5. Spaghetti

A thermic lance is a heavy-duty demolition tool that burns steel alloys and aluminum in pressurized oxygen to create temperatures hot enough to cut… anything, really. Instead of burning steel, this do-it-yourself version uses spaghetti as fuel.

Spaghetti may not seem particularly flammable, but with pure oxygen just about everything becomes a pyromaniac’s dream. With just an oxygen tank, aluminum foil, and a small handful of spaghetti, you can make a thermic lance that burns hot enough to melt through concrete.

Thermic lances are used in construction and demolition to cut large pieces of steel. This homemade version can get hot enough to melt metal. All you have to do is hook up one side of a small hose to an oxygen tank and attach a small amount of spaghetti wrapped in aluminum foil to the other. Igniting the spaghetti in the oxygen-rich tube produces a crazy-hot flame, creating the cheapest steel-melting lance you’ll ever see.

It is worth noting that Blasted Science has constructed their own thermic lance. However, ours never runs out of oxygen. Instead of a tank, we hooked it up to an oxygen generator for longer burning.

4. Ammonia

Ammonia itself can be dangerous (inhalation not recommended), but when combined with iodine, the extremely volatile explosive Nitrogen Triiodide is formed. Touching it with just about anything is enough to make it explode.

All you need is ammonium hydroxide, easily purchased as a household cleaner, and iodine crystals, easily purchased online. Simply dissolve the iodine crystals in the ammonium hydroxide and wait a few hours. Pour the resulting liquid over filter paper to collect the explosive. Be careful: even though the compound is more stable while in solution, it can still potentially explode while dissolved.

Nitrogen Triiodide has no practical use, due to its extreme sensitivity to friction, but it can certainly be entertaining. Be extremely careful with these crystals; the slightest touch and you can kiss your fingers goodbye. It’s recommended that you start small, and work your way up to bigger amounts once you know what you’re doing.

Blasted Science attempted to make Nitrogren Triiodide, but our iodine samples weren’t nearly pure enough for it to work.  Sticking live wires into a bottle filled with iodized salt water probably wasn’t the best way to obtain iodine.

3. Etch-a-Sketch

This common toy is loaded with powdered aluminum. Aluminum, sadly, doesn’t burn. Unless it’s combined with rust, that is.

Mixing powdered aluminum and iron oxide (rust) in the correct ratio, three parts iron oxide to one part aluminum, creates thermite. Thermite isn’t explosive, but burns at insanely high temperatures and produces iron. However, it also requires insanely high temperatures to ignite; a normal flame won’t do it. Using a sparkler is an easy way to get it started. Never ignite thermite near yourself; it spews molten metal all over the place. You don’t want to be anywhere near it once it’s lit.

After the time of writing (this list has been in limbo for a long time), Grant Thompson and Cody’s Lab successfully created thermite from an Etch-a-Sketch. The video from Cody’s Lab goes into greater detail on their project.

Thermite burns at well above 4,000° Fahrenheit: hot enough to melt through things not usually considered meltable, such as dirt. Good luck finding a container that can hold it. Most commonly, ceramic containers are used, such as flowerpots. Surprisingly, it is 100% legal to own and use. Have fun.

2. Drain Cleaner

Drain cleaner, aluminum foil, and a pop bottle are used to make what is called a “Drano bomb.” Combining drain cleaner (sodium hydroxide) and aluminum foil produces hydrogen gas. If the reaction occurs in a sealed bottle, the pressure will increase until the bottle explodes.

Using drain cleaner to make bottle bombs can be very dangerous. The explosion can cause chemical burns and the loss of fingers. For this device in particular, please be mature. These bombs are often left in people’s yards and mailboxes, and can cause severe damage to people and property. Be extremely careful with explosives and never use them to harm anyone or anything.

Alternatively, try stretching a balloon over the mouth of the bottle. The balloon will fill with hydrogen gas, which is lighter than helium and extremely flammable. Try lighting the balloon with a match, even a small balloon will make a sizeable explosion. You’ll definitely want to wear thick gloves while lighting it.

Blasted Science’s hydrogen bomb in the making

Blasted Science can confirm that this works very well. Unfortunately, our video has become corrupted, and our only evidence is the single photograph above.

1. Lantern Battery

Using a power supply built from microwave oven transformers, the carbon rods in lantern batteries happen to work perfectly as electrodes in a miniature electric arc furnace hot enough to turn metal and rocks into molten goop.

The entire process is detailed by Grant Thompson in one of his most dangerous DIY projects to date. This project is a bit more complicated than the rest: you’ll need to use the transformers from a pair of microwaves to convert the electricity from your house into a current capable of forming an arc. But the effort is well worth it. With a couple of microwaves, pliers, carbon rods, and a block of firebrick, you can make a forge capable of melting just about everything imaginable.

