Sawdust Cannon.
2 years ago
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7. Sawdust Cannon.
2 years ago
My brother has been working on a way to make large explosions without the inherit danger of real explosives. Sawdust ignites well when mixed with the right ratio of air, so he devised this contraption. I hope to have an example of this at night- which is a truly spectacular effect! The intent of this is for special effects in a low-budget war film I'm scheming to start soon... err, someday.
Update: This video is featured in the MythBusters' "Viral Videos" episode, aired on Sept. 3, '08.
Panasonic HVX-200, 1080i, 60fps
Update: This video is featured in the MythBusters' "Viral Videos" episode, aired on Sept. 3, '08.
Panasonic HVX-200, 1080i, 60fps
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it was really great. and such a cool idea.
You might want to wait until that one is posted (if I'm still alive to post it).
thanks for the heads up.
I, too, am quite curious to discover what percentage of the explosion is related to the type of the dust, vs. the size of the dust. The size of the particulate, type of wood specie, and origin (sawing vs. sanding) all have a noticeably effects on the combustibility of the sawdust.
I think the next time we try this, it will be with pure oxygen (approx. 5 times more oxygen than regular air). I had meant to try it a while ago, but forgot about it until recently. It should produce a more complete burn, but would probably be quicker and hotter too (smaller fireball?)
Ideally, I'd like to become friends with a farmer who has enough land to perform some of these experiments. My brother's backyard is definitely not big enough (as his singed Oak trees can attest).
I don't know where you live, but if you know of someone who has a chunk of private, isolated land in the rural SE part of the Twin Cities (and would be interested)- let me know!
I also did have it downloadable at one time, but it kept reappearing on other video sites (unaccredited), so I thought I'd make my original a little more secure (not that it would stop anyone from ripping the .flv file).
Also, that's the meaning of a viral video. It's supposed to be reposted as many times as possible... the best viral videos have been reposted everywhere. Unless you really want the credit, just let it be.
No, I'm not credit-obsessive. If I was, I could have simply added a large title, prominently displaying my name (you know?). I think you're under the impression that I'm trying to make this a viral video. I'm not. It's just that I specifically don't want the video used to promote individuals or video sites that I might take issue with. The last thing I want is my nephews or nieces stumbling across an adult site, simply because they were trying to find this video.
Again, it's not that big of a deal to me, and I'm not some obsessive control freak. It's just that, clearly, there are more reasons to my rationale than you have considered.
A great video!
A couple of things to consider if you do want to tweak the next one.
You do not really want to use oxygen! This will lead to faster burn (explosion) and you will get more of a concussion and flash at ground level. The reason your explosion got such a good rolling upward effect is because it was a fairly slow burn.
On the flour question. Flour can be really really dangerous. It has a much smaller grain and results in a lot more surface area to flash burn. If you want to see how much energy a flour explosion gives off you can do this little experiment. Get about 30 feet of rubber surgical tubing. Hook one end up to an old fashion tire pump or compressed air. ON the end anchor the tube to the ground without compressing the tube. Place 2 tablespoons of flour directly in front of the tube. Place a lit table candle next to the flour. Cover the whole thing with a large 3 lb can or some such item. Give the tire pump a really good push. The flour will become airborne under the can...the candle will ignite the flour...the can will go about 30 feet in the air. You can imagine what 200 lbs of flour would do. When I was in college they would do a similar set up to show the dangers for dust explosions. Except we used an old rock quarry and 50 pound bag of flour. We would get a couple hundred cubic feet of flour dust. The resulting explosion was akin to a couple sticks of TNT.
As always have fun but be safe. Oh if you get too good at this stuff the ATF will show up at your door.
my friend who works in the army said flour bombs are nasty.