How To Make a DIY Tornado Machine [Full Tutorial] - NightHawkInLight

How to make a tornado machine with an open air vortex! You've probably got just enough time to build this before Halloween. Most other designs that use only a single fan require the tornado to be fully enclosed, which means you can't actually reach in and touch it. With this design you can play with the vortex hands on. Consider supporting my channel on Patreon! Link: / nighthawkprojects
The fan I used for this project can be found with a search for '6 Inch Inline Duct Fan'. That will probably be the most expensive part at around $60-80. I run the fan on it's lowest setting so you may be able to get away with using a 4 inch fan which would be less expensive, but it may be louder as it would run at higher speeds for the same airflow.
The ultrasonic foggers are the other unusual part used in this project, and you can find those here (this is an affiliate link): ebay.to/2aQK5Sk
The music used in this video is the song 'Natural' by Dolphin-Mind
Thanks for watching!

[@taofledermaus]

That's really impressive. No glass panels on the sides needed!

[@mrtballlv]

Hi

[@Blank0976]

TAOFLEDERMAUS I

[@manla8397]

The last bit using laser to show the cross section was amazing.

[@Drock42992]

This is a really awesome project. I love that it also doubles as a visually fun, cool mist humidifier. I’m definitely saving this one to build when my kids are old enough to appreciate this type of project.

[@KenTanis]

I've used a number of your builds to produce practical effects for film and video productions. Just wanted to say thanks - your work never fails to inspire.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Like what? I'd be really interested to see some of your work with that stuff!

[@KenTanis]

The biggest one is getting scored right now - I'll send it your way once they release it. Have you ever thought of doing a meetup? I'm fairly confident we live near each other, and I can think of a couple of guys who would love to spend a weekend learning and building something cool.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Cool, I'll look forward to it. I haven't thought about doing a fan meetup, mostly because I don't particularly like the idea of my address being public knowledge.

[@jw870206]

I like how you lit a slice of the vortex, and that simulates a satellite view of a hurricane.

[@milespeterson5049]

Exactly!

[@waynestewart1919]

I've seen a similar machine. But this one is a more polished and a better tutorial. Thanks.

[@gabewrsewell]

excellent video, and great project! always loved tornado machines. I really like it using those ultrasonic foggers, because using a regular fog machine with those presents so many problems which are pretty much all fixed by using water vapour instead.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I agree, I really like the ultrasonic foggers. I was pretty excited when I discovered they existed. Lots of uses for them.

[@donnielee8556]

You rock dude. I have wanted one of these things since I was a kid in the 90s. Yours is the best one ive sewn that isnt in a Mueseum or something. Yours will be the one I finally use. I just never had a nice dad to help teach me things like this. But you describe things perfectly and I think with your video I will finally have my tornado one day. Thank you. Great video and great presentation

[@DaniAzakura]

Cool project! Hopefully one day I'll get space, time and money to do projects like this one. I've always been willing to do some of your creations but I just can't do them right now. But once I've done something, I'll share it with you!

[@MrElectricOps]

I am going to ask my engineering teacher if he would be interested in building this with me. Great video always love to watch them!

[@conflictpog8814]

make sure you dont stay there overnight unless your parents know him personally

[@rubina9042]

Omg I got saved! I need this to make a project for my science fair! I was really wanting to make something that had to do with weather and I was able to find this vid!

[@electronicsNmore]

A lot of work went into that, but the end result was fantastic. :-)

[@freegameLP]

I really don't get why you have so few patrons… Unfortunately, I'm still in school and don't really have any money for things like this right now, but I've shared your videos with a few friends and they all really enjoy them. Thank you for providing such high quality and super interesting videos! Apart from that, you seem like a really nice guy ;)

[@ellal.8116]

He appeals to students, scientists, teachers, and young (middle school to early college) engineers - all people who traditionally make very little to no money. Edit: It appears Patreon takes a 10% cut. Well, that sucks for both him and the supporters.

[@adamjnotthecongressmanschi7026]

freegameLP k

[@martinblouin3639]

holy crap! you only have 38 patreons!? wtf

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Wish I knew what I was doing wrong there myself.

[@InstantGamingPro]

Start to annonce it every time in the beginning of the video?

[@sumgt513]

I wish i could help but i cant even pay my rent at the moment. I agree you should put something up after the intro, just a quick mention about your patreon than a longer explanation at the end.

