SpudFiles Wiki - User contributions [en]

Pneumatic cannon

2005-11-29T20:49:55Z

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Pneumatic launchers consist of five basic elements:

*Compressed gas storage reservoir ([[chamber]] for short)
*Filling valve (bicycle [[Schraeder valve]]s, [[quick disconnect]]s, etc.)
*Firing valve ([[ball valve]]s, [[sprinkler valve]]s, [[piston valve]]s, [[quick-exhaust valve]]s, and [[burst disk]]s are the most common)
*[[Barrel]]
*[[Pressure gauge]] (for safety & repeatable launches)

In order to fire, the operator loads a projectile into the barrel, fills the chamber with a compressed gas (air [[compressor]]s, hand pumps, [[Pressure regulator|regulated]] bottled gas, and 12 gram [[CO2 cartridge]]s are common filling methods), and activates the main valve thus dumping the air in the chamber to the barrel.

The expansion of the compressed gas propels the projectile down the barrel. The barrel length determines the amount of energy transferred to the projectile and ultimately the velocity of the projectile.

High performance launchers use techniques such as [[sprinkler valve modification|modifying valves]] for faster opening times, using homemade valves, and maximizing the amount of airflow through the valve.

The [[GGDT]] (gas gun design tool) is highly recomended to those interested in pneumatic launchers.

What is a spudgun?

2005-11-29T20:48:57Z

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'''Spud guns''', '''potato cannons''', or '''produce accelerators''' are all recreational launching devices usually made of plumbing pipe. There are two common means to launch projectiles from a spudgun. The [[pneumatic launcher|first]] uses the energy stored in a compressed gas and the [[combustion launcher|second]], more popular method, uses the energy released by combusting fuel vapors to heat the air and cause it to expand. There is a quite rare mix of the two, a [[hybrid launcher|"hybrid"]], that combusts a pressurized fuel-air mixture. The object of these varieties is to propel projectiles in the direction of a designated (safe) target for fun. Common [[catogory:projectile|projectile]]s include: [[mandarin orange|mandarins]], [[potato]]es, [[tennis ball]]s, [[golf ball]]s,bb's (if you have a small enough barrel), in fact pretty much any spare vegetable you can ram down the tube. This makes them a particularly popular home-made class of projectile launchers because of their low cost to build: a simple hairspray powered gun costs no more than $20 in PVC and glue, less if parts can be scrounged.

Please see the article on [[safety]].

Main Page

2005-11-29T20:37:03Z

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[[What is a spudgun?]]

[[Combustion cannon]]s

[[Pneumatic cannon]]s

[[Hybrid cannon]]s

[[BB machine gun]]s

[[Cannon construction]]

[[Launcher configuration]]

[[Safety]]

[[Legal issues]]

[[History]]

This website is here to teach you about potato guns, also called spudguns, spudzookas, and spud chuckers. So far there are pneumatic, combustion, hybrid, and BB type cannons/launchers. Here you will learn all about spud safety, how to make things like breech loaders and what types of fuel to use in your spud gun (like propane, butane, hairspray, rightguard, etc.). You will learn the good and bad types of ammo to use as well as learn the best types of ignition (like stunguns, flint ignitors, BBQ ignitors, etc.) and how legal your cannon is. You just may learn how to get something totally free. You will learn about ABS and PVC pipe and how to correctly mount a pressure gauge into your cannon. You will learn all about the different kinds of valves and how to use them. (sprinkler valves, diaphragm valves, pistons, etc.) You will learn how to make a hybrid and a pneumatic/combustion cannon. You can even learn about strafers and submachine BB guns! Above all you will be able to find instructions on how to build things that you will love for years to come. All of this is totally free so be happy and get on to registering and posting!

-PCGUY, maker of SpudFiles

==External links==

*[http://www.utopia.bcpneumatics.com Utopia, video tutorials (in part by PCGUY)]
*[http://www.bavetta.com/aircannon.html Air Cannon Barrel Length Numerical Analysis]
*[http://www1.iwvisp.com/thehalls/ggdt Gas Gun Design Tool, simulation program for pneumatic guns]
*[http://www.spudfiles.com/Other/are_they_legal.php ATF Correspondence concerning spud guns]
*[http://www.spudfiles.com Spud Files (aka The Spud Cannon Database)]
*[http://www.spudtech.com Great source of spudgun information]