However, all that power comes at the price of serious danger. This is easily the most dangerous item on this list. You’ll be dealing with electricity, extremely high temperatures, toxic fumes, and molten metal. Because of this, take appropriate safety measures. This project is not for the faint of heart.

Once again, Blasted Science has constructed their own version of this. However, it deserves more than just a mention in a list. Expect more information on our arc furnace in the future.

Just to prove we aren’t making this up

The post Top 5 More Household Items to Turn into Weapons appeared first on Blasted Science.

But not everyone can afford them. If you’ve been feeling particularly anarchist lately, this list of easy homemade weapons supports even the tightest budgets.

5. DVD Burner

These devices are built into just about every computer made within the last decade. Tearing one apart reveals a laser more than powerful enough to instantly blind anyone foolish enough to look into it. There are quite a few tutorials online detailing exactly how to extract the laser diode and build a laser pointer with only a few dollars’ worth of parts. A fog machine is optional, but

The laser’s power varies depending on the write speed of the burner. Output ranges from about 100 milliwatts (mW) to 400mW. At least 250mW is preferable for burning, meaning you’ll want a burner rated at least 16x.

It’s possible to see the beam in a dark room, but adding little fog turns it into a lightsaber.

Using a laser this powerful without any kind of eye protection is a seriously bad idea. If any amount of this futuristic weapon’s beam happens to hit your eye, you can expect permanent eye damage. Capable of burning a wide variety of materials, including flesh, you definitely won’t want your cat chasing this thing.

4. Styrofoam

Styrofoam is perfectly harmless by itself. However, dissolving it with gasoline yields a gooey, sticky substance remarkably similar to the napalm infamously used by the US military in the Vietnam War.

Napalm is an extremely long-burning substance that burns at up to 1,200° Celsius and adheres itself to skin. Many nations have signed an agreement to no longer use it in warfare, due to its horrific effects, such as causing death by burns and asphyxiation.

You’ll need quite a bit of styrofoam to make anything more than handful of napalm. It’s surprising how much Styrofoam can be dissolved in less than a cup of gasoline. Store your napalm in a mason jar to keep it from drying out. Or, if you’re feeling particularly adventurous (and have a lot of styrofoam), use something larger, like an empty paint can. Be careful when lighting any amount of napalm; once this stuff is lit, good luck trying to put it out.

The official Blasted Science can of napalm, which seems to be leaking gasoline.

3. Disposable Camera

It’s difficult to find disposable cameras these days, but it’s well worth the effort. Camera flashes use a circuit that increases the voltage of an ordinary AA battery from 1.5 volts to almost 400 volts, charging a capacitor to potentially deadly voltage levels. Definitely a weapon.

It’s possible to use more expensive cameras, too, but the circuitry is usually more complex. Disposable cameras use a simple circuit board that can easily be salvaged and repurposed. Extracting the circuit is incredibly simple and, with some minor changes, can be used as a taser. For the budget-conscious, many stores will happily give away used disposable cameras for free, and a single battery will last for a long, long time.

Try not to touch it. Brushing a hand against the business end stings like crazy. Touching it with both hands is a mistake you’ll never want to repeat. Licking it is highly recommended, just don’t expect to taste anything for a few weeks.

2. Super Soaker

Super Soakers are already entertaining, but it didn’t take long for people to figure out that they can shoot more than just water. Filling one with lighter fluid or alcohol is an easy way to make a cheap flamethrower. Simply attaching a candle in front of the nozzle and pumping it as normal can shoot flames at long-range. Not bad for less than thirty dollars.

Source

Using gasoline as a fuel is NOT recommended. Gasoline and plastic don’t like each other. The plastic used in Super Soakers isn’t particularly vulnerable to gasoline, but using a melted squirt gun would definitely cause problems. It’s be best to avoid gasoline altogether and use something like isopropyl alcohol instead.

This project is particularly dangerous. Depending on the design of the squirt gun, there is a chance that the flame will travel back into the tank and explode. As always, be extremely careful if you decide to build one for yourself.

1. Propane Torch

A self-igniting propane torch could already be considered a weapon, but to turn one into a sci-fi propane rifle, all you need is a few feet of plastic tubing and an empty soda bottle. Simply attach the propane torch to one end of the tubing, and the bottle to the other. Pressing the torch’s button will shoot a flame into the tube. When the flame reaches the bottle, a small explosion occurs.

Plenty of modifications are possible. For example, The Backyard Scientist added boric acid to color the flames green. And modifying it into a cannon capable of shooting golf balls 600 feet into the air.

Do-it-yourself weapons don’t get any easier. For just a few dollars you can own an incredibly powerful (and incredibly futuristic) propane-powered rifle straight out of Halo. Destruction has never been this easy.

The post Top 5 Household Items to Turn into Weapons appeared first on Blasted Science.