How to Build a Potato Gun
October 2003
Page 1: Design and Construction
Page 2: Comparissons and Field Tests
Comparisons
Here are a few shots to compare Potato Gun I to Potato Gun II.
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| Potato Gun I (left) and Potato Gun II (right). PGII has a slightly shorter chambre and slightly longer barrel. | Me 'n the Gunz. I'm 6'1" to give you an idea of their size. |
Field Tests
What's the point in building it if it wasn't going to be used? I have no idea. So I used it.
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Unscrewing the combustion chambre cap. |
 Spraying about 6s of WD-40 in to the chambre. |
 Kaboom! |
These guns are very noisy in general. People might call the police if you use it in your backyard. I usually go out in to the country a bit. Less people and lots of room.
Upon initial impressions, this gun seems to be more powerful than Spud Launcher I. I'm going to be doing some experiments to determine the exit speed of the potato among other things. I'll be writing up an article on those results in the future.
I hope this article was informative and useful to any potential canon builders. The name of the game is safety. Keep that in mind and have fun!
Project Costs
| Item: | Cost: (cdn) |
| 4" Threaded Adapter | 5.98 |
| 3" Threaded Adapter | 3.96 |
| 4" Threaded Plug | 2.96 |
| 3" Threaded Plug | 1.96 |
| 4x4x3" T-Pipe | 11.86 |
| 3 to 2" Bushing | 3.29 |
| 3 to 4" Increaser | 5.99 |
| 13" of 4" ABS | 2.68 |
| 48" of 2" ABS | 3.56 |
| ABS Pipe Cement (glue) | 2.99 |
| Electric BBQ Igniter | 24.99 |
| 15% Tax (in Ontario) | 10.52 |
| Total | $80.75 |
For this project I keep very close track of what I spent. In the other projects I didn't keep as close of track, so my cost estimates are probably conservative for those. The costs really add up, but the end result is worth it.
Page 1: Design and Construction
Page 2: Comparissons and Field Tests
Comments
A word to the wise: don't use ABS cement to fill the hole for the button/wires if you're using an electric ignition system. It is flammable and also appears to be conductive, which can result in current going places you don't want it to, like your fingers.
Posted by Jordan on 2010-08-28 @ 13:26
i found that the best lighter is a stick bbq lighter that you can get cheap. and u also don't need the t peice on top you can just have a bigger chamber with the crew on cap because u only drill a hole in the side and stick in the lighter and glue it into place.
Posted by brad on 2010-08-16 @ 16:54
it is all right
Posted by mic on 2010-05-26 @ 04:44
Best thing I found for igniters is a old style Coleman lantern igniter. Not nearly a fancy as a push button but its cheap, very reliable, and simple.
Thought I suppose you could get creative and hook up a belt or gear system to tie hook it into a little motor... Would eat quite a bit of flint but look nifty.
Posted by bert on 2010-04-28 @ 05:47
it SUCKS
Posted by bob on 2010-04-15 @ 16:27
can i make this out of PVC
Posted by Alex on 2010-04-3 @ 07:33
you know i love to shoot my potato gun and all but yall are gay
Posted by bryan on 2010-03-31 @ 07:03
I'm doing this for a science fair project. Should I do a live/in front of my teacher or make a video for him?
Posted by Guy with a question on 2010-03-5 @ 12:44
How much does it cost to buy all of the items necessary?
Posted by Spartan 117 on 2010-03-5 @ 12:27
I have made several potato guns and found that the most reliable ignitor is one of those long butane BBQ grill lighter with the end epoxied into the cap of the gun. I alos epoxy a handle onto the cap so it can easily be removed and make sure to sharped\serate the end of the cannon so that the potato is cut to size as it is pressed into the end of the barrel.
Posted by MyName on 2010-02-23 @ 16:41
how hard was this thing to make
Posted by ittybity on 2009-11-28 @ 20:38
i made my first tater gun when i was nine i have made a few different thing to i made a pee shooter and one that shoots tenis balls and one that shoots arrows my next one is going to try to make one that shoots a watermelon if anyone has one send me the pictures i wanna see it cowboy5_11_90@yahoo.com
Posted by big country on 2009-09-17 @ 21:13
I built a mini spud gun out of the P-trap kit you can pick up @ walmart for 5$, and a red push button ignition also sold @ walmart for 8 bucks, glue the parts with some PVC glue and custom cut a cap for the end out of a frisbee... You get a fun lil contraption for under 20$, only lasted through 30lbs of taters before the cops came and I had to crawl under the sink acting like a plumber... I think the 3 empty cans of aqua net on the back deck gave it away... But atleast we put a couple holes in an old oil drum before they arrived to spoil the fun... Cheap lil way to stir up some trouble. took me bout 30 min to build and was fun as hell with the right amount of jack daniels added... Try it out!
Posted by chris on 2009-08-27 @ 20:15
you can buy a much better potato gun at www.spudgundepot.com my friend told me about this website. I bought a extremely powerful potato gun for about 30 bucks
Posted by killspud on 2009-08-1 @ 09:22
Specializing in pneumatic and combustion-based launchers including a variety of types, styles, sizes, and feature levels for potato vectoring.
i heard some cheap domain name for potato gun website. But i don't know what was it. When i will find it then surly share with you.
Posted by angela67 on 2009-07-9 @ 03:28
Hey in from australia there ilegal here,and for my one wich is custon like yours I have a 1ft chamber 4in wide and for the barrel its 3in and 4ft long so including everything its 5 1/2 feet long,I use start ya bastard for the gas as its used to start old cars another thing I have found that works realy well is the conola oil spray not hair spray or other things like that ,
I also use frozen oranges if I can find any big enough to fit in,
Using the start ya bastard I get a frozen orange to go about 4km (1000ms in a km),
And with the conola oil spray I get about 3 1/2 kms.
Using the oil spray is good in a way because it lubricates the whole thing making the orange slide through very easily.
Keep up the good work mate and loved the idea of the electric igniter.
Posted by pete on 2009-07-7 @ 06:34
This things sucks, make a pneumatic one.
Posted by Mean joe on 2009-02-27 @ 05:01
I shot at a cop car and ran away they still busted my ass tho. so my advice is try to hit the pig next time.
Posted by rondo on 2009-01-25 @ 18:48
I bought all my stuff from Home Depot when building this thing.
Posted by PwnStick on 2008-12-26 @ 16:52
If you have to ask...
Posted by Another User on 2008-09-20 @ 00:00
how hard is it to make and any ideas where to get all the stuff in england?
Posted by jake on 2008-09-19 @ 14:39