The propane tank combustion gun is done!

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.
DeathBlade
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Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:25 pm

Well I got a harbor freight weldingcart yesterday for my birthday so I got the torch and wire feed out, and finished the launcher sometime this morning (I find it was 2am or so) of after burning myself with lots of hot slag from cutting the tank. And wire feed spool on my welder going nuts it is finnished! I have yet to fire it,(but thats because I have yet to attach the ignition circuit to the electrodes. It currently has a 4 foot golfball barrel insplace and I found a 2 inch ballvalve at a local mom&pop hardware store. So I can convert it to pnuematic if I want or combustion.
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The most horrable weld job on earth.
The most horrable weld job on earth.
The finished launcher and fueling attachment.
The finished launcher and fueling attachment.
pyromanic13
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Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:44 pm

WTF?...............BTW whats the tank comeing out of the tank?
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DeathBlade
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Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:50 pm

Its a compressed air tank to exchange the air in the combustion chamber since I couldn't put in a chamber fan.
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Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:53 pm

intresting, itd be a good hybrid i bet though...
SpudBlaster15
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Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:54 pm

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Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:01 am

Wow... Those welds are a tad on the wild side.

Those tanks are steel, not aluminum. I thought this was stick, but wirefeed...? Ok, enough of that. Nice simple launcher, nothing overly complex.
SpudBlaster15
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:03 am

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pyrogeek
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:26 am

Make sure the surfaces are clean before you weld. And shielding gas is important.
If you did both of those, then get some scrap metal and practice welding. Practice a lot. Good welds will only come with lots of patience.
DeathBlade
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:39 am

It flux core wire on a 100amp 110vac welder, but also I made the cuts for the pipe a 1/2inch or so to big when I cut is with a oxy-propane. So I had to fill it in didn't help that it windy when I was welding. Even if I used sheilding gas it would have blown away.
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SpudBlaster15
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:12 am

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras nec placerat erat. Vivamus dapibus egestas nunc, at eleifend neque. Suspendisse potenti. Sed dictum lacus eu nisl pretium vehicula. Ut faucibus hendrerit nisi. Integer ultricies orci eu ultrices malesuada. Fusce id mauris risus. Suspendisse finibus ligula et nisl rutrum efficitur. Vestibulum posuere erat pellentesque ornare venenatis. Integer commodo fermentum tortor in pharetra. Proin scelerisque consectetur posuere. Vestibulum molestie augue ac nibh feugiat scelerisque. Sed aliquet a nunc in mattis.
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:37 am

Quite simply, there is NO sheilding gas! Its flux core, yes we were all wrong assuming this was a MIG, not as often that people have flux core welders. Also I should have know it was flux core with the yellowish flux around the welds. As to the welding experince with MIG versus flux core, its totally different. Also if you dont have a really nice weave down, your weld will turn out like sh*t. Took me a couple days to get a nice weave, and once I got it, Ive been able to turn out some really nice welds.

As if you so care, you can really clean up those welds. Crank up the heat on it and run over with a nice steady 'wave', or 'circular' weave. Be sure to chip, and brush your welds, prior to welding, and after welding.

The wire feed on flux core welders quite simply suck balls. Well the three Ive welded with at least. MIG on the other hand doesnt have as much as trouble. So to compensate for the sh*tty wire feed mechanism on flux core, your gonna have to clean your tip constantely, as well as clamp in closer to the welding area.
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:46 am

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Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:07 am

Well the whole reason flux and shielding gas is used, is to shield the molten weld puddle to not as expose it to the air surrounding it. As the air will create bubbles in the weld if it weren’t protected by some means while molten.

I guess you could compare a flux core to that of a arc welder as far as shielding the weld goes. If you’ve ever welded with 1/16" 6010 its kind of like that. Although comparatively the mentioned rod would lay down a lot of weld down per length to that of flux core wire. So obviously to compensate the wire is of smaller diameter. If I’m not mistaken the flux for a flux 'core' wire is carried on the interior of the wire. I’ve never looked at the wires cross section before, I’m going to have to next time I get a chance.

MIG wire by itself, is just nicely drawn metal. Nothing else. The shielding gas is required to protect the molten weld puddle. So the only similarities between a flux core, and MIG is that they use a drawn wire to weld. The wire itself being different. So I wouldn’t compare them similar in many aspects.
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:28 am

My welder is a wire feed arc welder, is the name given by Camble Hausfield. No one noticed how far the color turned away from the weld, looks like his weld has good penatration, and that is very importent to have. Never mind what it looks like, it doesn't leak does it?
DeathBlade
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Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:34 pm

I've put a end cap on it and its been holding 125psi for six hours now, I'll take the pressure up to 175 and see if it holds. Tried firing it on compressed air last night (50psi) put a golfball down the barrel, set the spring on the ballvalve and fired strait up lost track of the golfball (it was getting dark) till I heard it hit the ground about a foot from me, it embedded itself 3 inches in the dirt. (time to figure out where my hard hard is hiding.)
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