two questions

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.
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jimmy101
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Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:36 pm

Many spudders have used brushed fans, particularly the small "personal" fans you can get at K-mart and similar stores. They are cheap and work very well.

There is a very slight possibility of a brushed fan igniting the fuel. But people (including me) have tried to use small motors as igniters and nobody has ever gotten it to work. (Like frankrede said.) I've also never seen a report of a brushed fan meant for circulation accidentally igniting the gun.

So, a low voltage brushed fan is A-OK for mixing. Treat the gun as you would any loaded gun and an accidental firing when you turn on the fan is not a problem.

Gun powder in a PVC gun is a pretty stupid idea. But it is unlikely that it will generate thousands of PSI.

1. The spud won't hang around long enough for the pressure to get that high. (At a couple hundred PSI the spud'l vaporize, just ask the hybrid builders.)

2. The chamber of a spud gun is orders of magnitude larger than of a rifle, therefore the peak pressure for a given amount of powder is much less.

Besides, how do you hold the powder in place and how do you ignite it?
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gotbass7
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Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:38 pm

the personal fan was my original idea, but someone on here showed a website where they have small fans that would work well
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Fnord
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Fri Jul 06, 2007 6:23 pm

he says hes gonna do it after i told him what everyone says. he seems to be mad at killjoy
Take pictures ;)

PCGUY wrote:So how did you plan on getting this to seal and fire over and over again?

Building a semi auto spud cannon is no easy task, especially with a combustion type. Your best bet would be to have something that could do say 3-5 shots using small "pre loaded" chambers that are switchable, but even that can become expensive and inefficient very quickly.
Making a couple of combustion paintball revolvers would be awesome.
You could even make them out of steel and use acetylene. Someone shooting you with a metal revolver that sounds like a gun would probably make most pb player crap their pants. Be sure to use bloodred paintballs.

Wait, did PCGUY just make a spudgun related post? Mark that on the calender :P
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gotbass7
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Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:04 pm

he told me hes not gonna do it anymore. sorry. lol.

but would paintball style loading work though? that would make a tightenough seal in a paintball barrel, right?
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