Molten Ferrocerium Launcher

[@DJTrainR3k]

Looks like it would be a great special effect to simulate a large electrical short!

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

Your not far off to be honest.

[@davemarm]

Electroboom, are you seeing this?

[@shotguncleric]

"Many of you know the trick..." Welp my wife's gonna be mad we're about to be out of lighters lol

[@richbuilds_com]

Just buy a pack of flints of amazon/ebay - they are pennies each :)

[@ianbuilder]

@@richbuilds_com yup i did that

[@dsdy1205]

It also leaves a nasty residue on the floor, ye've been warned

[@integza]

That's perfectly splendid! Awesome project.

[@HvV8446]

Integza does it work with tomatoes too?

[@integza]

@@HvV8446 I sure hope it does!

[@HvV8446]

@@integza can you try it out? Tomatoes aren't useful for anything else so why not

[@Yrouel86]

Have you been watching The Haunting of Bly Manor by any chance?

[@integza]

@@Yrouel86 A man of culture I see !

[@kdawg3484]

Sparks at dusk. Just like many of your old videos. The peaceful beauty of videos like this is one of the reasons I fell in love with this channel.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

That's what my wife said, that this was like my old videos.

[@KubinWielki]

> This video released 2h ago at the moment of writing. > Ian Builder has reportedly had a bit under 1k subscribers. > He has 2k at the moment of writing. Doubled in 2h, and will very likely rise. That's what I like to see from big youtube channels - proper credit and shoutout where they are due.

[@ianbuilder]

this man has the statistics👌

[@intothecalm420]

4.5k when I subbed.

[@PWN_Nation]

7,370 on 12/29/21

[@caterpillar6298]

Now 8k

[@willeveryday]

I wonder how many subs Matthew Wilton got for the ruby video?

[@razorbackblood06]

That looks alot like that dragons breath incendiary shotgun shells.

[@ianbuilder]

i was thinking the same thing after i saw the footage

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

The dragon's breath is magnesium. So it is pretty similar result just different material

[@ianbuilder]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 i made magnesium powder and put it in the same cannon and well... it blinded me even through a welding helmet

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

@@ianbuilder yes magnesium burns very white and very hot. Your welding helmet should be dark enough to handle it though. If it's an automatic one sometimes certain conditions like daylight can trick some helmets into not going dark. Or sometimes super bright but quick flashes will cause it not to darken. If you are using a permanently dark helmet you should probably be using a 9 filter at least.

[@CarpeNoctem135]

@@ianbuilder any lasting damage or just seeing spots for like an hour?

[@christhebirb]

Kids, remember to put on your Starlite suit before trying this at home.

[@troyw5832]

Fire safety for black boxes there that starlight...? Could have stoped 911 too.

[@TrinitronX]

Or at least some eye protection 💥👀💥 😁

[@EzequielBaltazar]

Kmon! It's starlite, its easier to just wear a giant taco and pretend to be clam.

[@lotsagrapes]

And oobleck hats

[@kingmasterlord]

@@lotsagrapes they got oobleck skiing beanies

[@Hababa2]

Making this for my gender reveal party in a dry field, wish me luck!

[@ianbuilder]

lmao

[@TaroutCommodore]

Better do it in the woods.. California or Australia sound perfect 😂

[@cseblivestreaming]

Oh i was just thinking to give these to the cops instead of lessthanlethal 40mm and shotguns

[@gaminggonewrong1624]

May the force be with you 🌚

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

Be sure to also keep your gasoline near by

[@AgentWest]

My first thought would have been to swage out the tube to match the rods so the sanding/machining is only done once. Make a pointy steel rod of proper size, oil it up, and press into the end of the tube. Also this cannon combined with the propane pop gun from a while back (one with clear spiral tube that fire travels through) ought to make for an interesting reusable firework of sorts!

[@JyrzStreams]

As a Californian, this makes me very anxious to watch.

[@ianbuilder]

oh boy.....

[@Ecrfour]

@Jacob Howell your*

[@TECHnoman753]

XD

[@DirtyRobot]

Perhaps you need to reduce the amount of SOY in your diet and then learn how to manage the forests your state gave to the snails to caretake. Snails can't manage forests. Vote your idiots out.

