How to Make a Boring Company "Not a FlameThrower" Nerf Knockoff

Hi Please watch the video for my full build walk-through of the Boring Company "Not a Flamethrower" Nerf Knockoff.

When I first heard that Elon Musk was selling flamethrowers (later changed to "Not A Flamethrower") to promote his new Boring Company, I was quite interested. When I saw what the actual piece of hardware was I realized it was simply a torch with a cool case. Nonetheless, I wanted one so I went ahead and began building one myself.

It was an opportune time as my friend had recently given me a basket of his old Nerf guns. It wasn't long after that I had thought to use these as a basis of the "flamethrower".

I had purchased a 30 dollar weed burning torch at Harbor Freight Tools and began my project. I really did not know how it would turn out, I improvised as I went.

I gutted the Nerf gun and bend the weed burning torch into shape and tetrised it into the Nerf gun. With a few small modifications it fit. I painted the parts to match the color scheme of the original and bought some brass gas fittings and a small propane tank. I made some mistakes on the way but I corrected them and the end result turned out quite nice. I believe there is room to modify this further into a real flamethrower which projects a stream of liquid flame.

Materials required:

Nerf gun body, N-Strike Elite Raider CS-35 or Rampage

Nerf gun stock, N-Strike Elite Retaliator

Weed burning torch (should have a black nozzle and comes with an igniter and a black colored hose)

14oz propane bottle

Bottle cage or fire extinguisher retention bracket

1/4" NPT Female to 3/8 barb gas fitting

1/4" NPT propane bottle valve

1/4" NPT male to propane bottle adapter

Gas tape or pipe thread sealant

White spray paint

Black spray paint

Masking tape

Electrical tape

Scrap wood

Scrap metal

Shaft collar clamp (can be subbed out with more scrap wood/metal)

Screws, nuts and bolts

Wire

Pipe clamp

Zip ties

Tools required:

2 adjustable wrenches

Drill

Vice clamp

Hot glue gun

Flush cutters

Saw

Screw driver

Soldering iron

Step 1: Gather Materials and Take Apart Torch

The two main pieces are the weed burning torch and the nerf gun. Harbor freight has this model of weed burning torch for about 30 dollars. For the Nerf gun, one may be lucky to find this cheap at a garage sale or on Craigslist or ebay.

Start by dismantling the torch:

Starting with the handle remove the gas inlet fitting using the 2 adjustable wrenches
Remove the plastic handle from the weed burner torch pipe
Unscrew the top pipe portion from the bottom handle/valve section
Cut off the heat shrink tubing which holds the piezo igniter cable
Remove piezo igniter from metal bracket
Remove metal bracket from weed burner torch pipe
Unplug piezo cable from torch nozzle
Unscrew and remove nozzle from torch pipe.

After dismantaling the weed burning torch you should be left with the top portion of the torch pipe which comes bent at a slight angle. The goal is to remove this bend from the burner so the pipe is straight.

Step 2: Straighten the Torch Pipe

In order for the weed burning torch to fit into the Nerf gun, it must be straight. To straighten the pipe you'll need a vice clamp.

Insert the bent pipe and flatten the bend with the vice clamp. This will only unbend the pipe so far.
To flatten the pipe further, brace the bend in a pipe with a narrow piece of scrap wood and place scrap wood on the outer edges of the vice clamp to allow the pipe further room to bend.
Slowly tighten the vice clamp until you see the pipe is straight. It doesn't have to be perfectly straight as a majority of the pipe will be hidden by the Nerf gun housing.

Step 3: Dismantle the Nerf Gun

The Nerf gun will need to be gutted of its major parts so the torch can fit in its place.

