Introduction: Woomf Bottle (a.k.a Fun With Fire)
This is a simple fun and (relatively) safe way to create some really neat fire effects, all you need is the basic materials no construction necessary.
Step 1: Gather Materials
get all the goodies:
Basic Materials:
1 Gallon Glass Jar
Alcohol
Matches
Aeration Materials:
a long straw (from 7-11) OR
some plastic tubing
Hairdryer/funnel/plastic tubing OR
Bellows
the hardest thing to get will be the glass jar. they don't make things like they used to and most things come in plastic. my jar had white vinegar in it and is at least 15years old and probably closer to 25 or 30 years old. Check your grocery store, check the recycling bin, check your grandmothers pantry your bound to turn one up somewhere.
alcohol is easy you can pick up a bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol for about $2
you need at least one aeration tool if you don't want to wait a long time between "firings"
Step 2: Mix N Light
once you have all your stuff its pretty easy to use.
take your alcohol and put 1-5ml in the bottle. a graduated medicine dropper works great for this but if you don't have one just use about 1-3 cap fulls. don't add too much the air/fuel mixture is very important, too much and the alcohol fumes will extinguish your match!
roll the bottle in your hands, the idea is to coat and spread the alcohol around the sides of the bottle.
light a match, lean back and drop it in. WOOMF!
if your mixture was good it should look somthing like the picture and you should get the classic sound that gives the bottle its name. :)
i recommend doing this in a dark room so you can really see the flames. the bathroom is usually a good place, there's little to burn, many bathrooms have no windows, and you can use the exhaust fan to clear out the fumes from the alcohol.
Step 3: Aerate, Refill and Repeat
now that you have lit the Bottle you need to aerate the bottle. the cheapest method is to get a long straw (7-11 is a good place for these, get the soda straw not the slurpee straw) put the first 2-3 inches into the bottle aimed at the wall. blow hard, you want to drive the air alw the way to the bottom. about 3 lung fulls will be enough for another run.
other options are plastic tubing you can put it all the way tot he bottom and keep your head farther away from the opening (one face full of those fumes and you will be glad to be farther away)
if you have a hair dryer and a funnel you can hook the tubing to the funnel and hold the funnel to the hair dryer, this will be much easier than blowing.
the best thing i ever found was a bellows for an inflatable mattress. it had good volume a long tube and i could count the pumps for consistent aeration.
experiment with different mixtures. sometimes you can get a real slow burn over several seconds, the fire boiling down tot he bottom. other times the whole thing can go up in a flash and be very loud
Step 4: Safty Warning
Please Be Careful:
as long as you don't do anything stupid this is fairly safe. be careful of the bottle getting hot, the bottom and sides will stay cool after repeated runs but the upper part of the jar will get toasty if you do many consecutive lightings.
also remember to keep your alcohol safely covered and away when you light the match.
Never stand directly over the bottle. flames can shoot out a very long way you could get a face full of blue flame or worse, once i had a violent mix and it spat the glowing match back out of the bottle
Alternate fuels: obviously there are a lot of things you could put in the jar but i recommend sticking to alcohol, its flammable without being explosive it also burns very clean and is safe to handle, use other fuels at your own risk.
I accept no responsibility if you burn your house down or hurt yourself or your parents ground you or whatever.
36 Comments
6 years ago
After all the tourists had left, the staff at Moaning Caverns invited some naturalists from the outdoor school for a late night explore of the caves. At the end of it all, we gathered wet and muddy at the bottom of the main cavern. Charlie F. turned off the lights and swirled alcohol around a 5-gallon glass carboy. He turned out the lights.
200 feet underground with all of the moaning cavern above us, the "wang," went off. Good magic.
11 years ago on Introduction
We did something similar in science class last year. Only we used a plastic five/ten (not sure) gallon bottle. We did need to let it dry and cool for a while, we only did it twice in two hours, so we had enough time to let it cool.
12 years ago on Introduction
Some really nice pictures, I did something similar with a milk bottle when I was a kid. Lost all the hairs on my forearm, I think I was lucky that was the limit of the damage.
12 years ago on Step 2
fun but sounds dangerous. I am thinking of the photographic possibilities right now. Someone I met used to do this with a 5gal paint bucket with a spout lid and some gasoline - 6 foot woomf flames but very stupid and dangerous.
14 years ago on Step 1
where do u get those matches in C.A.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Everywhere! just go to dollar tree
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
lol
14 years ago on Introduction
That is sooo coooool!
The video was really good.
=D
15 years ago on Introduction
I used to do this with a 5 gallon thick glass water bottle called a carboy. Fun and dangerous! I love the slow dancing ripple effect you sometimes get.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
yeah a carboy would be perfect but ive never come across a glass one just the polycarbonate ones that you get for water coolers. they would work but eventually distort.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
homebrew stores have 'em
14 years ago on Introduction
you think nitro car 20% fuel will work 20% nitro methane 80% ethol alchol do you think it would be a little to violent
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
you wouldn't have to aerate cuz nitro methane produces its own oxygen.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
oh ok thats an explotion then wont do that thabnks
14 years ago on Introduction
Note about using it in your bathroom- I tested my first spud gun (with a 2 litre combustion chamber) in my bathroom because I was flushing the exhaust with water... then I realised the bathroom had no acoustic dampening at all, and I had shut the door and made a very loud explosion. (ears ringing)
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Once I managed to get a fairly lout "WOOSH" with a good air/fuel mix but overal this thing isnt that loud however if you opt for more powerful fuels this is indeed something to consider.
15 years ago on Introduction
This works great w/ acetone. The pure stuff sold at paint stores, not nail polish remover.
15 years ago on Introduction
also guys dont do it inside cause ds bottle can get so hot it can explode but any way i love making these you can make them in a plastic medicine bottle just cut a hole in the lid and do the same as with the big bottle
15 years ago on Introduction
hay any1 who watches this its real name isnt a woomph bottle is called a pulse jet engine and can also be made with turpintine or metholated spirits
15 years ago on Introduction
*8th grade physics teacher did this. Told us it was "magic Water." He didn't want us burning our houses down (obviously). He used a plastic water cooler jug. Would a 1/2 gallon glass jar work?