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How to make a Advanced Combustion Potato Cannon (Videos) PVC

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:00 am
by TheBuG
Hello fellow spudbusters!

Its the fella from http://www.themonkeybase.com

Also know as TheBuG or MushiYoshi from Youtube.

I finally got my act together this week\weekend and made a combustion potato cannon tutorial video of my normal size potato cannon.


REMEMBER TO PLAY SAFE!
WEAR EYE AND EAR PROTECTION BEFORE YOU DAMAGE YOUR HEARING LIKE ME
OR GET BLIND IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG!
I DONT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR MISTAKES!


Here is the video links :

Potato Cannon Tutorial Video 1 :

[youtube][/youtube]

Potato Cannon Tutorial Video 2 :

[youtube][/youtube]

Im also working on direct download links for the videos

Potato Cannon Tutorial Video 1

http://www.filedropper.com/thebug-potato-tut-ep1-divx

Potato Cannon Tutorial Video 2

http://www.filedropper.com/thebug-potato-tut-ep2-divx

Here is a Picture of the cannon :

Image

The cannon has :

-1,5m long barrel (50mm)
-65cm long chamber (incl muffs and reducers or transitions if you like)
-2 ventilation holes
-chamber fan and switch
-hairspray holder
-electronic spark igniter
-handle to hold it like a rifle

The cannon shoots potatoes up to 200 meters
at speeds up to 600 km/h

You can also find info on my website about the cannon on the potato cannon link to the left. (Advanced Combustion Potato Cannon Tutorial)

REMEMBER TO PLAY SAFE!
WEAR EYE AND EAR PROTECTION BEFORE YOU DAMAGE YOUR HEARING LIKE ME
OR GET BLIND IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG!
I DONT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR MISTAKES!


TheBuG

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:20 am
by Demon
WOW! Goodjob man!

This is the best combustion i ever seen!

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:04 am
by Maniac
This cannon is a 50/50 for me the construction process was great!! but the materials and some wording was bad. First off im not sure what a muff is I think you are referring to a coupler next what kind of piping is that it seems like some of that bathroom section pipe and fittings that is worse than DWV. (Also do some research into DWV.) OOHH just noticed this your shooting some kinda incendiary ammo big rule breaker. While im on the whole fire thing I really don't like how you used gunpowder in your video its nothing that bad, I just don't like giving people ideas of using gunpowder we prefer to use the word Fuel.But I do think if you reconstruct this cannon with some better construction methods it will be great. I suggest you check out some of Starmans and Bigsauces cannons.

BTW: Where are you from? that bell reducer you used we have found is really only available in AUS.

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:15 am
by dudeman508
I want to see a vid of it shooting

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 2:11 pm
by TheBuG
Maniac wrote:This cannon is a 50/50 for me the construction process was great!! but the materials and some wording was bad. First off im not sure what a muff is I think you are referring to a coupler next what kind of piping is that it seems like some of that bathroom section pipe and fittings that is worse than DWV. (Also do some research into DWV.) OOHH just noticed this your shooting some kinda incendiary ammo big rule breaker. While im on the whole fire thing I really don't like how you used gunpowder in your video its nothing that bad, I just don't like giving people ideas of using gunpowder we prefer to use the word Fuel.But I do think if you reconstruct this cannon with some better construction methods it will be great. I suggest you check out some of Starmans and Bigsauces cannons.

BTW: Where are you from? that bell reducer you used we have found is really only available in AUS.
I caught up the word muff when i searched around for a english name for the thing you can coupler. my native language is not english so :) but people will understand what it is when they see the picture but thanks for the info cause then i will use coupler next time.

All the pipes is bought in Norway and are for drainage from sinks and toilets. i prefer to use pipes that are made from PP and not PVC. the pp is more elastic and seems more tough then pvc. and usually thicker material, and i have buildt over 10 of these cannons (small) and no one have ever had any signs of breaking or blowing up or any kind of weakness. i have probably shot several hundred potatoes with them.

And i dont use gun powder in any of my cannons, im not crazy! :) i only use hairspray or propane .. as "gun powder".

And until one of my cannons blow up .. i will not use any other methods or materials for it even tho im always looking out for better materials like pvc pressure pipes that are 11mm thick :)

But i get the problem here. people dont always think through the stuff they do and i dont explain what kind of pvc or pp pipes im using so there will be people using those dwv pipes.. thoose pipes almost look like central vacumcleaner pipes. thin and fragile.

