Fun

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1,000 Sparklers — at once!

Sparklers are fun, right?

Well, if you multiply that fun times 1,000 in a pile, then it gets really fun, and hot, and somewhat dangerous.  From my observations, sparkelrs burn much faster when grouped together.  If a normal sparker takes 60 seconds to burn, 1,000 of them might take 6 seconds to mostly burn.  This means there is TEN THOUSAND times more light and heat being released.

Wow!

(Quick way to burn $40.00, proverbally speaking)

Also, if you are not well versed in, and professional about, safety considerations of very hot metal and bright light, then it is my advice that you do not even consider this.

Here is a washed out picture of the glowing metal after it is done.

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New Toys: EzMobile

I have a theory that it’s the adults that think the fancy plastic toys are somehow cooler than their simple counterparts.  Kids on the other hand are using their imagination (at least should be), and don’t really care how pixel-perfect it is.

My theory was verified when 5 minutes after taking this photo, Ezra flew a $15 toy helicopter past me with this little EzMobile guy hanging out the door  :)

 

 

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Making a “working” toy shotgun

Some time ago, Eli asked me to build a toy shotgun.  We wanted something that would give a real “bang”, but be simple and safe.

Provided that a large mass of metal was collided into another at sufficient speed, the user would experience both a “bang” and a “kick” (although inverse).

We milled, drilled, and fit a bolt into a square aluminum tube.  A spring connected the front of the bolt to the front of the tube.  When the bolt was retracted and released, it would collide into the square tube with the desired effect.


The end result is here:

And, enjoy the pictures.