Making a spud gun-esque launcher thingy?

[SniperNinja]

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum so please forgive me if I forget any of the rules. I had an idea the other day for a gun similar to a spud gun. It would be a pressure cooker with a hole cut into it, and right outside the hole would be a valve hooked up to a trigger. The valve would be connected air tight to the cooker. Coming out of the valve would be a a pressure rated pipe/paintball gun coil leading to a barrel that has your projectile of choice muzzle loaded into it. Behind the cooker would be a hot plate/pilot light hooked up to a battery with a switch in between. So how you operate it is you fill the cooker with water, turn on the switch, wait for the pressure to build, the pull the trigger and send your prjectile flying. Tell me what you think.

[Gun Freak]

That is a horrible idea
Welcome to the Files.
Why would you make such a device? It would take long to shoot and be a lot of work (and money) to construct. Also, you wouldn't connect the barrel with a hose... That would constrict flow quite a bit. You would cconnect the barrel directly to the valve. What do I think? I think it's ridiculous. Would it work? Maybe...

[SniperNinja]

I would make such a device for the ****s and giggles. And just to see how many of my ridiculous ideas would work LOL.

[Mr.Tallahassee]

If I were going to do a steam-powered launcher I would make one large enough to launch pumpkins. Using steam for small projectiles is really kinda pointless IMO. You never know, you may come up with the most powerful "air" powered "pumpkin chunker". Steam takes too long to create pressure as it needs to be heated for long times for higher pressures.

[Moonbogg]

Interesting thought there, but it does sound absolutely impractical to actually try to make. Have you seen any of the cannons in the showcasr on this site? I bet if you made an advanced combustion it would blow your mind.

[starman]

Don't do it. You're talking a steam gun here and steam isn't something you want to be fooling around with willy nilly.

Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL uuumm...waterheater...re. steam power.

[youtube][/youtube]

[SniperNinja]

If anyone was wondering I was inspired by the Rock-it launcher in fallout. I enjoy designing weaponry that can be made out of semi common materials...

[Gun Freak]

I enjoy designing weaponry that can be made out of semi common materials...

You've come to the right place
What's wrong with pipe fittings?

[streetfire]

wasnt that the railway rifle from fallout 3? this sort of stuff only works ingame your better of using air easier too control and easier to make.

just a qev with a slide valve as a trigger and a big tank will give you semi auto

[SniperNinja]

Theres nothing wrong with pipe fittings. Infact I'm building a bike pump powered nerf gun right now to see how far I can push it out to myself.

[saefroch]

Theres nothing wrong with pipe fittings. Infact I'm building a bike pump powered nerf gun right now to see how far I can push it out to myself.

You'll be able to push it as hard as you can push on the pump, but you'll be SEVERELY limited by the massive drag coefficient and low mass of a nerf dart.

Don't mean to hate, just an opinion.

[nathanhd123]

Tell me what you think.

BAD Idea! Don't mess about with steam. It is much easier to build an advanced combustion or pneumatic (and a lot cheaper). Why bother considering steam takes so long to build pressure?

[Technician1002]

I'm surprised nobody stated the obvious.. I guess nobody uses pressure cookers any more.

The obvious problem is the pressure rating. Due to the flat bottom design, most pressure cookers have a top working pressure of 15PSI. It would make a very wimpy cannon due to the low pressure.

Defeating the temperature and pressure safety plug would be not advisable. Messing with the pressure regulator is an explosion waiting to happen. Most use either a weight or a spring on the pressure control that is not easily adjustable.

Most pressure cookers have a working pressure setting of 15 psi (approx. 107 kPa) over the existing atmospheric pressure, the standard determined by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1917. At this pressure boost relative to sea-level atmospheric pressure, water boils at 122 °C (252 °F) (refer to vapor pressure of water).

Does anybody use pressure cookers anymore? Information from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_cooking

[saefroch]

I'm surprised nobody stated the obvious.. I guess nobody uses pressure cookers any more.

People do use them, but clearly none of the posters (certainly not me, never even touched one though I'd like to).

[velocity3x]

Does anybody use pressure cookers anymore?

Sure....for Broasted Chicken, but not for cannons.