Spudgun Madness

Time to blow off a little steam!

They say anything worth doing is worth overdoing, and a machinist with a well-tooled shop is in a position to overdo a lot of things. I recently came across a site called the Spudgun Technology Center. What a hoot!

First, a spudgun is a homemade device that shoots potatos. The same technology has been adapted to shoot ping pong balls, T-shirts at rock concerts, empty 2 litre soda bottles, and probably an assortment of other crazy things (see the women’s garter shooter below). They’re fun, probably somewhat dangerous (we hear a lot about NOT using PVC for air systems because it gets brittle, but I don’t know if these spudguns last long enough to get brittle). Spudguns can be powered by compressed air or combustion (propane and air or some such explodes in a chamber to produce the push).

Anyway, check out some of these examples from SPTC. Seems like just the project to get your kid interested in machining, or to blow off a little steam on a weekend.

This bolt action model was done by a machinist…

This mortar is wicked looking. It was made for paintball events. Hopefully they don’t have spuds dropping from high altitude on people’s heads–paintballs would be better!

This one is a garter tosser for a wedding. What machinist would want to get married without such a device handy?

Would you believe a bait caster made for an 85-year gentleman who likes to fish but needs a little help? Heck yeah!

Anti-aircraft spudgun? WTH?

These people are crazy, but it looks like they’re having fun. Check it out.