Unscrew all the screws in the Nerf gun and pull the gun apart. There will be two halves. Be sure not to lose any of the tiny screws.
Unscrew the internal screws that hold the spring piston mechanism in place
Remove the spring piston mechanism and discard this
Remove the magazine retention hardware and discard this
Remove and discard the magazine protrusion from the outer Nerf gun housing by unscrewing the internal screws. The place where Nerf gun magazine clip is inserted is where the valve of the weed burning torch will reside so this area needs to have space for fingers to provide ease of access.
Keep the Nerf dart barrel
Keep the trigger mechanism
Keep the grey plastic part which the stock clips onto
Keep the orange tip of the dart barrel
Keep the front handle (optional). This can be kept on the gun or not depending if one wants a forward grip.

Step 4: Modify the Nerf Gun and Install the Torch

The Weed burning torch will fit into the Nerf gun with slight modification. The goal is to have the valve of the weed burning torch stick out where the Nerf magazine/clip is originally inserted. The lever of the weed burning torch will stick out where right side of the Nerf gun's jam access port (the fake ejection port). The torch's gas input threaded fitting will need to stick out of the back of the Nerf gun through the gray piece where the stock clips onto.

The Nerf gun's jam access port will need to be widened so the torch's lever can slide back into it. The gray piece which allows Nerf gun's stock to be clipped onto it will have to be cut so the torch's gas inlet can protrude out of it and a hose can be attached. Hardware will also need to be added so the torch can be secured within the Nerf gun. I used a piece of scrap wood, electrical tape, and a shaft collar clamp as securing hardware.

Cutting Notch:

Begin by assembling the (now straightened) torch then placing the reassembled torch into the Nerf gun as a dry fit.
Use a marker to mark off the notch on the Nerf gun under the torch handle that will be cut
Use a rotory tool to cut this notch out from the Nerf gun
Ensure that the torch will be able to slide back enough so the inlet can protrude from the gun

Fitting the Nerf barrel over the torch pipe:

Wrap the straightened section of torch pipe with two to three sections of electrical tape so that the Nerf gun's barrel can be wedged over it concentrically. The Nerf gun barrel is needed to secure the torch since the gun's housing will clamp the barrel in place.

Inserting the wood mounting block:

Get a scrap piece of wood about 1.5" square (measure the back section of the gun). Shape this block as necessary so it will fit in the gun flush against the housing
Insert the block and drill pilot holes from the outside of the gun into the block
Secure block with wood screws from the outside of the gun

Securing the torch to the wood mounting block:

Place the torch into the Nerf gun and position the pipe over the wood mounting block.
Using the two halves of a shaft collar clamp, place the halves over the pipe onto the block and use a marker to mark its holes.
Drill the pilot holes where the marks are
Secure the shaft collar clamp halves over the pipe onto the wood mounting block using wood screws in order to anchor the torch onto the Nerf gun housing.

Cut the gray piece which the stock clips onto:

On the back of the Nerf gun, where the stock clips onto exists a gray cylinder that has a square base. Using a saw cut off the cylindrical portion of this piece. This will leave a hole which will allow the torch gas inlet to protrude from this gray piece when reinstalled.

Step 5: Installing the Igniter Switch

The Piezo igniter will not fit into the Nerf gun's handle where the trigger is located, instead it is placed on the bottom of the Nerf gun under the magazine/clip port.

The Nerf gun will need modification for this to fit. After the piezo igniter is installed, it will need to be grounded to the torch metal so it can complete the circuit to make a spark.

Using flush cutters, cut out the plastic housing from the Nerf gun to leave a pocket where the igniter will fit into. The button will protrude slightly out the front of the gun.
File the slot that was cut out if necessary
Using hot glue gun or epoxy, glue the igniter in the slot that was cut for it. Ensure the glue does not cover the piezo igniter's electrical terminals
There will be two wires coming from the igniter, solder a wire from the piezo igniter's ground terminal and tie the wire to the torch's metal (I used the torches original igniter metal bracket as a wire mounting point). The other wire from the igniter will get wired to the nozzle of the torch.
Extend the other igniter wire if it can not reach the torch's nozzle.

