Newbie here, please help with ignitor question.

[dejayssaleen]

Hey everyone. Total newbie here... I've been wanting to build a spud gun for a long time now, but never knew where to start. After doing research online I decided to try to build one on my own. Im sure its crap to what you all see or have built,.. but i think its turning out pretty good. But anyways getting back to my question. I have everything ready but the ignitor. I was going to use one of those long lighters for lighting grills or starting camp fires..... but I didn't like the look of having that big Handel sticking out. So I went to Lowes and bought a push button ignitor... I know how to install it as far as using two screws for positive & neg... but I wanted to get some of your alls opinions on whats the best way to mount this. I've seen where people have just taped the ignitor on the gun.... but again I don't really like the look of that. I kinda want it to look nice and sleek. So please...... any help and I would LOVE to see some pics of guns similar to mine so I can get some better ideas. Please Please help. Thanks so much.

[dejayssaleen]

Heres the pics...

http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/1.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/2.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/3.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/4.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/5.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/6.jpg

[dejayssaleen]

I'd also would really like to add a handel.... any ideas or pics to help me on that?

[Mr.Plow]

nice and sleek?

http://localhost/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15378

I really love the way that handle feels. Because 3/4" wyes are fairly uncommon at your local Lowes/Home Depot, you'll probably just need a simple 3/4" tee and a 90 degree elbow.

--edit--
If you don't want to make a spark strip and would rather just tap the screws directly into the side of the chamber walls, you can always do this:
http://www.neospud.com/basic.html
(scroll down to the ignition handle section)

[dejayssaleen]

yeah thats a sweet handle... i was thinking something like adding a piece on like where the chamber is to act as a handle and also have it to where the push button is... so it would be like a trigger on a gun.. do ya know what im saying?

[dejayssaleen]

Where is the best place to find pictures of basic combustion potato guns?

[crashtestdummy]

Spudfiles.com is another site with tons of cannons, but I believe that you have to register now (It's free).

[markfh11q]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="tahoma,verdana,arial" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
<I>Originally posted by dejayssaleen:</I>

yeah thats a sweet handle... i was thinking something like adding a piece on like where the chamber is to act as a handle and also have it to where the push button is... so it would be like a trigger on a gun.. do ya know what im saying?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

In this case, the igniter out of a cheap long nosed igniter would have been more suited, but I suppose you could just hose clamp a 2" tee onto the chamber with a short length of 2" glued on as a handle, and then drill a .75" hole through the handle where you would like the button to be, and then insert the igniter into the hole and make sure the wires are well insulated where they stick out the back.

[dejayssaleen]

Well I just did the next phase to my project.... Keep in mind this is my very first tater gun ever, and I just did 5 test shots and I was very impressed! It shot easily over a football field, with very little fuel. I put 3 screws in the reducer so the tater won't fall down into the combustion chamber, and of course went with the bbq ignitor hooked to 2 screws in the combustion chamber. The handle works out very nice, you can hold it either with the handle on the bottom, hold it with the handle on the top, or works well as a rocket launcher on the shoulder... i still need to paint her, but overall this is how she looks.

http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/1.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/2.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/3.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/4.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/5.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/6.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/chamber.jpg
http://www.dejayssaleen.com/spudgun/next/chamber2.jpg

[harmon12407]

nice first cannon! continuing with the "nice and sleek" theme, you can use paint thinner to remove the lettering on the sides of the pipe. one critical comment: judging from the pictures, the barrel looks a little short. if you are using aerosol fuel, a chamber volume to barrel volume ratio of 1.5:1 is ideal. you will get better performance with an optimal c:b ratio. overall, nice first build.