In one of the other discussions I saw Shiner and Standard talking about Spud Guns. I have heard folks talk about them before & know fairly well how they the work. BUT
How do You build them ???? This could be FUN

the way ive always made them is to get a long piece (3+ feet) of pvc pipe 3-4 inch should be fine wider if u got some big toepatoes.

get some of that purple sealer stuff, one of those end caps that taper out & have a screw on lid. 2 screws & a electric bbq starter push button type. file 1 end of the pipe so its sharp enough to cut thru a tater. then seal the tappered cap piece on. take your screws & screw in from opposite sides toward each other until they are close to touching. wire the bbq starter to the screws & look to make sure a spark is gapping the screws (kinda like a big spark plug... hey maybe a spark plug could work somehow too...). adjust the screws so there is a large gap inbtwn but still get a good consistent spark. push the sharp end into a tatoe making sure the wetness seals it in real good...air tight, push the tater down towards the spark as far as you can go b4 the tatoe comes out the other end (the tapered area)... so there is still an airtight seal. then get some good flammable aereosol like hairspray, spray it in (2 people help here) the cap end, cap the end, hold like a bazooka, aim, & push the bbq button. weve launched tatoes & paintballs & rodents very very far.

pipe end

| | ---purple glue to long pipe
| |
/ \
/ \
| |
--| |-- screws w/bbq starter
| | attached

cap end

have fun.

The BBQ igniter I used came with its own "spark plug"...

I've always used hairspray as fuel, but I've heard of folks using WD40 and even butane as fuel.

The biggest problem I've had with these is making stocks that look decent. I've been "shooting" for that bazooka look with flat black painted PVC pipe and black wooden stock. Oh, and a camo sling.

sorry the pic didnt come out quite like i wanted, but u own a fiero so i figure u are mechanically inclined enough to get the jist.

Any of you guys have a picture of one or yours. I would love to see an actuall photo. Living here in the city, I've never had the thrill of potato guns, cow tipping, etc, but would love to catch up. Making a spud gun sounds like an excellent springtime project.

I can picture the next Ohio outing (after the 26th). Lots of Fieros and lots of spud guns. I want one, too.

Drew--I'll have to take you cow tipping sometime. It's fun in a Monkeyman sort of way!

Ok, here are some good tips for would-be spud gunners out there If you can get it, use ABS tubing (the black stuff) It is MUCH harder to get, but it will not shatter like PVC. Make sure you use plastic cement that was designed for the material you are using. Safety tip: one guy I talked to put the gun together, glued it up, and looked down the barrel and lit the sparker, which of course ignited the vapors from the cement, and burned most of the hair off the guys head!

If you are going for distance, I found that a 2" barrel connected to a 3" combustion chamber (not sure of the EXACT mesurements of the barrel and chamber) goes the farthest. Our best shot was close to 300 yards with hairspray as propellent.

Hairspray works the best as a propellent. Don't use the "extra hold" stuff thinking that it will be better. It just has more goop in it. What is igniting is the aerosol propellent in it. So use the wussiest holding hairspray.

That's about it. Oh yeah, don't shoot it at people! Those spuds are REALLY flying out of that barrel, and could SERIOUSLY hurt somebody!

My brother in law and his buddy Chris built these things a few years ago. His was the white PVC pipe. At night, the whole "gun" lights up and a flame shoots out of the end a couple of feet. It is really cool! 50 pounds of potatoes (or is that potatos???) only lasted about an afternoon. DANGER!!!!!! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE ACETYLENE AS A FUEL FOR YOUR SPUD GUN!!!!!! Chris's brother did this and the gun exploded in his hands. Severe cuts to the face and hands resulted. USE EYE/BODY PROTECTION!!!!!!
Since we are talking dangerous stuff, a plastic soda bottle, some pool chlorine granuales and some brake fluid or unmixed anti-freeze can be an unusual combination. Mix the stuff in the bottle. Quickly put on the cap and run like crazy! The chemical reaction is awesome. The flames are pretty neat! Then bottle explodes violently. Beware of the vapors.

Reminds me of the bungee cord balloon launcher I watched in action off the loading dock. Three coworkers, two holding the ends and the third holding the balloon in the pocket and walking back to stretch it. They took aim on a pickup in the parts store lot next to us. Impressive, the balloon hit square on the pass window where it was aimed, and it even managed to completely splatter the drivers window!
The look of disbelief on their faces, absolutely worth the price of a ticket.

