Making a potato cannon – need 3″ SCH40 PVC and 3″ fittings

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  • #591794

    m2
    Member

    My son and I want to make a potato cannon from plans in the Backyard Ballistics book (check Square One). We are having no luck finding the right kind of pipe. Most hardware stores only carry PVC pipe and fittings up to 2″.

    We need:

    14 inch length 3″ SCH40 PVC pipe

    3 to 2 inch diameter reducing bushing

    3″ coupling, one side smooth, one side threaded

    3″ threaded PVC end cap.

    We have/can get all the other items we need. Anybody (plumbers?) know where I can secure these items to begin construction?

    Thanks in advance!

    #673866

    CheriBerri
    Member

    I work at the home depot and im fairly sure you can find most of these there….. But im just a cashier……

    #673867

    PDieter
    Participant

    3″ is standard sewer pipe…home depot has everything you need

    #673868

    Patrick
    Keymaster

    If all else fails there’s the plumbing supply place just off the intersection of Marginal and Highland Park Way.

    #673869

    pigeonmom
    Participant

    You guys gonna shoot potatoes at off leash dogs? ;-)

    #673870

    If your car has a sunroof you can turn it into a hashbrowns tank.

    #673871

    flowerpetal
    Member

    Spud guns are cool and teach kids some basic engineering concepts. However, there are long lists of accidents, some with pretty serious repercussions, usually for children. My nephew made two and then converted them to marshmallow guns.

    Not the same bang for the buck, but still loads of fun.

    #673872

    Ken
    Participant

    I have fired an even more dangerous version a friend of mine built.

    It was iron pipe and nine feet long, rifled inside. It fired tennis balls from a ridge top (edited) repair shed nearly half a mile onto main street of a small town (which shall remain nameless since the cops are still looking for the maker) into the valley below. We stood behind a cinder block wall with a heavy Plexiglas window to fire it.

    It used acetylene for the propellant and fired with a spark plug and ignition relay and a long cord for the switch. This was not the first model as a previous model had left shrapnel embedded in the shed wall and was the reason for the new door as well as the blast shield.

    If the gas was not carefully metered, it fired yellow confetti instead of tennis balls.

    #673873

    flowerpetal
    Member

    Ken, you may be my new living legend!

    #673874

    MrJT
    Member

    Memo Memo. Befriend Ken.

    #673875

    bsmomma
    Participant

    North Coast Electric down on 8th & Lander sells that stuff! Yes, I work there. :)

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