Silly mini-spitball cannon

Spedy · Posted: 03/11/2008 5:07 AM Post subject:

I guess it is a pneumatic, since it doesn't burn anything..
Anyway, it's just a silly little thing I cooked up from plans on the internet, in probably several places. I haven't seen it here, so I thought I'd post it.

What you see is the barrel, the ramrod, and the piston in the barrel.

Ok, it basically works like this:
1) Jam large spitball into firing end of barrel
2)Shove permanently jammed-in spitball "piston" forward w/ bent coat-hanger wire
3) The pressure made when the piston moves forward shoots the 'firing' spitball out

It takes quite a bit of trial and error to get the spitball size correct. Every once in a while I have to make a new "piston". I find that it will have a "firing" end and an end that won't seal well. I think this is because the pen tube is tapered a bit....

This think hurts like nuts if it fires well, and can have a nice long range for from the back of the room.

I am currently in the process of making a new one with a diff. pen tube.