Pirate 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.
MrWizard
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:39 am

So my nephew got a little toy potato pop gun. He loves it. For his birthday, my wife asked me if I could upsize it into a potato gun. He is a big fan of pirates, so I thought I'd theme it. Well, the project got a little more... complicated than I first thought. But the end result was better than I had hoped. Its only my second potato gun, but the first was a LONG time ago.

Let me know what you think,
Jeff
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:42 am

hehe brilliant, you have one lucky nephew!

You know, it would have been much easier to make it full bore... then again, you don't want footballs through the neighbour's windows either ;)
hectmarr wrote:You have to make many weapons, because this field is long and short life
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pneumaticcannons
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:10 am

ha cool. i thought i saw something that looked like a schrader. you sound cooler than my uncles :)
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mattyzip77
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:52 am

That is one neat cannon. How many psi are you putting into it? Your nephew must be psyched!! Make sure you introduce him to the forum if he is old enough. good stuff!! :)
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warhead052
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:11 am

mattyzip77 wrote:That is one neat cannon. How many psi are you putting into it? Your nephew must be psyched!! Make sure you introduce him to the forum if he is old enough. good stuff!! :)
Matty, you do realize this is a combustion right? (notice where it is posted?)


Nice job on the cannon, but I agree with jack. Full bore would have been awesome.
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D_Hall
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:28 am

Very cool!

How old is the nephew?
Simulation geek (GGDT / HGDT) and designer of Vera.
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mattyzip77
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:10 pm

warhead052 wrote:
mattyzip77 wrote:That is one neat cannon. How many psi are you putting into it? Your nephew must be psyched!! Make sure you introduce him to the forum if he is old enough. good stuff!! :)
Matty, you do realize this is a combustion right? (notice where it is posted?)


Nice job on the cannon, but I agree with jack. Full bore would have been awesome.
Well what is the schrader valve for???
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warhead052
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:49 pm

I don't think that's a schrader.
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mattyzip77
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:23 pm

Hmmmmmm, possibly a flint sparker?????
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MrWizard
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Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:02 pm

Thanks for the positive feedback :)

OK - my nephew is WAY too young to play with it by himself, so his dad really is the one who gets to fire it.

This cannon has a 3in combustion chamber that goes to a 3/4" barrel. It was build using Mini T-Rex plans over at AdvancedSpuds.com as a starting point.

I'm using lantern flint sparker as the ignition source.

After building the cannon close to a Mini T-Rex, I just pvc welded the 3" coupler right on top of the reduction piece. This allows my to fit it to the back of a 3" cannon to match the combustion chamber. The trick was how to get the 3/4" barrel through the center of the 3" outter barrel when there is a 3/4" wood dowel going through it to support the cannon on the base. This required a 3/4" "T". I dremelled the inside of the "T" out enough to pass the 3/4" internal barrel through it cleanly. I then cut the dowel into two, and screwed it to the inside of the other path of the "T". Attached a picture to give a better idea.

Kids LOVE it. Makes a nice big boom. :D
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