Be an Aeronautical Scientist: Make your Own Jet Engine for a few Pennies.

You can make a real jet engine for five minute's work and the price of a spoonful of meths - how cool is that?!?

I doubt there's a better way to re-use all those jars under the sink. Much more fun than a trip to the bottle bank.

Step 1 Materials and equipment.

Stuff I had lying around:

> Pasta sauce jar

> Matches

> A hammer

> A screw (it should have been a nail, but what the heck).

> A tin tray

Stuff I had to buy:

> Meths

Comments

[sceincedude11]

were do you get meth

[somebody12345]

From a drug convention! (just kidding)

[franklinonline]

ask the police and youl be in jail because they think you mean methathetimene

[Kiteman]

Meths is used to clean paintbrushes, so try a DIY store, and as a fuel for small stoves, so try a camping store.

You'll be more likely to get it if you use its full name, methylated spirits or denatured alcohol.

Many shops will refuse to sell it to people who appear young, or who look like they might drink it, so don't be offended if they refuse to sell it to you, just go back with a responsible adult to ask nicely and explain it's for a science project.

[the_mad_man]

I've never seen purple metho before. the only metho I've ever seen is clear

[Kiteman]

In the UK, the purple is to show it is undrinkable.

[the_mad_man]

makes sense, i think petrol is purple as well

[Kiteman]

Apparently, petrol is actually yellowy-brown, but I have seen kites sold as "petrol" coloured that are actually a shade of purple.

[the_mad_man]

confusing

[somebody12345]

Would this qaulify as a pulse jet?

[andy55551]

is there a way so it doesn't brake at the end?

[skatattookid]

i keep mine water cooled and also wrapped the glass in duct tape so if it does break its easy to clean up without getting cut. you can also just drill a hole in a can of broth and just use that.

[Kiteman]

Some people recommend standing the jar in cold water, but I would like, one day, to make a metal version, maybe with water flowing round heat-transfer pipes...

[orangetj]

or possibly have a undamaged lid freeze the jar with the meths inside and then swap lids? but then again it might get hot fast and break sooner

[ELITE-01]

I haven't tried this specifically,
but just as a reference to something I have done, unintentionally,
Rap a jar containing a candle in a cold, wet rag. The glass breaks pretty quickly, large cracks, some shattering, the works. so i'd assume that cold liquids, of any kind, with hot glass is a no go. 

[Aldeas]

Have you looked up the heller/lockwood version of the valveless pulsejet? That version uses a u shaped arrangement of the tube with and expanded combustion chamber to set up the harmaonic combustion pulse. one guy ran a gocart on one of these things using propane as a fuel.

[BitBoink]

Ya I remember SRL (Survival Research Laboratories) did a pulse cart back in the 90's. The pipe was glowing bright orange-hot right behind his head if I my memory serves well ... was insane looking!

[thomasready]

Your crazy I hope my grandkids don't see this killer hand remover

[The Dark Lord]

Maybe teach your grandkids basic safety...

[Kiteman]

"Killer hand remover"?

>rolls eyes<

[The Dark Lord]

Have you tryed using this to propel a model rocket? ( Or other mode of transport?)

[Kiteman]

No - the burn cycle it very sensitive to symmetry, and tends to stop when you lay the jar on its side.

I do keep meaning to try adding an absorbent pad to hold fuel at the bottom of the jar to see if it works in its side then, so maybe you'd like to experiment for me?

[jlund]

What's meths and will pure alcohol work I use it for my poket stove thx instrucables for those too

[Kiteman]

Method is methanol / methylated spirits / denatured alcohol (have a read through the other comments).

Methanol is a kind of alcohol, usually used in camping stoves, so, yes, your pure alcohol will work. In fact, just about any flammable fluid will work in a burner like this (have a google for Reynst combustors).

[smpash]

interesting but wouldn't it be better to use a metal pipe instead of a jar just weld or solder a washer over one end and a plate over the other

[Kiteman]

It would, if I had welding equipment, and if the engine didn't get hot enough to melt ordinary solder.

[Aron313]

I made one in a plastic gatorade bottle. It works but of course plastic melts so i only do it in short bursts. I use nitro gas and it works great!

[Cambenora]

We were having an argument the other day over whether this is actually a jet or a rocket. It seems to qualify as both.

[Kiteman]

It's a jet - rockets carry their oxygen on-board (which is why they can work in space), but jets get theirs from the air around them.

[Cambenora]

Check. I've often wondered what the difference is.

[nerd12]

final note. is it also good to use acetone as a fuel instead of meths. it also vaporizes and burns like hell.

[Cambenora]

Plus, like meths it's a renewable resource.

[nerd12]

when i was going back up the instructable i saw the pic of it broken and stuck on the glue and i was thinking that you could use it like thermite welding except it would be thermite gluing

[nerd12]

THIS IS NUTS! but still pretty cool. the second video was good and you could use it as a form of incendiary bomb. place the jar some where fill it, light it and it gives some time before it burns up and explodes. i think the reason that it exploded was becuase the glass heated up unevenly and therefore broke. imagine making a rocket or a plane out of a similar idea. it would be pretty cool.
PS use a bit of string soaked in meths or a BBQ long match to avoid frying your hand.

[blinkyblinky]

I can't seem to find meth online...is there a substitute? Awesome though...

[Kiteman]

Don't look for "meth", look for "meths" or "methanol", and check in camping and DIY stores.

If you're in the states, apparently "yellow Heet" is a useful fuel.

[TheJoshinator]

Ohhh, okay! I had wondered when you said "meths" if it was a typo and referring to methamphetamines... Methanol makes sense though. Yellow Heet (antifreeze used in fuel lines) is essentially pure methanol.

[blodefood]

Is that the same as methyl hydrate, the stuff found in the paint section of the store but also labelled stove alcohol? That's what I have seen it called in Canada, anyway.

[Kiteman]

It's exactly the same stuff. "Methyl hydrate" is a way of re-naming "Methanol" to make it less likely for idiots to drink it.

[blinkyblinky]

I don't know.

I don't live in Canada but I have friends who do...I will ask.

You should order online:)