I wouldn't recommend using anything other than hairspray or wd-40. Wrap the chamber of the gun with duct tape. alot of layers of it. It'll contain a bursting chamber and stop it from throwing shrapnel all over. Friend of mine tried using starter fluid in his, and was freakin' lucky he had his chamber wrapped. said he felt the whole thing just expand.

My hairspray one is 1 1/2" pvc pipe to a 4"(i think) chamber. threaded connecters so I can break it down to fit in the trunk of the Fiero .

Pnuematic ones can be a little funner, if you have an air compresser. I used a 3" chamber with a taper fitting down to 1 1/4" the rest of the way. Drill a hole through a solid cap and use an schraeder valve stem(should be able to get 'em at you local auto store). Then use two 90* connecters so it doubles back and the barrel will be on top of the chamber. use a ball valve for the "trigger". If you build it right it'll hold pressure for a while, don't have to shoot it right away. more compact. you can shoot water out of the barrel, too. that's fun. hurts up close, tho. I've also heard of a guy that shot some gasoline at a fire from his spud gun. Huge fireball, and set some small trees on fire. gotta try that

go to http://www.goldmann.com/spudgun.html and check out the SP9004. wow. and I mean wow.

Drive-By French Fry Splat!
Film at 11:00

Went to that site looks good but surly someone has some better photis???

Please post them HERE

If you rifle the barrell, bo you have curly Q projectiles

Is this list great or what????

Some people have waaaaaaaaaaaay too much free time..............

That is just too cool! I work in a machine shop (again), so I might try to do something like that one of these days (assuming this job lasts longer than the last! ).

I made one not too long ago and boy is it fun. Click, Click, FOOOOOMP. Way fun!!!! I heard the FBI really likes these kind of fun things also. Well, maybe not as much as we do.

more cool stuff...

if u can find a metal tennis ball can... wrap it in duck tape, punch a hole about 3/8 to 1/2 inch above the bottom... fill it w/gasoline to the level of the hole... insert a piece of green wick (at gun stores)... soak a tennis ball in gas & put it in... secure the can to something & light the fuse... great balls of fire.

A spud gun sounds like fun, but this sounds like it borders on dangerous. You could poke your eye out! (Or maybe your neighbors! )

This is great stuff!
My wife teaches high-school chemistry. She comes up with some *truly interesting* sites. I'm at work, don't have the links, now. Stay tuned.

high school chem....ahhhh
not that im a nerd or n e thing, i just like learnin stuff...

see if your wife can get some potasium perchlorate...mix it w/aluminum powder... best firecracker flash powder ive every seen... mix in some sulfur or copper or iron & make colors.

I'll mention it to her. She's probably already familiar with it. (She never ceases to amaze me.)

Here's the link I was talking about... http://www2.southwind.net/~mrscienc/boom.html
I'm not sure where it came from, but it's funny as hell, nevertheless. I may have some others...

All i did when i was a kid with a friend was two liter soda bottles with the Works toilet bowl cleaner, which is just hydrochloric acid, and aluminum foil in pieces. Put them together close the cap and shake it up. After a few minutes, a reaction happens and gas is produced, eventually the bottle explodes.

I heard if you take a wire thats hot,using a switch to turn it on, and put it near the exhaust you can make flames.

An exploding bottle of acid is not my cup of tea.

fierospeeder--It's called a flamethrower. All you really need is a sparkplug mounted towards the rear of your exhaust. Here's a pic of one.

There's a plan for an air gun that uses a valve from a sprinkler system someplace. You can use any compressed gas that you can regulate to less than about 100PSI. makes a Very controlable device. If driven with a small regulated CO2 tank it's extreamly portable and recycles in about 3 seconds. You can shoot as fast as you can load it.

I've seen flamer exhausts. Just don't activate it on the street. they are very illegal in many places. Fun for a show tho. I've seen one flamer that would throw a good 6-10 feet. It was more comlicated than just adding a spark plug to the exhaust for that one.

I was gonna do the sprinkler solenoid with a friend, but never got around to it.

this is a website I found about some pranks that have been played over the years.. http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/12.html

Take a look at this site: http://www.gunhoo.com/gunhoo/t.spud.htm

We used to jam potatos into one anothers exhaust pipes. Just don't stand behind the car when it goes.