pulse jet engine

Three Incredibly Creative Musical Flamethrowers

By Mikey Sklar Posted 09.17.2009 at 4:00 pm 4 Comments

How is it that refill canisters for air horns costs four times as much as butane canisters? Ariel was not happy with the added expense and took matters into his own hands creating a butane horn with flames. While this is not his first butane hack, he has stepped into a larger world of noisy flame throwers. And if you think this duct-taped flaming air horn is a little shady, check out some of my other favorite flaming noise projects.

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read more about > air horn, butane fuel, fire horn, flame effects, flames, lighter, Mikey Sklar, pulse jet engine, safety, tuba

Fun with Projectiles

By popsci Posted 03.28.2007 at 1:08 pm 0 Comments

I'm allergic to potatoes. I know, weird. But that doesn't mean I don't love the idea of shooting one at high speeds out of a homemade plastic tube into the back of someone's head. Fortunately, Bill Gurstelle—PopSci pal and author of such DIY classics as Backyard Ballistics—has a new book that's bound to make your summer a lot more fun, and scare the crap out of your neighbors: Whoosh Boom Splat: The Garage Warrior's Guide to Building Projectile Shooters. From Bill's site:

With Whoosh Boom Splat, you can build:
* The Jam Jar Jet – the simple pulse jet engine that roars
* The Elastic Zip Cannon – a membrane-powered shooter that packs a wallop
* The Mechanical Toe – a bungee-powered kicking machine
* The Vortex Launcher – a projectile shooter that uses air bullets for ammunition
* The Clothespin Snap Shooter – the PG-17 version of a clothespin gun that fires fiery projectiles
* The Architronito – the steam-powered cannon conceived by Leonardo da Vinci

Check out his hilarious commercial below. —Mike Haney

READ MORE ABOUT > backyard ballistics, jam jar, pulse jet engine, snap shooter, whoosh boom splat

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June 2013: American Energy Independence

Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.