How to Make a Potato Cannon

Male Speaker: Hi! Every one, today I’m in gardenfork, we are going to make something as Williams Gurstelle, Gurstelle’s book Backyard Ballistics. We are going to make the gardenfork version of a potato cannon or a potato bazooka which I think its going to be a lot of fun and I think its something it should like your kids too, I mean when I was grown up my dad had a couple of rolls and one was very simple, you can do what ever you want, just don’t just don’t bleed on my floor, and so Female Speaker: you can’t send the other way. Male Speaker: No, but that what the cool things was is dad showed us stuff and let us do stuff and we experiment and learnt, we make campfires, you know we went out camping we did stuff in the yard, and now days its seems like kids are so scheduled into succor practice in this play date and that you know just now time that experiment so, so this a really cool book, thank you William for writing this book, and also in the book what I like is he talks about the physics, of how these things work as well, so I like things that you know make big noises and so the kids but you also can learn about. Female Speaker: you are a kid. Male Speaker: Yeah, but you can learn stuff from this book in addition to make in the cool stuff in the book, so we are going to make a PVC potato bazooka, to start of with we are going to be cutting down some PVC pipe, you want schedule 40 PVC and when you go to the home and improvement store make sure its says PVC its for high pressure. There is a new kind of schedule 40 PVC at their that’s made for a low pressure or no pressure its made it off form like start of form don’t use that you need regular plastic PVC pipe, pipe so you need a piece of 3 inch PVC pipe you need a piece of 2 inch PVC pipe go over the planks in the side you need a 3 inch cap with the screw and, and you need a 3 inch to 2 inch adopter here, okay, this already cut down the 14 inches, we are going to cut this one down to 36 inches you can use axe saw for this or you can use our sip cutting saw, if your kids around you can have them use axe saw its good exercise, I am going to use a sip cutting saw. Female Speaker: You need exercise too. Male Speaker: Yeah I do I just do them all. I borrowed this from my neighbor but if this specific company would like to give us some tools big hint. Female Speaker: That’s the company Male Speaker: We would like those tools, so by the way, goggles on, this is going to be the loading and our bazooka, so what we want to do is we want to sharpen it, so the potatoes go get stuck on here and this acts like a cutter, so we want to do is we want to sharpen this edge, so it cuts a nice a nice size potato. You see what I mean. But you want to use this, this is a four in hand folie its got four surfaces and fits in your hand, may be want to get your kids do this part, but you basically and take this, all right so now we have this is in the most perfect one I’m kind of rushing this but we fire this down, now I have to glow all this together right. Gardenfork is all about kind of wing in it, and you know we do follow some rules like you know safety glasses and things like that. Female Speaker: You wing a lot of things. Male Speaker: Well that’s how a wife is you know okay , if you follow the blue rules you are going to loose I think, we are going to you be using a two part PVC cement for this, primer and the glue, there are some people are really good at this, I always make a mess when I do this, you should do this in well ventilated area, because this stuff smells and its not healthy for you okay, curve the surfaces, you know one thing dripping wet we are going to put this in to this 2 inch cupeling the glue goes on one side you don’t want to tunnel glue you just want to coat it nicely okay this goes in and give it a quarter turn, like that. Once, once you glue this there is no going back so if you make a mistake you need to go and get a new connector, so. Female Speaker: How many of this is as you have made? Male Speaker: I made three, this goes in. Female Speaker: Quarter turn, and stop, now we are going to put the end cap on, goes in, turn we have the barrel and the ca basin chamber build here now we have to figure out the way we are going to use hair spray by the way, this going to be run by cheap hair spray but we have to create the spark inside our chamber here, and William has a idea with using a up flint and stuff and I thought that was may be a little more complicated and I thought I’m trying simplify so what I did was I went to the hardware store and bought the replacement the knitter from a barbeque grill, I took the ends of the wires and crimped on spade clips, lets spark. Female Speaker: That’s why you need a rules spark. Male Speaker: I’m not sure, this is an experiment okay these are two and a half inch one is bolts with a nut on them, now we are going to take these and we are going to sharpen the points because these are going to be at opposite to each other and we want the spark to jump across that and note again we could use a new power tools of some power tool company one of those send them tools, we want to put these two, screws that are going to be connected to the clicker and we want them to be exactly opposite each other, in here of how that is fast, so you start your igniter wire is attached to the screw now, how are we just screw done, so that’s takes a lot which is quite a down, okay so we have the screws in their hard to get started in the PVC but you just have to work at it, and now you can see here, we have got the from opposing sides, they are here and here and coming in, you want to wrap this whole thing in tape so you don’t shock yourself and we press this, and we see if we get a spark in here, yeah. Female Speaker: All right. Male Speaker: Sure okay lets translate. Female Speaker: Oh yeah. Male Speaker: when I take this close it up, and we let this dry over night, we have to let the glue dry over night don’t put this things together and then go on cheap thing. Let this dry and when I come back tomorrow and shot off it will shot off some potatoes. Okay here we are in the testing grounds, rapid -- so I taken our potato and load it in the front. Female Speaker: Bigger than that thing. Male Speaker: Right that’s what we want because the cutting. Female Speaker: That’s why you make it this shape. Male Speaker: Right so its cuts it, right to the right size, and you have a plunge of some sort a tamper and you want to push this in, about 30 inches, and I have 30 inches marked on my pole here, have your proper safety equipment on, so make sure that your sparker is working, Female Speaker: Excuse me; you don’t have to talk, because you have the ear things on. Male Speaker: Okay, and then a short burst of hair spray, if you want to put this in a secure spot when you fire, I’m going to leave it against the ground. Close this up, fire in the whole wow, was that great. What fun. I have to do that again. I’m going to put a little lower this time never point this at any body, there we go. So that was pretty cool, you know I was sad to that work it wasn’t quite sure what’s going to happen, and be very careful have an adult around never point this at buildings or other people point it to a safe place, Female Speaker: Or dogs, animals. Male Speaker: Dogs that was my hand. Female Speaker: Any gloves. Male Speaker: Yeah but tell me your not coming to the green house build one and make take some pictures and take some videos, you know tells what’s you thing send me email at gardernfork.tv, You know I think its fun, I think kids have too much of a plan, canon you just let him be care let us experiment with stuff I think it will be great, Female Speaker: Have your kids done. Male Speaker: These kids are great, make it’s a great day see you later.