[@TrinitronX]

@Jacob Howell Yes, because doing that for 19 million acres is feasible. 🙄 😆

[@estbeta]

The pyromaniac that lives deep inside me loves this, a bar trick on the next level!

[@miraclo3]

I’ve been wanting to build one of these since I was like 10 years old. I’ve also been watching since your original pyrotechnic days. Keep up the great work man.

[@dawsoncombs812]

I made this for my friends birthday, used it to ignite a bonfire that was absolutely huge and the presentation impressed everyone. Thank you so much for the idea.

[@GuillotinedChemistry]

Ha ha! I was researching strikers and lo and behold it led me to a NightHawkinLight video! Don't know how I missed this one... this is a real treat. Hat off to Ian for the idea and Ben for the upgraded realization. Thanks for the fantastic distraction!

[@GrowingAnswers]

I can imagine someone walking up with that asking if you need help starting a campfire.

[@among-us-99999]

As soon as I saw "ferrocerium" and "launcher" in the title I knew that this was going to be cool

[@sealy3]

AT: (3:20) You said - "I did find that if I wet the sandpaper it would not spark as much but what fun would that be?" - So you are a video drama Queen!

[@izzieb]

Castro explains how he intends to deter CIA-backed exiles at the Bay of Pigs (April 1961, colourised)

[@fizzyplazmuh9024]

You seem so pleasant and mild and yet you consistently amaze and do the most intriguing things. You come across like a shade tree mechanic but have a brilliant and driven mind. Total admiration.

[@MaestaWitta]

Yo wear some safety sheilds bro that stuff is wicked, I threw a piece on the ground when i was about 15 and it went between my toes leaving 3rd degree burns.

[@Mitchell_is_smart._You2bs_dumb]

I'm gonna call shenanigans on that

[@ambrosekillpack4841]

YES, FINALLY, someone who knows the difference between flint and ferrocerium. Flint is a type of quartz by the way, and both flint and quartz are allotropes of silicon. While ferrocerium is an alloy of magnesium, iron, neodymium, lanthanum, cerium, and praseodymium. I'm just thrilled to see someone else who knows and acknowledges the difference between these two materials beside me.

[@em9565]

That intro was absolutely perfect : )

[@Ledcke]

Ten Minute Bible Hour shout out! Your hat immediately caught my eye. Thanks for being a great channel and supporting other great creators. 👍

[@SushiKing123NorskGaming]

Another awsome video, Ben! I've been watching your videos for years, and I just want thank you for making them. Always fun to watch and learn.

[@schelsullivan]

Brilliant. I'm sure ian's channel is about to blow up. Subbed and belled.

[@ChromaMatrix]

Easily one of my favorite things that you've done on this channel. Absolutely beautiful, just stunning!

[@NickFrom1228]

Since you have a decent capacitor bank, it would be cool to see you demonstrate the principle behind a rail gun.

[@PleakeCrions]

Any time I find a lighter on the ground when I’m picking up trash I always grab them and do that trick of making those big sparks

[@blitzkreg335]

Sparks are always so mesmerising to look at. They're always so pretty.

[@grimsladeleviathan3958]

Imagine a kinda monster survival FPS game, and this is one of the weapons you can use to deter a big monster from coming for you

[@-hastatus-]

Although my English is not as good as I would like it to be, I understand everything you say as if you were a teacher. You speak slowly and clearly. 😀👍 You are one of the first youtubers I follow.

[@brunokerbaul3826]

The best item for a pin-up job coming out of a big cake :-) Happy birthday mister inventor Pou Pou... Pidou Ouaw!

[@lav6978]

crazy how high quality this video is and its just now that the KZbin Algo is recommending it to me, even though I used to watch his videos back then

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

Really should be using safety goggles when doing this. And make sure the grass is wet . . . .

[@ianbuilder]

if its green grass its safe

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

@@ianbuilder That might be generally correct, but I wouldn't want to take that chance when large quantities of burning molten metal are the ignition source.

[@ramennight]

The grass seemed fine. Im not just some rando city boy as well. I live in Montana, we get smoked out in our valley nearly every year from fires and often have one in the valley itself. People are just overly paranoid about fires this year do to the west coast being so on fire, its burning areas people care about. They dont care about "back hills Montana".

