel barel specially threaded on a lathe to screw directly in to the keg. It was pretty crazy. Maybe think about having your potato cannon come apart easily so you can use a longer barrel and still fit it in the car.

[tobbogonist]

i suggest dutch creams

[SAVAGE]

hey dude, just wonderin, have u ever made a mini potato gun? u make them out of a bbq sparker, a pill bottle, a pen tube, tape, and some wires. they're pretty fun to play with when your big gun is busted.

[Matt_V]

I made mine out of 1 1/2" ABS pipe, and it uses a flint sparker

[dunawan]

Make an air cannon, they save you the trouble and they are ALOT more reliable and more safe.

And a suggestion for the barrel, cut the pvc (or whatever your using) right down the middle and get a union to connect them.

The following image is a union.

19332

[James_Potter]

My friend made one out of PVC pipe, it was an air cannon, pneumatic that is, and over six feet long I think...closer to seven. He used a bike pump to pump it up.
I don't know anything about making 'em though, which renders this post...USELESS!

[burjzyntski]

racquetball cannons > potato cannons.

[dunawan]

racquetball cannons > potato cannons.

Hell yeah. +1

[kington99]

hey dude, just wonderin, have u ever made a mini potato gun? u make them out of a bbq sparker, a pill bottle, a pen tube, tape, and some wires. they're pretty fun to play with when your big gun is busted.


Yep I did exactly the same except I used a piezo-electric crystal from a gas lighter. The bore of the pen tube was perfect for a .22 air rifle pellet, when i got the mix just right I swear it had more power than my air rifle.