Homemade explosives
Yesterday was our first rain here in Texas in over 2 months. The kid was bored so I looked for something we could do around the house. I was making breakfast and next to the bowls in the pantry I noticed an old electric firestarer. I knew it was almost empty and had an idea. I started scrounging the rest of the house to find more supplies. He’s what I came up with:
1 electric firestarter
1 35MM film canister
Some assorted wire
a block of wood
and a bottle of my wife’s perfume
First, disassemble the firestarter to get at the piezoelectric ignitor.
A standard Bic lighter will have one but they are smaller and harder to get out of the case. In our case I needed to solder on a new wire as the lighter used the body to transfer the charge back to the ignitor.
Then drill a couple holes in the block of wood and run the wire from the ignitor down one and up the other and through a small hole in the film can lid.
Then you need to set the gap to get a good spark.
When done you’ll have something that looks like this.
Nothing fancy looking but still lots of fun.
Lastly, spray a squirt of your favorite fragrance into the can(make sure it’s an alchohol based perfume) and snap it on the lid. Click away on the ignitor and you should get a nice sized pop. We can get about 30feet across the house. With a better propelant, like Binaca or hairspray we could probably get more distance.
Here’s a clip or two of it in action. Getting the fuel mixture right takes a bit of practice to get it to fire correctly the first time. Too little fuel and it won’t go, same with too much which is usually the case. It makes a nice satisfying *POP* that kids absolutely love. It’s mostly safe for indoor use as long as you don’t go nuts with the fuel and get a pool of it in the lid. If that happens it can ignite in the lid but it’s not like it’s a huge fire. One puff and it’s out. Keep an eye on it.
First video
Ok, It’s not a real cannon but it’s still a hell of a lot of fun to build and fire. Easily built out of stuff you have laying around the house. It also is a learning experience for our homeschooled son. He gets to write a report on thermodynamics and explain why the whole contraption works. He wouldn’t get to do this kind of stuff in public school, that’s for sure.