[@ianbuilder]

@@ramennight yea fire isnt that dangerous it becomes dangerous when you are scared of it

[@thetruthexperiment]

I knew I’d find safety glasses guy! Boo.

[@DragonBuilds]

This is a really cool build. Shooting sparks does look awesome. However, PVC pipe is not made for compressed air and can explode. A steel tank is much safer.

[@sebbes333]

*@NightHawkInLight* 1:49 Thank you! I probably would never have found & subscribed to Ian's channel without you. :D

[@bugjuicechugga]

it literally feels like you never have a even close to un-interesting video. all your stuff is great man

[@kellyf3160]

Gotta get the Slow Mo Guys to make an upscaled version of this. Awesome!

[@ianbuilder]

yoo great idea

[@DM9_eyo]

Literally looks like a gun you would fine in Fallout 4. Awesome!

[@trevader2562]

Absolutely awesome project, and beautiful camera shots there! One note, perhaps it's not the greatest idea to be firing this over all those pine needles, I know first hand how much those like to catch fire XD keep it up!

[@thedailydaily]

I think this was really cool. The only way I would alter it is to shoot the rod whole and have it explode on impact.

[@qingdom]

Does anyone know the music artist and song title in this one? Thank you.

[@2.7petabytes]

You never cease to amaze me with the quality of your videos and the inventiveness you possess! Much enjoyed!!

[@gordonfischer8484]

Very interesting video. Ferro cerium is such a cool material, recently I made ferrocerium tipped arrows, a bit of setup work but when they impact a target they make a huge explosion of sparks.

[@reothomas7624]

Came from daily dose of Internet love the content I've subbed

[@AussieRossco]

I USED to do the lighter spring trick and flick it for a similar small scale effect. It got stuck down the side of my fingernail, took the fun right outa it! Respect this stuff, it is rather bitey when burning.

[@NSEasternShoreChemist]

Fire? Flamethrowers? Burning metal? Oh HELL YES! Liked before even watching.

[@TheDeinonychus]

Honestly, I would have drilled out the pipe rather than sanding down the rods. Not only would that let you use the rods with little to no modification, but the reduction in inner barrel diameter would have acted as a stop to hold the rods in place for the torch to heat them up. Also, I'm curious what would happen if you fired just the steel wool. Does the torch get the barrel hot enough to ignite the steel wool as well?

[@DirtyRobot]

You should have watched Grants videos on this but he done ded himself.

[@intothecalm420]

I'm guessing the steel wool ignited long before being fired. Great idea though. It may be just as spectacular.

[@lewismassie]

Man, Ben always manages to find the most interesting things to make videos about

[@ComradePhoenix]

[*The Modern Rogue would like to know your location*]

[@AlChemicalLife]

Honestly would like to see this done with some fine Ti. The spark should be cooler and safer than FeCe. Another idea i got from this video was to make a Homemade Cold Spark machine. not 100% sure how it would be done but it would be cool ! That and a Flame projector would be also pretty sweet !

[@jogandsp]

Great video as always! Good on you for helping support smaller channels and young innovators! Also... I love the ring, man.

[@Cryptonat]

You should consider creating a fully electric version... Probably will be slower, but imagine you have electric heating coils and a handheld compressor.

[@austin5060]

Don’t need coils if you dump high voltage on it

[@intothecalm420]

Induction heating would be awesome!

[@twocvbloke]

Ah, Ferrocerium, the stuff they built into the bulkheads of the USS Voyager... :P

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

The best material known to man to go into space with.

[@marks47]

Not the walls, the display and control panels.

[@TrinitronX]

Duranium and Tritanium sound a lot like Ferrocerium, but turns out they are more like Unobtainium! 😆😂🤣

[@grexursorum6006]

❤️ very nice video. I guess the sparks are a bit to bright for a nice closeup on the nozzle but I bet it would look amazing. Wonder about the campfire lighting capabilities of the device. And yes (to everyone how want to outsmart me) I know that the torch it self would be better way off doing so. Thanks again!

[@Doctor-Robo]

You are my idol! I also like to shoot videos about my homemade products. Thank you very much! Cool video! 👍👍👍

[@exoticwaves1580]

Instead of having the tube the same width the whole length could be improved by widening the tube the size for the ferrocerium rod down to the torch

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Yep, I had that same idea. Shaving the rods down saved me a trip to the hardware store though.

