Pneumatic Potato Cannon

Mark I is a 20 foot long pneumatic potato gun. My friend Chris and I saw an article on Slashdot back in 2000 about a potato gun with interchangeable 10 and 20 ft barrels. We wanted to build our own. Approximately $150 and 20 hours later this is how Spudcannon Mark I measured up:

Highlight (more videos below)

Stats

Type: Pneumatic, fired up to 100 psi
Length (overall): 20.5 feet
Length (barrel): 20 feet
Barrel diameter: 2 inches
Air chamber: 1.5 cubic feet
Velocity (theoretical): 400 mph (see the theory tab above for details)

Construction Pictures

Destruction Pictures

Videos

What we shot at the computer

This is what was shot at the computer at the top of this page. It’s a potato frozen onto the end of an ice cylinder with a nail running through the whole thing. It blew a huge hold in the front of the case, but only the nail came out the back. I’m pretty sure it would have gone all the way through if the computer had been held in place. As it was, the impact blasted it back about 30 or 40 feet.

Computer monitor destruction via potato cannon

Bye-bye computer monitor. This one was actually a really bad idea. That much broken glass should never make contact with a lawn.

Cinder block

Here’s a cynder block getting blown apart by a 2oz potato. The crowd got hit by tiny bits of cement shrapnel despite sitting 30 feet behind the end of the barrel.

Can of Pepsi

I love the sound in this one.