How Do You Make A Homemade Potato Gun?
Spud Launcher, Spud Cannon and Tater Rifle are just a few names for this popular Recreational “firearm.” To the garden-variety weekend warrior, though, it is affectionately referred to as “Potato Gun.”
I have had the privilege of seeing one of these bad boys in action and, believe me, they pack a wallop! Definitely what Elaine Benes would term “war-worthy.” Capable of knocking out an enemy soldier at least 1/2 a click (600 yards or 540 meters) away or more, if manufactured properly.
There are a number of sites on-line where you can see some of the more “state-of-the-art” potato guns and I will give you a couple of good ones where you can learn more at the end of this article, but one, Spud Gun Central offers a simple set of instructions for the neophyte Potato Gun Enthusiast.
To make your own you will need:
4′ long of 1.5″ PVC pipe for the barrel (120 cm long of 38.10 (rounded up) mm)
1′ long of 3″ PVC pipe for the combustion chamber (30 cm long of 76.20 (rounded up) mm)
A pipe reducer from 3″ to 1.5″ (76.20 mm (rounded up) to 38.10 (rounded up) mm)
An end cap holder
An end cap
PVC glue
Coleman lamp sparker (ignition source) or an old but still good gas grill ignition will work.
The point here is to get a good spark.
Hair Spray (yes Hair Spray, preferably Aqua Net, but one expert also suggests Right Guard deodorant as it doesn’t gum up the contacts and actually lubricates the “barrel”)
An old broom handle or good straight stick to pack the potato down into the barrel (anyone who is familiar with black powder rifles has used a similar tool to pack the barrel before shooting; the potato gun works in much the same way.)
A flat board or knife to cut the edges off your Ammo/Spuds
To assemble:
Get everything laid out and cut your PVC to length, or if you can purchase the parts already cut to length, all the better. Using the PVC glue, glue the end cap holder to the end of the 1′ x 3″ (or metric equivalent) chamber piece, making sure the threads are free of the glue. Next take the 3″ to 1.5″ (or metric equivalent) and glue the 3″ (or metric equivalent) end to the other side of the combustion chamber. The last piece to glue will be the barrel and that goes on the other end of the reducer. At this point your potato gun is almost assembled, but there are a couple more tweaks before you can set it to dry, overnight is best.
To get your ignition system in place drill a hole on the center of the end cap, making sure it is the same size as the sparker and then gently screw the sparker into the hole. Now your potato gun is fully assembled and when dry will be ready to let ’em fly!
To fire this baby up you want to trim off the edges of your spud with either a flat, sharp board or knife. Drop the spud in the barrel and pack it in with the old broom handle or a good straight stick. Be careful, you don’t want to get this into the combustion chamber! Next take the hair spray or Right Guard and spray into the combustion chamber for just a few seconds. Spud Gun Central suggests 3-7. Replace the cap, aim high and twist the sparker or if you use an old grill ignition, push the button. And…thar she blows.
One last tip: Nice firm Spuds do work, the best, Almost gone-by ones may be OK, but you won’t get the same effect from a soft one as you will from a firm one, and, you might gum up your contacts or even gum up your barrel. One more advantage to choosing a Potato Gun over it’s more sophisticated cousins, the Ammo is cheap for these babies. Some stores right now are selling 10 pound bags of Spuds for under 3 dollars and in this economy, you just can’t beat the price! Hope this modest tutorial has given you the “spark” to make your own!
Sites of interest to Potential Potato Gun Enthusiasts:
http://j-shortreed.tripod.com/combustion.htm
http://www.dmoz.org/Recreation/Guns/Homemade/Potato_Cannons/
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A potato gun can provide hours upon hours of endless potato-launching fun. Making a potato gun, however, can provide hours upon hours of frustration and anxiety, unless you know how to do it. To build a potato gun, you are going to need to first understand first how a potato gun works. A potato gun uses propane-based aerosol sprayed into a tube. This aerosol is then lit. The gas in the tube expands, which forces the potato to travel up the barrel of the potato gun and out, sometimes traveling as far as 200 feet. There are three primary parts to any potato gun. You have a barrel, a combustion chamber, and an igniter. The barrel, as well as the combustion chamber, are typically made from PVC pipe. The igniter is typically a lighter such as a barbecue lighter. Step 1 Connect the 2-inch and 3-inch diameter PVC pipes using the connector and PVC cement. Screw the end cap onto the 3-inch pipe. Step 2 Attach the drywall screws to the combustion chamber by screwing them in, leaving about a half
