SpudFiles

new to this sight and kinda new to spud guns...question is how scared should I be of using propane in my gun???

None. Propane will only combust when it has an appropriate mixture with the air. Then, it will only generate up to 120 psi in the chamber for a very brief period of time.

It's actually quite safe when used appropriately. If you have any questions on the safety usage, consort the wiki and it will guide you.

And welcome to Spudfiles.

Propane is safe so long as you do not have a freakin' huge leak and an open active ignition source. A can like you ought to be using is no more dangerous than a can of hairspray.

Its not even much more powerful, the ingredient that is in spray cans that makes the cannons go bang is propane...

Don't be scared. It's by far the fuel of choice for serious spudding. You need to work out a metering and injection method but after that you never look back...I promise you.

Take a look at Trip Thunder..an admittedly high end but prototypical combustion cannon.

Setting up fueling in these is so easy, I'm frankly not sure why anyone fools around with spray products of any sort beyond the initial curiosity.

As well, propane metering can be done with tools as simple as a torch head and a syringe. You can even use larger "turkey baster" syringes without markings if you have a graduated cylinder to initially calibrate it.

I had a nice write-up on my web site, but I let the hosting expire, so any questions are welcome.

Simple metering is posted in the Wiki.
http://www.spudfiles.com/spud_wiki/inde ... Fuel_meter
It looks like the other methods for metering using a pipe and ball valves can use a little update. Anyone want to add advanced metering to the wiki?

Technician1002 wrote:It looks like the other methods for metering using a pipe and ball valves can use a little update. Anyone want to add advanced metering to the wiki?

I could probably add a bit tonight. I expect it'll receive about a dozen:

23:06, 10 May 2010 Ragnarok (Talk | contribs) (8,165 bytes) (...no No NO!)

though...

saefroch wrote:Propane is safe so long as you do not have a freakin' huge leak and an open active ignition source. A can like you ought to be using is no more dangerous than a can of hairspray.

a giant leak isn't even that dangerous, If you've ever accidentally ignited you spud gun while injecting fueling into the chamber you'll know that's it's not much worse than a puff of hot air at most it'll make your eyebrows feel crispy

Personally I like to avoid the shocking fireball and crispy eyebrows, thank you very much.