A Simple Beginner's Cannon

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor. Show us your combustion spud gun and discuss fuels, ratios, safety, ignition systems, tools, and more.
paragod
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 4:32 am

These are some pictures of the first type of spud gun we came up with. I don't know if one like it has already been posted. If so, I apologize.

I made this gun with the standard barrel, but I conected it to a 4" to 2" flush reducer connected to the top of a 4" coupling with a 45 degree 2" cleanout. As you can see, the cleanout is a ready made handle, and a good place to put the ignitor. To place the ignitor, i just put a 2" threaded cap on the cleanout and drilled a 1/2" hole in the top. The grill ignitor fits just right, and with a little sealant, is air tight. I normally just connect the wires to the metal ignitor flange that comes with the ignitor kit, and attach it to the inside of the chamber with epoxy. After that, I used the standard 4" threaded cap to close things up. This model does not have a fan or propane injection, but can be made with about $25 and 2-3 hours of your time. One of the downsides I have noticed is that it is easy to overdo the fuel and flood the small chamber out, causing a misfire. Additionally, try to keep the threads on the back clean and dry, as I have had a few guns with jammed threads due to excess hairspray.


Just as a side note, I found that 2 or 3 of those cheap paper towels that come in bundles make great "wadding" so that you can put just about any size object in a 2" barrel. (I have embedded macaroni and spaghetti noodles in a piece of plywood!) Also, cheap fiber toilet brushes WILL fire out of a 2" barrel, but catch on fire on the way out, so beware of where it lands.

Happy spud gunning!!!!
JW
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Note the lack of frills and paint, but this gun has been going for years.
Note the lack of frills and paint, but this gun has been going for years.
100_0376.JPG
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killagorrila99
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 4:46 am

I Like it, real simple. Reminds me of my first gun exept without a 3 ft long chamber and a 7ft barrel.
"I'm sorry, Mr.Bush cant come to the phone right now, He's playing cleudo with Mr. Cheney And he has him in the Cupboard with a broom stick" -White house receptionist.
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experament_u2
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 5:03 am

nice and simple but i think u should put the ignitor in deeper it will look beter
but other wise thats a nice gun good job :)
paragod
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 12:15 pm

Actually I have the ignitor out to show how I drilled the hole and ran the wires. It sits all the way to the flange when installed. Thanks for the thoughts though!!!!
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dippydodo03
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:45 pm

sweet gun. simple but looks fun.
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spudthug
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Thu Mar 01, 2007 6:50 am

yea very simple kinda like *oldskool* i like it how far you think it shoots and wat propellent do you use??
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