Potato Cannon (metal, rock, Bazooka)

cardboard adolescent · 10-21-2006, 07:27 PM

or spud gun, though that sounds really ***.

So, has anyone built one? For those of you that don't know what the hell I'm talking about, it's basically a cannon/gun built out of pvc pipes that shoots potatos, often at speeds of 200 ft/second. There's two kinds, combustion and pneumatic. Combustion involves spraying hair spray or some sort of flammable aerosol into the chamber, and then sparking it with a BBQ igniter or something of that sort. This kind of potato cannon can be held on your shoulder kind of like a bazooka to blow **** up.

The kind I'm making is a pneumatic potato cannon, which uses and air compressor and a valve of some sort to shoot potatos. The compressor I'm using can go up to 130 psi, though we probably won't try to exceed 100. I'm still working on it right now, but it'll probably be done in the next couple days, and like the nerd I am I'll use some physics to try and hit targets and **** like that. And kill small animals. If anyone is interested, I might post some pictures.

Has anyone tried this? Any stories? Sad anecdotes recalling fallen kin who weren't intelligent enough to use pressure-treated PVC?

Whatever. Spam.

~~[MERIT]~~ · 10-21-2006, 07:33 PM

my friend built one that shot a full-size wooden baseball bat about 500 yards (no kidding).

jibber · 10-21-2006, 08:19 PM

we had a combustion cannon in wanaka. good times till it was confiscated by the cops on our buddy's last night. we never really used potatoes though, shot a lot of oranges, but the best was tennis balls wrapped in duct tape to make it a tighter fit. I made a make-shift missile with a red bull can filled with rocks, and more duct tape. good concept but didnt really fly. oh, and methylade spirits works wonders.

tdoc210 · 10-21-2006, 08:54 PM

i made a combustion one, i think , never worked..=( shouldn't have used gas

~~[MERIT]~~ · 10-21-2006, 09:02 PM

yeah my friend had a metal tube and an industrial tank of compressed gas (nitrogen maybe?)

10-21-2006, 07:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
cardboard adolescent ;) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: CA Posts: 3,503	Potato Cannon or spud gun, though that sounds really *. So, has anyone built one? For those of you that don't know what the hell I'm talking about, it's basically a cannon/gun built out of pvc pipes that shoots potatos, often at speeds of 200 ft/second. There's two kinds, combustion and pneumatic. Combustion involves spraying hair spray or some sort of flammable aerosol into the chamber, and then sparking it with a BBQ igniter or something of that sort. This kind of potato cannon can be held on your shoulder kind of like a bazooka to blow up. The kind I'm making is a pneumatic potato cannon, which uses and air compressor and a valve of some sort to shoot potatos. The compressor I'm using can go up to 130 psi, though we probably won't try to exceed 100. I'm still working on it right now, but it'll probably be done in the next couple days, and like the nerd I am I'll use some physics to try and hit targets and ** like that. And kill small animals. If anyone is interested, I might post some pictures. Has anyone tried this? Any stories? Sad anecdotes recalling fallen kin who weren't intelligent enough to use pressure-treated PVC? Whatever. Spam.

10-21-2006, 08:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
jibber Freeskier Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Istanbul was Constantinople now it's Istanbul not Constantinople... Posts: 1,536	we had a combustion cannon in wanaka. good times till it was confiscated by the cops on our buddy's last night. we never really used potatoes though, shot a lot of oranges, but the best was tennis balls wrapped in duct tape to make it a tighter fit. I made a make-shift missile with a red bull can filled with rocks, and more duct tape. good concept but didnt really fly. oh, and methylade spirits works wonders. __________________ What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road. William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways Your toughest competitor lives in your head. Some days his name is fear, or pain, or gravity. Stomp his ass. HOOKED ON THE WHITE POWDER

10-21-2006, 08:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
tdoc210 ashes against the grain Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: new hampsha Posts: 2,617	i made a combustion one, i think , never worked..=( shouldn't have used gas __________________ We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that.

10-21-2006, 07:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
~~[MERIT]~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Missouri, USA Posts: 4,814	my friend built one that shot a full-size wooden baseball bat about 500 yards (no kidding).

10-21-2006, 09:02 PM	#5 (permalink)
~~[MERIT]~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Missouri, USA Posts: 4,814	yeah my friend had a metal tube and an industrial tank of compressed gas (nitrogen maybe?)