My first Cannon

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.
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inonickname
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Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:23 am

Regardless if it's a first or not, it's brilliant!

Nothing bad to say, but I can suggest a spark strip, a ballvalve (or pop-vent, check out gort's site) and a longer barrel, but there's nothing wrong with portability.

Exceptional quality in every part, and good photos/
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psycix
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Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:22 am

As the rest of us says: very well built cannon.
To avoid the sparking problem, most of us run each of the wires over different sides of the chamber.
Till the day I'm dieing, I'll keep them spuddies flying, 'cause I can!

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King_TaTer
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Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:18 pm

Great job for a first cannon JT. Very clean and well constructed. Welcome to the forums and I hope you enjoy it here.

The only thing I would suggest is a longer barrel, a ball valve vent, and a different setup for the propane tank holder.

Again nice job, you did your research. And the hose clamps are a bit overkill but it's fine if you like it keep it.
Materials links:
<a href="http://www.discounthydraulichose.com/">Discount Hydraulic Hose</a>
<a href="http://www.buyfittingswholesale.com/#">Buy fittings wholesale</a>
<a href="http://www.flexpvc.com/">Flex PVC</a>
<a href="http://www.murrayequipment.com">MEI
</a>
chrissilvermancs
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Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:40 pm

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Last edited by chrissilvermancs on Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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psycix
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Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:34 pm

but im a little sceptical of it being your first it looks way to well done
Skeptical? Alot of people presented first cannons just as nice as this one.
Till the day I'm dieing, I'll keep them spuddies flying, 'cause I can!

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JT07
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Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:04 pm

Thanks for all the compliments and comments guys!

The hardest part of this whole project was finding good placement of all the components. I'm actually left handed so the trigger is in the right spot (by coincidence, not by design) I didn't consider the bottle will be upside down when loading but it hasn't caused a problem yet. I'll also have to give automotive spark plug wires a try. No reliability problems yet either.

I've installed the fan control box and added a longer barrel. I now have a 1.7:1 CB ratio.

I've also competed the suppressor. Its been packed with very fine steel wool. After firing the chamber is filled with smoke. I assume its the steel wool burning and the vacuum effect sucks the smoke back into the chamber. Can anyone recommend a better filler material?

For ammo I started off using screwdrivers (mistake) then swithched over to an old microphone I had laying around. No potatoes yet as all testing so far has been done indoors. (too lazy to drive out to an appropriate outdoor location)

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This is an aluminum support I got out of a broken LCD TV.
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I took about 6 shots at this frying pan with the mic. Only 2 made it through after the previous ones weakened the metal.
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inonickname
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Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:45 pm

Those are some nice damage shots.

Chris, commercial control boxes are available but it would only take average electronic skill and a project box to build your own, you can even rig them to run on a timer with a triple five.
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King_TaTer
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Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:40 pm

Awesome suppressor and damage shots man. I'm lovin the high res pics too. Can't wait to see what else is in store, especially for outdoor shooting.

Keep it up man!
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jackssmirkingrevenge
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Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:02 am

Excellent :) love the damage shots!

As an alternative fitting to steel wool, try the thicker stuff likethis or roll up some metal mesh like the stuff used for insect screens.
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psycix
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Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:27 pm

Nice! I like your choice of ammo and targets.
Your steel wool is probably too fine. You could try stuffing more in (more metal to heat up before burning.
Also it may help to keep the steel wool clear of the holes as thats the point where the most air comes past, heating the wool and thus that starts burning.
Till the day I'm dieing, I'll keep them spuddies flying, 'cause I can!

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starman
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Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:52 pm

I have to say, in looking at the microphone shots again....Very Cool, unique ammo, target choice and damage presentation.

My store of microphones collectively shrieked in horror though..... :lol: especially my SM58s.
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Woody
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Wed May 06, 2009 4:40 pm

Very nice cannon. I would suggest is using one of the thinner propane bottles used often in propane torches. They fit very nicely in some SCH 40 3." Also I would have switched sides that you put the propane setup on unless you're gonna fire it from your left side.
VirusX
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Fri Mar 05, 2010 7:47 pm

Hey,

Can you buy such ABS crossings between chamber cap, that fit on the 3" chamber in normal building stores in the USA?

I can only find 2" crossings (I hope it's the right word) in german building stores and thats to small - In that case I have to use some more fittings :(

Here's a link to one of the biggest german shops and they have only 2" fittings. http://www.kunststoffrohrsysteme.de/pdf ... n/rnma.pdf Damn :evil:
I'm sorry, my English is not so good but I'll try my best!
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BigGrib
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Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:07 am

OK, nice gun, buuuuut, and I'm surprised noone has told you this yet,

1. The two elbows are dwv, drain waste vent, and are not pressure rated. They will blow.

2. It appears to me that you mixed ABS and PVC when putting together the end cap adapters to the chamber. That is a no no unless you bolt them together through a double wall.

Where are we at here at spudfiles when we forget rule number one; Safety First.
Yea, that's definitely going to get you at least a tazer.
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McCoytheGreater
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Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:26 pm

Your steel wool burning will be a problem later down the line (it will eventually melt the plastic). Instead of using steel wool, use metal window screen. This will work fine if you roll it around the suppressor core. I've made multiple suppressors this way with great results. Fantastic looking gun. Keep up the good work!
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