pyro's combustion spud accelerator

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.
pyrogeek
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Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:59 pm

Image
That picture was taken right after I got all the stuff put on, so it's not quite "finished".
This gun has a 24in long 4in diameter cumbustion chamber. The fuel is metered propane, but I am going to be using MAPP in the spring. The ignition is dual sparks from a 600K volt stun gun (gutted, and placed in a case for easier access to batteries). Two bolts are run through the chamber (one about 1/3 down the chamber, the other 2/3), and there is a piece of 1/2in PVC I cut down the center on the inside of the chamber, and in that I mounted 2 more bolts that are connected with a wire (kinda like a spark strip).
The barrel I use is 2in by about 5 foot long. This is used for spuds and golf balls, with a sabot. For a sabot I use either paper towel, or caps off of aerosole cans. (Since I have Banjo fittings for the barrel now, I can use burst discs.)

Upgrades I have done include Banjo fittings to remove the barrel faster. I replaced the end cap with a 4inch male fitting, with a 2inch ball valve. I am adding a chamber fan to it, which has a timer circuit connected so it will run about 20 seconds by pressing a button. The propane meter is mounted a lot nicer now, no bungee cords. I converted the gun to an over/under, since it was too long. That was done by adding a 3inch street and 3inch 90degree with a male on one end and a female on the other.
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drac
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:44 pm

Holy ravioli! That thing has 3inch fittings for removable barrels? Huge! :mrgreen: I like it, a lot! :D
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Bluetooth
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:47 pm

I like it too. It's very clean. I like guns with everything you need onboard.
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mark.f
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:27 pm

I like you loafers. Look a little like mine.

Heh heh... just kidding. Nice cannon!
pyrogeek
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:29 pm

Yes, those are 3inch fittings for barrels. I figured they would flow better than 2s, and 4s just wouldn't look good. I wanted to use 6inch for the chamber, but I didn't like the selection of fittings and the cost of them, and the pipe.
It's not even completely done. I still haven't put the chamber fan with timer circuit on (its just like the one on this site http://www.burntlatke.com/fan-controller.html), and I plan to put that in a new box along with the ignition, which I plan to add a nicer switch to. The case I have now is handy, but it just doesn't look very good.

I can honestly say I'm not even sure how much the gun costed, but heres a guess.
4inch pipe was maybe probably $15 for the 10ft
3inch I had lying around, (same with 2 for the barrel)
fittings...a guess would be about $40? to date
Banjo fittings, I believe $25 or so for the set of 3inch
stun gun, about $25 (eBay)
propane injection about $25
Fan controller timer, about $10 with a salvaged fan from an old computer power supply and other salvaged components, plus time and lots of solder and wire.

EDIT: It looks clean mostly since I used clear primer. I actually slopped a little on the cannon while assembling.

One of my dads friends from work wanted me to build him a gun after hearing about this one. I turned it down, only because I was so busy with my crappy job (which I later quit). This cannon was actually made over the period of about a month gathering materials, cutting, and finding time between work and other BS that was going on.
pyrogeek
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Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:16 pm

So, would it be safe to use a 1inch barrel on this? What about with a burst disc?
I want to see how far I can possibly shoot with it. So I figure a smaller barrel would give me higher velocities hopefully, the gas has to flow through a smaller opening and thus at a higher speed. And of course a burst disc would have to help.
SpudBlaster15
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Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:39 pm

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Last edited by SpudBlaster15 on Wed Jul 14, 2021 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pyrogeek
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Wed Dec 13, 2006 5:20 pm

I usually shoot golf balls and spuds. What would you suggest as a projectile?
I have some lead, but I don't feel like casting that. Metal pipe filled with rocks may be a possibility.

It will be warm this weekend, about 50, so I may attempt this pretty soon. I'm thinking burst discs, and some kind of saboted projectile. I will look around later and find stuff.
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