And i also work as a carpenter and work with plumbers and have seen my fair share of pvc and pp pipes so atleast im no amateur ;)

Thanks for your concern! The last thing i want is people hurting themselves when they can have fun without hurting themselves ;)

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 2:14 pm
by TheBuG
dudeman508 wrote:I want to see a vid of it shooting
Hey! check out my other videos on my website : http://www.themonkeybase.com i got some videos of this cannon and several others. probably gonna shoot some more with this cannon in a couple of weeks so then maybe i will dedicated some time to make a shooting video for only this cannon so people can see how this cannon works :)

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 2:23 pm
by TheBuG
Demon wrote:WOW! Goodjob man!

This is the best combustion i ever seen!
Thanks! I started with potato cannons summer 2006
and up till now i have probably made 10 cannons that are the same size
as this cannon (50mm barrel and 11cm chamber). 2 midsize cannons that have 75mm barrel and 16cm chamber and a huge one that has 110mm barrel and 20cm chamber.

it started with a straight version that had far too long combustion chamber and i tried start gas with not so much luck. then i found the right hairspray and the right length of the barrel and chamber and then i came up with the idea to use 2 x 90 degree bends to lay the barrel along the chamber to save up some space when i wanted to transport eh cannon. that method also seemed to make the cannon pack a bit more punch to the shots.

its all fun :)

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:07 pm
by starman
Nice job on your cannons Bug. Most of that piping you use isn't available to North Americans but many of your design ideas can be extrapolated to standard PVC.

While I'm a firm believer in metered propane fueling, I like idea of using a bottle top as a vent holes for your spray products...very inventive.

Thanks for your effort on the instructional!!

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:47 am
by TheBuG
starman wrote:Nice job on your cannons Bug. Most of that piping you use isn't available to North Americans but many of your design ideas can be extrapolated to to standard PVC.

While I'm a firm believer in metered propane fueling, I like idea of using a bottle top as a vent holes for your spray products...very inventive.

Thanks for your effort on the instructional!!
Awww, great to hear :) I feel the cannon works really well and that this cannon is what you can call the final version with all my ideas put into one. and about the bottle top, im still amazed that they hold. i have never had a top failure or that it has gotten blown off.
Even on my biggest cannon.

And about the metering of gas input. the hairspray has a 95% or above rate of success of firing. 4-5 short sprays with my cheri lamour spray.

I have also tried clean propane from a propane torch that plumbers here in Norway use to solder copper pipes together and the tip of the torch is made so it pulls all the needed air into small holes (and mixes with the propane).. just like any other propane fueled torch\primus.

So if i use that to fill my cannon it gets a near perfect mix of air and propane but it takes 30-60 seconds to fill the cannon. not 10 seconds that i use with hairspray :)

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:05 am
by TheBuG
I also try to think of ways to keep the original strength of all the pipe parts. Thats why i use hoseclamps so i dont need to screw through the combustion chamber. the only holes i got is the two screws that connects the spark thingie inside the chamber to the 2 wires from my spark igniter on the outside. and thoose 2 screws sit on the opposite side on the cannon compared to the side im holding the cannon.

I also got 2 holes in the end cap for the 2 wires that goes to the chamber fan, but there is no danger in the end cap failing. actually that would be a nice safety if you knew the end cap was the failing point of your cannon.

I will try to find my weakest point on my cannon in the future.
I will plug the cannon in the barrel end and fill it with gas and push the button. and i will of course not be standing near the thing when i do that.
maybe i can film it too with a highspeed so i can see what happens.
cause as i said.. it would be nice to see what part of the cannon will be destroyed if the hole cannon fails :)

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:20 am
by jrrdw
TheBug, I told you through PM that there is a edit button, and to go back and use it to add on to your previous post. The above double post is only 8 minutes apart. If you keep breaking the rules, I will have no choice but to recommend your account for suspension! DO NOT DOUBLE OR TRIPLE POST AGAIN!

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:38 am
by TheBuG
jrrdw wrote:TheBug, I told you through PM that there is a edit button, and to go back and use it to add on to your previous post. The above double post is only 8 minutes apart. If you keep breaking the rules, I will have no choice but to recommend your account for suspension! DO NOT DOUBLE OR TRIPLE POST AGAIN!
Yepp, just saw it. Stupid gmail with https turned on wont notify me when a new email arrives so i didnt see the pm mail notification from you. but i will keep in mind to just edit the first post the next time when i want to post something with only minutes apart hehe. Sorry! x(

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:10 pm
by Not_Again
You did a really good job with that. Looks clean.
I think a noob spudder would get lost pretty fast, but I personally think the video was done really well. If I were trying to build this myself, the text instead of speech would help a lot.

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:51 pm
by Grandtheftyourwife
wow great job !! you have the blueprints for that by any chance?[/u]

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:02 am
by freder
Sweet gun man!
But were do you spray the hairspray in? By the reducer oder at the end-muff?

wow great job !! you have the blueprints for that by any chance?[/u]
If you watch the vids or go to the homepage you wouldn´t ask something like that!! :wink: