Assuming the site is from the US, I don't see why it would or should be illegal. What is more dangerous to the public, a psycho with a homemade mortar or a psycho with a semi-automatic handgun. I guess the mortar would be able to do some serious structural damage, but I can do some serious damage with my car, and more idiots drive than build their own cannons.
--
DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE
ok
Reminds me of powerlabs cannon
by
ron_ivi
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
But still neither are quite as cool as this
Trebuchet
from the
which launched a piano and a cow.
Re:Only four ounces of powder
by
glenebob
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
And you would have likely just wasted it. 4 ounces is quite a bit when you're talking about black powder (or a synthetic thereof), and that barrel is pretty short.
That said... I probably would try more too:-)
like a spud gun
by
The+Tyro
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
We used to build smaller variants of this idea out of pvc.
Big piece of PVC pipe (capped on one end, natch). Spray some hair spray in, stuff a potatoe into the end, and connect a battery to a model-rocket solar igniter you have in the bottom (get behind something in case the PVC fails).
Kaboom!
We found, after much experimentation, that there was quite a difference in the potential energy of various hair-spray products (which we had, of course, five-finger discounted from our mothers). "The Dry Look" turned out to be the most energetic brand.
-- Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
This was a great link
by
sakusha
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
...when I first saw it on FARK about two weeks ago. They had a cool link to a Civil War reenactment supplier that will sell you a modern-manufacture cannon just like the ones they used back in the olden days. Only $7000, powder and shot not included.
Anyway, I am reminded of a story I read a while ago. Some curators (Art Institute of Chicago or The Smithsonian or someplace like that) were examining an antique gun and found out it was loaded, and had been on display for decades with a full charge. The gunpowder charge was so old, they feared it was unstable and could detonate at any moment, so they decided to investigate all their other weapons. They found out that about 20% of their collection was fully loaded and nobody ever knew about it. They're desperately trying to defuse all these old weapons, which includes everything from relatively modern antique guns to old cannons. And they can't just pour water down the barrels because some of them have bullets in the way, some of the weapons would disintegrate if you got them wet, so they're in a real quandary. Now I wonder about the safety of all those cannons on public display in parks etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Are these things legal? In every state?
Slashdot effect + 'Build Your Own Motor', we may have just set off Echelon alarms
Assuming the site is from the US, I don't see why it would or should be illegal. What is more dangerous to the public, a psycho with a homemade mortar or a psycho with a semi-automatic handgun. I guess the mortar would be able to do some serious structural damage, but I can do some serious damage with my car, and more idiots drive than build their own cannons.
DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE
okBut still neither are quite as cool as this Trebuchet from the which launched a piano and a cow.
And you would have likely just wasted it. 4 ounces is quite a bit when you're talking about black powder (or a synthetic thereof), and that barrel is pretty short.
:-)
That said... I probably would try more too
We used to build smaller variants of this idea out of pvc.
Big piece of PVC pipe (capped on one end, natch). Spray some hair spray in, stuff a potatoe into the end, and connect a battery to a model-rocket solar igniter you have in the bottom (get behind something in case the PVC fails).
Kaboom!
We found, after much experimentation, that there was quite a difference in the potential energy of various hair-spray products (which we had, of course, five-finger discounted from our mothers). "The Dry Look" turned out to be the most energetic brand.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
...when I first saw it on FARK about two weeks ago. They had a cool link to a Civil War reenactment supplier that will sell you a modern-manufacture cannon just like the ones they used back in the olden days. Only $7000, powder and shot not included.
Anyway, I am reminded of a story I read a while ago. Some curators (Art Institute of Chicago or The Smithsonian or someplace like that) were examining an antique gun and found out it was loaded, and had been on display for decades with a full charge. The gunpowder charge was so old, they feared it was unstable and could detonate at any moment, so they decided to investigate all their other weapons. They found out that about 20% of their collection was fully loaded and nobody ever knew about it. They're desperately trying to defuse all these old weapons, which includes everything from relatively modern antique guns to old cannons. And they can't just pour water down the barrels because some of them have bullets in the way, some of the weapons would disintegrate if you got them wet, so they're in a real quandary. Now I wonder about the safety of all those cannons on public display in parks etc.