[@lokkas3637]

i will become one

[@electronicsNmore]

I have the same problem. LOL I've helped countless people over the years with all my DIY repair videos(saved them lots of money), electronics videos, and much more. Hard to figure.

[@SquareSquidStudios]

I've been waiting for this

[@lylabee4838]

This was AMAAAAAZING! I’m going to do this for my five-year-old, who is hyper fixated on tornadoes and absolutely loves the tornado machine at the museum in our city, but it would be so incredible to have one at home!!

[@shinobipanda2331]

Thanks! this video is what inspired me to build a tornado machine in the first place. except my tornado machine is well... made from a cardboard box and is really cheap, but the results are worth it. Thanks for the idea! 👍😁

[@anthonyadame1197]

this was worth the wait

[@uhitsethan]

It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday! Great job with the mandolin. You're a genius!

[@robprebil]

Alrighty then.. I'm gathering all the supplies tomorrow to build one. Thanks and good Job!

[@tracybowling1156]

I thought I'd seen all of your videos. That's OK. I just watched it. I can tell you used your knowledge to make it the best tornado ever!

[@inventimark]

You could make this even more awesome by adding a water tornado underneath. Just get a fountain pump, a couple of buckets and a clear pvc cylinder. I Don't know how well the vaporizers would work with it, but it might, and be awesome. Great project though, the laser really brings out the awesomeness of it.

[@hanif72muhammad]

good guy NightHawkInLight video is more than 10 mins only one ads

[@yeetthemeat9089]

I could watch this channel for hours

[@mpk6664]

Nighthawk always comes to the rescue. I've been thinking of making one of these, and now I have an idea for a design of a smaller one of these.

[@gepflegtePCSpieleKultur]

Hi, Coming from Bones S7: EP5 "The Twist in the Twister" i was looking for a DIY Project and voilà' found yours. Thank you, it was very Helpful.

[@runningfromreallife]

That’s my favorite episode of the show

[@ralphinkley81]

When I've cut PVC sheeting with a jig saw I found if I use the most aggressive blade I can find and adjust the speed (assuming you have variable speed saw) to the fastest speed that it won't melt the trailing edge . A band saw works very well for outside cuts too.

[@emilcarr7190]

This is pretty cool, if I had more money I would try it.

[@runnerdiver]

This Tutorial was a lot of help for my 6th grade science fare. I like what materials you used bot instead of PVC board we used wood. Thanks for explaining everything it helped a lot.

[@sully7898]

Great vid, see you guys next year

[@jimmysjamin1]

Very nicely done beautiful and a very defined core ❤

[@liondirk]

I am in the process of moving from San Jose Ca to Mesa Az and looking at buying several humidifiers this seems like a much cooler alternative thank you for the inspiration and keep up the great work!

[@locouk]

I guess this would scale down really well using a high volume 12 volt PC fan and small buckets? Great project, thanks for sharing.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

You would think so but I'm not sure. The cool thing about these inline duct fans is that they use an impeller which outputs air at a much higher pressure than normal fan blades. I don't know if a PC fan would be able to force air down into the legs.

[@michelleross9782]

Really great design

[@Cludo_]

Awesome video. I'd love to make a smaller scale version of this, maybe with a PC fan like somebody else suggested.

[@ninocriscuolo3448]

THANK YOU I made this my 8th grade meteorology project and I got an A thank you soooo much

[@crimsoncutterx4168]

damn lucky, and u get a cool decoration

[@Memes-XD]

very very cool! i work as a cooling machine repair, install, etc. guy and if i get my hands on that kind of fan, i will build this

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Let me know if you do!

[@Memes-XD]

i will :)

[@littleship2473]

it helped me understand how they work

[@Netro-ui3fs]

That can be cool for architecture for in homes

[@happyfaic72]

That's an interesting design. As far as I'm aware, the tornado machines in science museums only use one fan. My design has two fans, one in the top and one in the side. In my machine the bottom box is pressurized by a high air flow computer fan which then leads the air pressure through four pipes. The cords for the top box assembly run through one of the pipes, giving the machine a "wireless" look. Obviously your design is way less expensive, but you could definitely run the fan for cheaper. I'm getting away with a ten inch box fan that's being run through a dimmer, though I don't have to worry about the pipes being pressurized by that box fan. Overall you've made a very nice and simple design, and it looks professional.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Yeah I should have specified. It's easy to make a tornado machine with only one fan if it's the kind where you fully box it in with glass walls and slits in the side let air in at an angle. That's the kind that I've seen most often in museums. I haven't seen any others that only use one fan and let you reach in and touch the tornado though. Usually this sort of design has at least two fans as yours does, or even one for each leg. Not that there's anything wrong with that at all, I just wanted to try something unique.

