The Demo Tape

02/15/2001 UPDATE - Just a few more items from the tape. Here are the "slates" Joey made on his computer to segue from one scene to another. They mostly promote the website, but we thought you'd get a kick out of them.

We've been showing the video to our co-workers, and the one's that don't stare blankly into space as it plays seem to enjoy our little presentation. The family watched it three times the first day and laughed harder every time they saw it.

Our official tape is 4 minutes and 59 seconds, but we've added a bloopers reel after the demo which seems to be what everyone enjoys the most. But the finale on the demo seems to get quite a few oohs and ahs as well! 

02/08/2001 UPDATE - We've laid down the basic tracks for the demo. We realized that we need to go back out and get a few things we left out. Also noticed that we have the cannons firing at night and the potatoes landing during the day. We thought that it might look a little funny!!

02/02/2001 UPDATE - We just wrapped up shooting over 80% of our tape. It was a blast and the bloopers reel will be a keeper. It's now 4am and we're so pumped no one can go the sleep. All we have left to shoot are a few close-ups and the GRAND Finale!

 
Where in the world could we come up with something to demonstrate where we could show how we work together and still have some fun doing it?? After a week or so of brainstorming we finally decided on the one thing that we felt gave us the perfect project for us to do. The winner is. . . .

We did it all ourselves!!

Camera: Joey/Lyn

Audio: Lyn

Editing: Lyn with input from Joey and Frank

Slates: Joey

Lighting: Lyn/Joey

Music: Frank (he bought the CD)

Spudzooka designed and built by: Joey and the Web site.

Tri-Spud Designed by: Frank/Joey/Lyn

Tri-Spud Built By: Frank with some assistance from Lyn/Joey

Potato Destroyer Designed by: Lyn with assistance from Joey/Frank

Potato Destroyer Built by: Lyn with assistance from Frank/Joey

Jacob's Ladder (Huge spark) By: Lyn

THE POTATO CANNON!

We decided to demo the potato cannon. Our decision was simple because it allows us to explain how not only potato cannons, but guns, cannons, and even how combustion engines work. We have most of the script worked out, but I won't give it away just yet.

02/02/2001 UPDATE - Just one bit. How did we explain it? It's pretty simple when you have a dissected model. We took the first gun that Frank built, whipped out the sawzall and voila!. . .one gun, ready for demonstration. It doesn't stop there, but that's all you get for now. 

02/15/2001 UPDATE - Another little piece of info. We did a musical finale to the 1812 Overture with our cannons making the shots on the video. It looks great. we also setup a few pyrotechnics charges using gunpowder to go with the music which made for a great effect. 

Three Team Members, 3 different approaches. . .

We plan to explain how the cannon works as a team, but we also plan to give a small LIVE ammo demonstration. Call it our own small way of entertaining the natives!

I'll explain the three different ways we're building our individual devices here.

This information is accurate as of 02/15/2001

Disclaimer

This is our own way of having a little fun. We are firing these potato cannons at our transmitter sites (over 40 acres of private property 20 miles from a real city) where we can do it without putting anyone or anything in harms way. If you decide to build one, please check with local law enforcement (as we did) to make sure you're not making an illegal weapon.

Frank's gun is the one that looks most like a real gun. It's barrel is made of 1 1/2" Schedule 40 pipe. The Combustion Chamber is made of 2" Schedule 40 pipe and has a 1 1/2" pipe glued below the Chamber which acts as a handle and trigger holder. Look for pictures in a few days.

02/04/2001 - After seeing what the rest of the team put together, Frank has redesigned his device. We call it the Tri-Spud cannon. It's a three barreled sight to behold. Frank wouldn't let us anywhere near it with our cameras yet, but we'll get pictures this week!

02/05/01 - Finally got it strapped together. All 3 tubes fire, but still working to make them more consistent.

02/15/2001 UPDATE - During the taping we realized that Frank's gun has an extra feature, it fires two barrels at once. It wasn't suppose to, but it looks great when it does. In the video, Frank seems to get blown away when they both go off at once! 

Joey found plans online for a spudzooka and made a few modifications. He extended the combustion chamber and the barrel to make it 6 feet  in overall length. He also added a clamp-type holder to the back of the combustion chamber which was used to brace the trigger assembly. Initial test show it will work splendidly.

01/12/2001 UPDATE - Finally got to take a couple of pictures. ENJOY!

02/04/2001 UPDATE - Gun works fine as long as Joey is the only one that fires it. We're looking at a few different propellants, to get it more consistent. It works well when it fires though. 

02/05/01 UPDATE - The winning fuel is . . .Acetealine. 12 seconds of fuel/air off of a turbo torch and it fires first trigger every time. Got slightly burned while taping close-ups as one of the exhaust taps blew out and burned a small hole in Joey's shirt. He's OK, just won't put the gun there again.

Lyn and the combustion chamber having a "discussion".

Lyn's specially designed ignition system!

The more you look around this site, the more you're going to learn that Lyn tends to go just slightly overboard. We knew we were in trouble when he started to explain how he had to build the "tripod" to hold his gun.

His device will be made our of copper and stainless steel. As of this publication, he is designing the "silencer" for the muzzle. He swears he'll be ready for taping. He hasn't missed a deadline yet!

01/14/2001 UPDATE - Lyn has completed the combustion chamber. Construction of the barrel and tripod should be completed this afternoon. TESTING to begin this afternoon!

02/04/2001 UPDATE - Took a while to get the propane oxygen mixture right, but once it was right, it was great. The destroyer can launch them well over 500 feet. The hardest part is getting a chance to fire it, since everyone in both families likes it so much!

02/05/01 UPDATE - Worked fine for most of the taping. Had trouble with the "ammo holder" (a brass basket hanging off the back end) which kept breaking apart under the weight of the potatoes.

02/15/2001 UPDATE - Lyn added a brass potato basket to the rear of his gun. Here's something you won't see on the tape. . .it was a 3 tier basket, but the potatoes were too heavy so we have to shrink it to only one so it would stay up!