Anyone ever made one of these things? We've made several and they are so fun to play with. Although we have modified the ignition system a little due to an explosion that almost broke my bro. in laws hand

 

Tater guns are the BEST! I've made a few and have found these three truths to be self evident!

1. Use ONLY schedule 40 (or better) pipe. Safety is key here!

2. Barrel length Shmarrel length! A short one works better. (it ain't gonna be no sniper rifle!)

3. White Rain hairspray is the ABSOULUTE best propellant in the world!

Had a buddy who did some experimenting with one and found that green walnuts make AMAZING projectiles!

I gotta go dig mine outta hibernation!

 

I love them!! I always used Sch 80 pipe and those lantern flints for the ignition. I've always used starter fluid(either) for propellant it has always worked better than hair spray for me.

 

we have a compressed air potato rifle at the shop. It fires a small chunk of tater that is left in the barrel after ya jam a whole one on the end of the barrel. It will go through a cheap 2 ply wood interior door easy.

 

Me and my friends have been making those things for years! They are tons of fun. You guys should try freezing the spuds, they will go through 1/2" plywood like butter!

 

But how much harder are they to ramrod into the barrel?

 

I use starting fluid, or right guard spray deoderant, or staic guard ( laundry isle) hair spray leaves a residue in the the chameber . I use the lanter sparker. and on the newsist ones I am moddifying them to Use a Tazer to fire it. kinda hard to turn the sparker when it's below 5 degrees out fingers get cold..

 

Just a word of caution fellas:

Please do not use PVC pipe to make a tater cannon. PVC is not rated for compressed air (including explosives, i.e. tater gun propellant). When PVC fails, it shatters into lots of sharp pieces, fragments, and shards. They can easily injure or put someones eye out when they explode. Same goes for ya'll who have PVC as compressed air plumbing in your shop and/or garage.

PVC may be cheap compared to copper, cast iron, or steel pipe, but the money that is saved by using PVC for the wrong application could very well end up being spent on needless medical bills .

That being said, I have learned that an avocado pit with some paper towel wadding makes an excellent projectile.

 

you havent seen nothing till you mix o2/hairspray at 50/50 mix. about 15 sec of each and watch out.

brett

 

We have a few of them we play with. Limes are way better ammo than potatoes... We can launch a lime way farther. I have a few that I made from old pill bottles and ink pens that shoot Q-tips.... electronic cigarette lightes work great for ignition. Really fun. You can put a needle in one end of it and and shhot at drywall board.

Hub

 

Wow! I haven't even thought about a potato gun in years!! We used to have so much fun with them in HS!! This makes me wanna build one up!

 

I put a BBQ sparker in mine, so far its worked great. everything is all sealed up when it ignites, no need to worry or time the ignition just push the button.

 

Him seems lots of people use PVC

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...26118365465358

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...91973996311693

 

here's some more potato gun info;

http://www.spudtech.com/

 

Me and my friend built one that is so big we mounted it on one of those little trailers for a riding mower that had the bed taken off of it, its got two 4" chambers that we fill with rightguard, then it T's into a threaded piece that we can put on whatever size pipe we want with the threads. I'll try to get some pics or a video a little later today.