Make a fireball shooter

Our Boing Boing Gadgets editor, Joel Johnson, wrote an article for the magic-themed issue of MAKE on how to build a fireball shooter. Today, MAKE's video producer, Kip Kay has a video on the awesome shooter. Link

• [Hunty]

  We’ve been watching lots of Arrested Development, so all I can think when I see this is “yeah, but where did the lighter fluid come from, right?”

• [microcars]

  I’ve been making these for years out of those plastic hand-held confetti poppers.

  Remove the cardboard end and the confetti -dispose.
  Take a full sheet of flash paper, wad it up, stuff in in the thing.

  Aim it and pull the string= nice large flash ball that shoots better than the one in the video, only caveat is that it is disposable, but it worked well years ago when I handed them out at a wedding reception and did a “toast of fire”. Fireballs coming up from all the tables was pretty impressive.

• [Joel Johnson]

  Holy shit. I’m awesome!

  Kip’s modifications to my plans are way better than the original, too. This is why that is my first and likely last MAKE contribution. I actually sort of suck at making things!

• [Antinous]

  Isn’t it better not to place your free hand right under the blade when you’re sawing something?

• [glycolized]

  Not to nitpick, but that is clearly not aluminum or copper rod – it is tube. If someone goes to the hardware store and says, “I need some half-inch copper rod”, they are not going to give you the stuff in the video.

• [rushkoff]

  Yeah. It’s got to be hollow. Otherwise there’s nowhere to put the stuff.

  If you want a little more excitement, there’s a canon we used to make with tennis ball cans, deodorant spray, and a potato. I wonder if that one is online somewhere… I suppose it’s not so safe.

• [firestarter]

  I love the fact that he’s setting these off in what looks like his living room!

• [Denomerdano]

  wow… nice vice.. next time you may want to bolt it down and not place your hand under the saw.
  damn..