Step 6: Masking and Painting

The flamethrower should now be ready to paint. The Nerf gun will have 5 parts to paint, the two halves of the nerf gun (one with the torch attached), the stock, the barrel cap, and the barrel. The propane tank will also want to be painted black if one wants it to match.

Using masking tape, mask off the torch's handle and valve's and metal portions
Mask off the bottom half of Nerf gun's housing and parts. Use the contours of the Nerf gun as a guide where to place the tape.
Once all the parts are masked, spray the parts with white spray paint. Give two or more coats waiting for each coat to dry.
Once the paint is dry remove the masking tape.
Place masking tape over the white painted portions.
Spray paint the bottom half of the Nerf gun parts using black spray paint. Give two or more coats waiting for each coat tot dry.
Remove the masking tape after all the paint is dry and ensure there are no blotches
Correct blotches with a paintbrush

Step 7: Adding a Metal Bar to the Torch's Lever and Attaching the Propane Tank

The "flamethrower" is now painted and should be looking more snazzy at this point. Go ahead and assemble all the parts together. The propane tank can also be fitted onto the top of the "flamethrower". This can be done using zip ties directly but I found if a bottle holder or a fire extinguisher bracket is used, it is much more secure and will not flop around.

The torch's lever will be sticking out the right side of the gun, it isn't in a great position to actuate with the right hand so a metal bar will need to be attached so it can be actuated like a paddle with the right hand's fingers. For this I used a scrap piece of aluminium.

Drill a hole in the torch's lever
Get a scrap metal bar about 4" long, 1/2" wide, and 1/8" thick
Drill a hole in the end of this metal bar
Using a nut and bolt, bolt this bar to the torch's lever so it extends down towards the Nerf gun's trigger
Test actuating the lever via the metal bar if it is more ergonomic and adjust if necessary
Mount the propane bottle holding hardware to the top of the "flamethrower" using zip ties

Step 8: Modifying Torch's Hose, Install Gas Fittings, and Check for Leaks

There will be a hose that comes with the weed burner torch. This hose will need to be modified so a smaller propane bottle can be used. It is also very long so it needs to be shortened.

Connect one end of the gas hose to the back of the "flamethrower"
Curl the hose around and check the length required to reach the propane bottle on top without any kinks or stress to the hose.
Cut the hose to the properly measured length.
Install the 1/4"NPT to 3/8" barb fitting to the small section of hose. It will be a very snug fit. It is helpful to heat up the hose with a heat gun for a little bit so the barb can slide into the hose.
Use a pipe clamp to clamp the hose onto the barb fitting
Using thread sealant or gas tape, attach the propane bottle valve to the barb fitting.
Warning! Take careful note of the direction of threads, Sometimes it is
clockwise to tighten and other times it is counter-clockwise to tighten. Do a quick test.
Using thread sealant, attach the propane bottle adapter to the just attached propane bottle valve
Attach the propane tank to the hose and attach the hose to the "flamethrower"
With the torch's valve closed, open the propane bottle valve slightly to pressurize the short section of hose of the "flamethrower"
Using soapy water, apply the suds and water to all the joints and check for any gas leaks, the bubbles will expand and get bigger if there are leaks.
Address leaks by applying thread sealant, tape, or tighten the joints further using wrenches (taking careful note of thread direction)

Step 9: Test and Be Safe and Have Fun!

The "flamethrower" is now complete, go ahead and test this in safe place outdoors preferably when it is wet or snowy outside.

To operate the "flamethrower" to get a large flame:

Open the torch valve very slightly
Then open the propane bottle valve
Ignite the flame by clicking the piezo igniter switch
Squeeze the trigger/lever to puff a big flame out

Turn off the "flamethrower" by closing the torch valve and then close the propane bottle valve.

Bleed the left over gas from the "flamethrower" by re-opening the torch valve and then squeeze the trigger/lever to let the gas out. Do not store the "flamethrower" with the hose pressurized with residual gas.