[@NeedaNewAlias]

@@Nighthawkinlight and made a better video opportunity than you standing in front of a cashier!

[@clayq220]

I love Ian builder. Yes spread the love!

[@danhyatt2206]

Here's another idea, and a question... First, when heating a piece of ferrocerium, as soon as it starts glowing you can take away the heat source and it will continue to get brighter and brighter ( the question is HOW/WHY??? ) and as it gets brighter it becomes more unstable and the slightest disturbance will set it off. When trying to launch a piece with a slingshot the rapid acceleration and/or the air friction sets it off. The idea is to heat it just to the point where it will continue getting brighter without the heat source and launch it while it's still stable enough to do so without immediately exploding so that as it's flying through the air it eventually gets to the point where the air friction sets it off at some point in its trajectory. Does that make sense? The idea is that you would not see anything leaving the launcher but at some altitude/distance away, it would explode into a shower of sparks.....

[@whynotdean8966]

What did you do to piss off the algorithm? This kind of video is EXACTLY what should get 1m+ views.

[@tangopapajuliet9469]

Lots of potential with this effect for photography. Like spinning burning steel wool with wire making a huge circle of sparks.

[@1rez378]

3:33 when you appy some Gold Pine Resin

[@matto-san7631]

Can you make one that explodes on impact instead like the lighter flint does?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Maybe so

[@alexjavanainen4259]

Hey nighthawk, coming from someone experienced in modified bullets...ferrocerium can be fully ignited without preheating...provided the velocity is high enough upon impact. Use to put lighter flints in .22 hollow point pellet rifle pellets and shoot those around as a neat party trick

[@alexjavanainen4259]

Since you actually saw this (and I’m extremely excited/humbled) I thought that I should add that the high velocity method of ignition works in much larger scale as well. I’ve gone as far as machining whole “tips” from a store bought ferro-rod and attaching that to .50caliber muzzleloader hollow points (with extra deep/wide hole drilled to allow for more ferrocerium insertion/increased stability). Friction fit and Super glue was enough to hold it in place. When I shot those things....good lord my man....it’s on another level entirely O_o I have photos and video if you are personally interested

[@alexjavanainen4259]

When shot against a hard target, the modified ferrocerium.50cal (out of a muzzle loader) made about a 10-15ft ring of brilliant white hot sparks, with some pieces going well to above 10x that. Truly visually spectacular but terrifying as well. It was a real pain to machine as well since ferrocerium behaves more like a ceramic than a metal, and small chunks of that “ceramic” are pyrophoric. I also only had a hand drill to use as a “lathe” for final shaping (using files and sandpaper) after being affixed to the bullet. (I would put the whole bullet in the chucks of the hand drill and spin it while using sandpaper to shape the ferrocerium tip and make sure the tip was “true” to center of rotational axis)

[@Tahmanakki]

@@alexjavanainen4259 onko laillista? :D

[@alexjavanainen4259]

@RoskapostU amerikassa se on hyvä

[@kabretenidderuon5712]

That's really awesome ! I hope you could redo this experience with "The Slow Motion Guys".

[@captainkenno]

Awesome little project, thanks for sharing! 👍

[@BlPlN]

I wonder how this would perform with a sabot around the ferro rod? It might make the steel wool packing redundant, as well as allow the effect to occur further from the barrel? What about an ablative coating on the barrel to act as a sabot? Could provide some distinct advantages if the coating can be removed with friction from the air, but not from heat.

[@USWaterRockets]

You should try this with just the steel wool. It makes showers of sparks by itself. In fact, if you take a wad of plain steel wool and hold one end of it and heat the other end if it with a lighter until it glows brightly, you can then spin your arm like a windmill very fast and you will get a GIANT pinwheel effect of sparks for as long as you spin your arm or don't run out of steel wool. Just do it outside in a safe area. It's spectacular.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I've done a couple videos on that. Lots of fun!

[@Flederratte]

3:35 looks really cool!

[@ianbuilder]

oh nostalgia

[@trevor5531]

I’m curious of the longevity of the fibers in direct sunlight since PLA is sensitive to UV. I’m thankful how much effort you put into these videos and all the information you give us!

[@buckaroundandfindout]

Just so many great projects.

