Old school tin-can cannon

[jeepkahn]

1970?! You must be very old...

Remember, some of us have kids older than the majority of SF member base... So Yes, some of us are old....

[dewey-1]

1970?! You must be very old...

In my case it is very damn old!

The older you get, the pricier your toys get and the more toys you have!
Kind of on an exponential scale.

You did not think garages were just for cars did you? It's just my toy box.

Wives just do not understand that reasoning.

[starman]

1970?! You must be very old...

You're only as old as you feel... and I'm feeling it more and more every day....

1970?! You must be very old...

Remember, some of us have kids older than the majority of SF member base... So Yes, some of us are old....

As an example....I just married my almost 22 yr old son off last Saturday....

[USGF]

1970?! You must be very old...

2 year old kid might think you are old. Never, ever old. Just older.

USGF

[Moonbogg]

Really great post Starman! Its great how we can all relate to a similar first experience with cannons. Mine was when I was in 7th or 8th grade when my best friend's dad showed us how to make a tennis ball cannon out of paint cans. It was great. We made them in an advanced fashion with bbq lighters taped on so the flame lit right over the hole! We had wars with each other and it was great fun.
Years later me and another buddy made another cannon out of steel tube and a fire extinguisher with a hole at the bottom. It was great as well. Lighter fluid was the best. I never EVER thought these things would have evolved like they did. I remember when I first saw an advanced combustion cannon on the internet when I again decided to get into cannons again. It was "The Nuker" and it totally blew me away. I had to have one and it was on since then. When I discovered spudfiles I was again shocked at the ever more advanced and powerful designs.
About the aging thing...I am truly not sure I believe in it so much. If not for the phenomenon of the body degrading I think people would be hard pressed to tell me apart from a 16 year old (i'm almost 30). Before TOO much longer people will have overcome that natural phenomenon as a result of their desire to do so, just as we have begun to overcome the challenges of flight, space travel etc.

[Adam94]

I didnt know you could make a spud gun out of cans Im gonna make one of these.

[Mr.Sandman]

Umm thanks for sharing? On a side note a lot of people on spudfiles have families and what not. I hope to be that 80 year old spudder you willl see in the newspaper.

[gabeb123]

i've made a bunch of them and i have found that if you use 3 cans instead of 4 it launches it way farther and if you wrap the tennisball with ducttape it launches them so far in the air you can barely see the tennisball.

also i have tried to use just a small hole in the bottom and it didn't work as good as if you use one of them old school can openers to put a hole in the side of it.

also you should use hairspray like aguanet makes it make way more noise

[buckloner]

Jeff ! is that you ?! I made a dozen or so of them back around then . I was only in the 6th grade though not eighth

[inonickname]

I sense a dramatic spudding reunion coming up. Either that, or the stage is set for epic fail.

Welcome to SpudFiles though buckloner

[general bozo]

Was thinking of the old days growing up and had to Google this topic and found this. I made one of these growing up ... friend of mine down the street showed up with one .. it was made with 3 of those old tennis ball steel cans strapped together (perfect circumference for the tennis ball) and a hole poked in side of the bottom. The 3rd can would hold the ball in the barrel because it wasn't fully bored out. A little squirt of butane and POOF it was off! haha, the good old days.

[kenbo0422]

Yup. The old drink cans were soldered on top and bottom. We made one that used 9 cans and shot a tennis ball down the street. We never recovered it. It was also flaming the whole way down the street. We put the tennis ball in before fueling it and must have gotten it soaked with lighter fluid. Home made comet....