[geeks] Geek-gun?

[James Lockwood]

On Tue, 18 Jun 2002, Kurt Huhn wrote:

> Well, not really, but it would be fun to make.  He's selling kits for
> under $40, I'll bet it can be made for less than $20 - or free if you
> have all the pieces already.  I have about 6 feet of 1.5" sch-40 PVC in
> my garage, all I'd need is the various fittings and a length of 4"
> diameter for the ignition chamber...

Points learned from a wasted childhood:

1. Make sure you vent the chamber well after each use.
2. Oxy-acetylene/oxy-mapp mix works much better (hose from a torch tip).
3. Longer barrels are better, within reason.
4. sch40 PVC becomes a rupture hazard once you get to 2" and oxy-mapp.
5. ABS holds together better, but shatters into zillions of sharp pieces.
6. Black iron pipe fixes both of the previous problems.
7. A gimbaled tripod fixes the weight issue.
8. Stick a silencer onto the end of the resulting object and you start to
   give serious thought to wondering what would happen if your friendly
   neighborhood ATF agent saw it.

I switched to water rockets at that point, 2 liter coke bottles (no
shortage of those) with fins on them, launched from a 100psi air tank.
Safer and keeps you cooler in a 110F California summer.

-James ["and besides, the wench is dead"]