[@jackquinn4994]

That is so cool! You should totally do a hacksmith style test video to accompany the build.

[@elijahcoatney2268]

Perfect project for the modern rogue

[@Alan_Hans__]

I wonder if you could cold form some of that stuff into a projectile to form an incendiary round.

[@spacejihadist4246]

I wanna see a red hot blob shoot out and explode on impact.

[@basicguy99]

Nice TMBH hat, great show.

[@davidboston7943]

Really awesome video, quite the pyrotechnic display! I do have to second some of the safety notes other people have had. Considering this was released just after a horrendous wildfire season (with many fires started by people being careless), please, please people: be careful when you use things that shoot off sparks! The other thing I'd note is that it's probably a good idea to have a pressure safety valve on the air tank. The gauge is great and all, but you really don't want to have a pvc pressure vessel become over-pressurized and explode on you.

[@kentborges5114]

REALLY DIG THIS PROJECT ! MAY BUILD ONE FOR NEW YEARS 2022

[@VoidHalo]

around the 3:00 mark where you're machining the flint rods. You mentioned that they kept overheating and things got melty. How come you didn't use some sort of water cooling to prevent this? Or perhaps oil cooling if water is too reactive. I'm sure you had a good reason for not using any active cooling. But I'm just curious as to what the reason is.

[@forestlampcraft472]

Cool

[@A3Kr0n]

I liked watching you grind and saw your rods with all the sparks, but why didn't you just get the right size tube for the barrel? I've never worked with those rods, but I was wondering if you could notch them with a file and snap them with a flat chisel?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I did get the right size for the barrel, but they aren't made to accurate measurements and arrived slightly too large. Yes, you can snap them

[@whynotdean8966]

Awesome project! Now use pure O2 as propellant ;)

[@bandiras2]

Get some blank ammo. fill some(as many as possible) grinded ferrocerium in the cartridge. Test it!

[@tp6335]

Must grind and fill in inert atmosphere otherwise you're just making sparks

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

Magnesium works better. And someone already beat you to it. It's sold under dragon's breath.

[@marks47]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 I came up with the idea of using alkali metal alloys a few years ago. I emailed TAOFLEDERMAUS about it, but then a few months later Backyard Scientist did it.

[@zaidhussain5206]

Thank you for making this video it was very informative to me .

[@rustamgani6826]

Always nice see You! Thanks! Long time don't see You'r bird.

[@-NGC-6302-]

Sparkly flamethrower? This is gonna be good

[@thearch-mage5733]

Would you be able to use and induction heater for it instead of an open blowtorch? And would you also be able to use a sort of "carriage" for the ferrocerium to make it go further, like a thin glass tube or something of the like?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Probably so

[@quietusplus1221]

Let's get the original more subscribers. He more than tripled, but we can do better!

[@sebbes333]

*@NightHawkInLight* Does this have some special smell when firing this metal? I imagine it smells like fireworks/gunpowder, but I know it's made from totally different components, so it shouldn't have that smell.

[@fernandosalgado9114]

Ur videos are the best, thanks, greetings from Spain

[@lukaslammens9318]

And this while all the forst fires are alive... great video tho XD

[@Qsie]

perfect for the fourth of july, well done algorithm lmao

[@gabehodges1088]

No eyepro. You're a savage my man!

[@bluflare12345]

How come the flint glows brighter once its taken off of the lighter flame?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Great question! While the flint is in the flame there's no oxygen that can get to it because the flame is burning all that's around it. That limits the temperture of the flint to the lighter temp. Once our of the flame it can react with O2 for itself, and metal burns hotter than butane

[@danielmiller2886]

Great content and video as always.

[@sebraecha]

How about using a ZVS driver to heat up the load and use a solenoid valve to control the precise timing?

[@bensamule3252]

you are my new favirote youtuber i found you 15 minutes ago and your videos are so cool

[@sebbes333]

5:41 This = Dragon's Breath :D (special shotgun ammunition)

[@alexwalker8422]

Order the thickest available firestarter, lay it down, scoot it against a thick piece of steel, collab with demo ranch, get him to shoot it with a 50bmg incendiary round, thank the slow mo guys for showing up and recording it. Ok the slow mo guys is a bit of a stretch, but imagine a thick rod being smashed against a thick steel plate in a fraction of a millisecond!