[@geodeaholicm4889]

with a few relatively minor changes/additions you could adapt that into a wicked & entertaining air conditioner for some parts a the country.

[@ehsanvizviz3753]

its cool bro , i make a mini tornado machine but your jab is def rent for me , so good jab bro , you have a nice mind , tanks for your video & thats very nice yea

[@zupanthecampingdude]

Very Cool. and thanks for listing the links to the materials.

[@edensedge9156]

he did for me on the last vid he did relieving this build. i hope he also adds a strobe light to it.

[@maurice_mores]

this man is a genius!

[@jimhouse9961]

Wow just subbed. You should be the most popular channel on youTube

[@jamalmulla1071]

You should promote your Patreon more. You deserve a lot more

[@milespeterson5049]

Dude I'm building this! Thank you so much!

[@Pengquy]

Well, how did it go?

[@milespeterson5049]

@@Pengquy I went great! But my verson had a plastic tube, I cut slides at each end and had a fan at the top for an updraft. and at the bottom there was ultrasonic mist makers. When I first tryed it I COULDEN'T BELEVE MY EYES! this is a great video please do this!!

[@Pengquy]

@@milespeterson5049 wow! I got 4 small humidifiers for like atleast 6 or 7 dollars but I couldn’t find an up lift fan.

[@michaelyoder1564]

I use to watch your videos a ton a couple of years ago, never knew what you looked like and I gotta say, you look like a CEO of a company.

[@isak_elof6987]

This was a really cool build! i really love the effect of the laser!

[@ARCSTREAMS]

very cool for parties and the way the laser dissects a section showing all the spinning details like you see on the weather channels lol,,if you can get the lighting and the tornado to respond match to sound by music would be awesome

[@WitchidWitchid]

I've been considering building a tornado machine for a while. Many of the designs I have seen use dry ice or liquid nitrogen or CO2 to produce the cloud. That was a turn off for me because it requires I keep a source of dry ice or liquid nitrogen on hand in order to run it. As alternatives I considered using propylene glycol (a fog machine) to generate the cloud. One day I was experimenting with an ultrasonic transducer from a water fountain and it seemed like it might be a good way to go as there is always a supply of water and, its non toxic and can also act as a humidifier. Seeing your video confirms that the ultrasonic transdueer idea works. I am going to experiment with different designs, small & large and see if I can duplicate similar results.

[@andriesjackson]

Add sellotape on both sides of pvc before you cut it - it wont melt and stick together. The sellotape has release coat that acts as lubricant.

[@ilblissli]

great job and very well edited and narrated. i enjoyed watching :)

[@jellysam]

If i wasn't such a klutz with tools and had the funds to do so i would certainly try something like this i could certainly think of good creative photos to use with this

[@luoarnamsk]

cody was right. your awesome!

[@joetri1970]

great video !

[@MyStonerMind420]

Nice job man

[@apismellifera1000]

Very nice! I built a 6 footer using a design from the Tornado Project Online.

[@geodeaholicm4889]

cool project, well built & explained.

[@theinvisibleman7289]

I am planning on making one of those very cool

[@arrowstheorem1881]

Expert skills!

[@Jacoit2332]

Thanks it's awesome very good idea

[@gregwilkins7649]

Awesome project. It would be really cool to shoot smoke rings at and near the tornado with your vortex cannon to see the interaction between the two. Watching the tornado destabilize and restabilize plus watching the smoke rings get drawn into the tornado may be quite interesting.

[@ravilpatel8629]

excellent work dude.

[@randomnameifyful]

That is badass! you inspire me sir.

[@sufysprojects2689]

try to let us hear the noise it does

[@Nighthawkinlight]

It just sounds like a fan, not a very interesting sound.

[@JustinKoenigSilica]

can you measure the loudness in dB?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I'm not sure how to do that with the equipment I've got. It's about as loud as the medium setting on a 20" box fan.

