The
Back in high school a friend of mine, Rob, and I
acquired a spud gun, potato launcher,
or whatever you want to call it.
Originally it was a combustion reaction of starter fluid and a
butane primer. This was effective but did not fire on a consistent
basis. We had plans to add a oxygen injection system, but we naver got around to it.
We eventually converted it to compressed air for
safety and reliability. It has been used for
Math Analyses and Physics classes in high school and 4th of July 1995
it fired our first set of aerial bomb shell fireworks into the sky.
They came out well for our first batch, but that is another project page.
James Abbot, Rob Agnew and Philip Shuman December 1995
| Specifications: |
| Pressure Chamber | 340 cubic inches | 4 feet long with valve |
| Barrells | 2" diameter | 6 feet |
| 1 1/2" | 4 feet |
|---|
| 3/4" | 2 feet |
|---|
This particular cannon was constructed with 4" pipe for the pressure
chamber and 2" barrell. We have a 1/4 turn valve that releases the air
from the chamber into the barrel, pushing whatever is in the barrel
out. The better the seal on the projectile, the farther it goes. Apples,
oranges, and potatoes are our largest ammunition stock.
Backyard Ballistics, a large resourse with many related links
How to build an Air Cannon. This one uses a sprinkler valve.
Number of hits as of 4/7/96: 
Drop me a note at
philip at shuman dot org
Internet Link Exchange
Please note: I do not endorce all links from the Link Exchange