[@JustinKoenigSilica]

NightHawkInLight yeah sorry i think you'd need a *edit* SPL meter for that, they go for about $50-1000... so really, depends on what you want to spend on that. it's not generally THAT useful, so i wouldn't spend it.

[@robmobz]

I would use a cheap meter like this: www.amazon.com/Leaton®-Professional-DL1351-30-130dB-Included）/dp/B01CCD6CNG

[@gulktroktet]

I'd love a part list in the description. It's nice to not have to go back through the video to find the spot where you say, for example, the diameter of the PVC.

[@TrollFaceTheMan]

Another cool vid, nice work!

[@trippmays]

That was really cool

[@maxwell.the.bubbleologist]

beautiful bro

[@nanonatronaviation6007]

just as a tip for future projekt. at 3:19 you were spacing some pvc adaptors. If you yuse 6 adaptors you can use a compasses to trace the points

[@omermagen824]

Can you make a smaller version of this? maybe with a computer fan.

[@prookarus]

Would be awesome

[@jollyfellow1118]

Working on it with an 80mm fan! Might be done today if all goes to plan!

[@omermagen824]

I haven't made one. I have no space to put it at. That is why I want to make a smaller one that I could maybe put on a shelf :)

[@bunnidotcom]

I just love this!! It would really push my building abilities but I'm going to be looking for someone to help me and who knows, I may just attempt it myself. . Thank you so much!!

[@kitchenmaiden81]

Wonderful project on a budget. It looks great and very professional as well. Also, at the end I noticed you have very interesting two tone eyes. Anyways, love your projects. Keep on making these wonderful things.

[@Basil4K]

I think if you encased it in glasses and keep the background you could have it have no cross wind and you make it have a nicer look of course have a door or something

[@beastquake87pro36]

love your experiments bro and also you sort of look like Will Wheaton

[@CatCubed]

We get it, you vape

[@conflictpog8814]

BABABHAGHAJIS HAHAHAH

[@MrMisterChiliPepper88]

🤷🏼‍♂️ has nothing to do with vaping

[@tj_mcdonald21]

@@MrMisterChiliPepper88and every thing to do with a joke😂

[@constell1]

​@@MrMisterChiliPepper88It's a joke

[@Brandonscode]

I love this and I'll be building one with a hope of a 6 foot tall spiral! I have larger shop fan for fume extraction.

[@bubblet321]

Amazing work! Thanks for linking the ultrasonic foggers!

[@CriticalEatsJapan]

Very cool

[@Pattamatt1998]

I've gotta make one of these! Thank you for sharing, and excellent job! Cheers :)

[@batofmanfan124]

its so sick

[@jadedlion1001]

coolest humidifier ever

[@RobanyBigjobz]

I want one! I want a desktop sized one even more. Patreon'd :D

[@harrisongeorge2632]

It's ok night Those 11 people have a different Form of dyslexia and meant to press like but they saw the dislike as like 👍🏻

[@Thrillowatt]

I've been with you since 100k and it so cool to see how much this has grown

[@abelferquiza1627]

Nice machine!

[@ThePTOV]

I've been wanting to build one of these for so long. Thanks

[@__-cd9ug]

You could put transparent panels on the sides to allow visibility all around while keeping the vortex stable

[@jamcastillo01]

but the black background has better contrast

[@Thrillowatt]

yes it does but he means 3 black 2 clear so front is clear back is black

[@__-cd9ug]

montgomery mchargue Or one way mirrors ? :D

[@jjbarajas5341]

I really want to build one of these at some point.

[@derpuki5367]

This is awesome

[@fezii9043]

Thank YOU

[@tracemaddox6669]

I like that this showed up in my recommendations when I'm hearing so much about how Irma is possibly going to kill me

[@StevenMartinGuitar]

Great video! Enjoyed the more in depth and lengthy video

[@irondsd]

Great design. But I think it would be nice to make a closed box with plexiglass.

[@digital_Inside]

ThankYou.

[@NitroGuyJH]

Thank you for such awesome projects my friend. You are a well full of knowledge just waiting to be poured over the world 🙏🏻

[@finndriver1063]

at school we have the same problem with acrylic on a scroll saw where the plastic reattaches itself from friction. we use sellotape over the cutting path that stops it for some reason. maybe duct tape would work with PVC. just an idea

[@kodelraspberry6421]

Wonderful