Thermal Lance cutting-melting concrete

[Maafa1619]

It seems crazy that those guys aren't wearing respirators. They'll regret that eventually.

[Caramellofellow]

I always thought they were packed with thermite... Suppose you can't really force O2 down it then..

[stepwillis]

Sorry guy, it can't cut the reinforced concrete used to make the walls of bank vaults. Did you see how long it took to "dent" that brick?

[bahamabrz]

@stepwillis You had better inspect he walls of your bank's vault. While trying to find a new bank with a high security vault, I discovered that most vaults were nothing more than an interior room within the bank. In other words, an ordinary sheet rocked room with a big steel vault door. If I had a hammer, I could gain entry through that sheet rocked wall in less than a minute. I suppose that is just another reason not to trust the banks.

[stepwillis]

@bahamabrz Can I borrow your hammer? And would you happen to have the address of THAT bank?  LOL

[Masternaut91]

Anyone look this up from fallout to see if this was real or not?

[mcxdtv]

talk about a good interrogation technique

[theflubbermuffin]

Keek. You better wear a respirator or youll have deformed kids.

[theflubbermuffin]

incorrect. IT contains a cluster of magnesium rods

[OliKills]

@theflubbermuffin No, this is not true. The lance is made from iron. An iron tube packed with round iron rods. Because the rods are round, there is still plenty of space in the tube to allow oxygen to be forced through it. This is why it can be a bit tricky to light, as it is not easy setting fire to iron.

[Devera510]

its like a sparkler, for men!

[keek0824]

I use one of these every day at work. Will cut through just about anything. U don't get sick from breathing but I'm sure it isn't good for u either. I never wear a respirator

[boxellj]

took u long enuf to start.

[Death900600]

who came here because of fallout new vegas? ik i did

[elemineseslapolla]

lance vance dance

[OliKills]

@elemineseslapolla surely a coded message to launch some dastardly deed?

[OliKills]

@elemineseslapolla surely a coded message to launch some dastardly deed?

[elemineseslapolla]

@OliKills hahahaha its actually from a videogame i used to play as i was younger.

[OliKills]

@elemineseslapolla hmmm... I was merely providing a response. I don't think that anybody thought this was a BBC World Service coded message to a terrorist group (or to the French resistance).

Lighten up.... we're cool here.

[TheAirflame]

@OliKills come on guys now you say we bombed somewhere with no reason :S

[OliKills]

@TheAirflame Hmmmm. Such people, making such claims, are clearly incorrect. There is always a reason.

Let's face it........ they are out to get us (and they're everywhere[the little blastards]). lol

[TheMegitto]

Chuck norris burshes his teeth with this

[OliKills]

@TheMegitto i heard that he uses it to clean out his back passage

[xXxchipperchopperxXx]

thermal lance plus rock = melting rock and melting rock = FUCKING LAVA

[b1a5k0ps]

lol i hoped for fallout new vegas gameplay^^

[OliKills]

@b1a5k0ps LOL

[Smithyards]

thermal lance smoke, don't breath this!

[tacticalmarkman2]

this weapon pwns in fallout new vegas but i dont use it i use OH BABY LOL SUPER SLEDGE

[sallyesq]

But can it cut Chuck Norris?

[OliKills]

@sallyesq this is one of the few weapons that can take down Chuck Norris!

[assburgersandmash]

@sallyesq it would'nt cut chuck norris, but it would certainly piss him off

[Gaslydeath]

@sallyesq it can give him a blow job not sure about cutting him though..

[D197JN]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT THE FUCK THIS THING IS MOTHER FUCKING GODDAMN FUCKING STUPID FUCKING REAL... HOLY FUCKING SHIT OH MY FUCKING GOD WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK...

[Gaslydeath]

@D197JN ... dont have sex while typing.. i mean little kids could be reading your messages.. or dirty minded people.. like me...

[aahhmmeedd112233]

You can try it on a vault but will probably end up setting its contents on fire

[RCvolunteer1978]

wow now you can cut a bank vault open but wear heavy duty Gloves and eye protection

[OliKills]

LOL

[GrandChamp1989]

Fallout new vegas :)

[tomcaeci]

I have to work with that stuff on my job. We have to take holes into steel,sometimes more than 50 cm thick,and do cut it from there with thermal cutters. its a dam hot and dangerous job. When you start cutting with that,all the melted and burned steel comes toward you.No way to avoid that. Our lances are about 6 meters long. And we work them with more than 10 bar oxygene.

[chewser117]

I would get in so much trouble if I had one of these.

[ThatsWaddlesToYou]

Nice job. Breathe that Bromide. Get extremely sick. Diarrhea for a week and headaches for a month will teach you to wear a respirator :p

[Streamliner009]

that red/brown smoke seems very toxic

[OliKills]

@Streamliner009 - apparently it IS toxic (I was later told LOL)

[65ShelbyClone]

@OliKills

I'll take an educated guess that the extremely high temperatures around the tip cause atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen to combine, forming nitrogen dioxide(NO2) gas. NO2 is that same brownish red color and yeah, it's toxic.

[OliKills]

@65ShelbyClone - a nice educated guess there - sounds feasible.

[1ukjunglednbraver]

@Streamliner009 maybe it is toxic but im not so sure. because when iron burns or oxidises it becomes rust and rust is redish brown....i guess breathing in rust cant be good for you

[ElHanko]

Why the fuck isn't he wearing protection?!

[OliKills]

@ElHanko - I believe this was the 1st time they'd burnt concrete. When it started spitting and exploding, he was forced to stop and get kitted up with leather and headgear

[RipFlm]

I Googled Thermal Lance after hearing it on Burn Notice haha

[jamesw746]

I'm impressed!



[TEAMxshuriken]

toast some marshmellows on that!

[OliKills]

@TEAMxshuriken

haha XD

[kshitijkumar89]

aaw crackers :P

[gndzroirnwkr]

used a lance for two months at ground zero...will cut thru a 4 foot by 18 inch by 10 inch thick core beam in 7 minutes......

[AngryLlamaz]

what happends if u get hit with a spark? the camera guy seemed dangerously close to the line of fire

[OliKills]

@AngryLlamaz - It depends on how you define a spark.

Concrete is a mix of stones, sand and cement, with air-pockets.

When the concrete melts, the air pockets can explode, effectively scattering molten lava!

The guys demo-ing the lance had to cover up in protective gear (in another video that I've not uploaded).

I think it was the first time they'd cut concrete, and didn't realise how explosive it could be. We didn't get burned, but we were forced back (as you can see in the vid).

[gordongate]

@OliKills there is also the fact that the materials contained in concrete have differing expansion rates which can generate some high stress areas under such temperatures.

The bits flying off may be due in part to the stresses releasing itself.

[OliKills]

@gordongate Yes - there must be some truth in that....and along the same lines:

different melt & 'change to gas' temps. So not just exploding air-pockets, but creation of gas from solids (via liquid obv).

[Donryu1983]

@OliKills what about respirators!? The smoke will make you sick as hell.

[JP00XX]

Obliterating concrete, now that's a good idea!

[jerzystachowiak]

Nice tool

[cren567]

it reminds me of thermite...

[woutereppink]

@cren567 Heard you can lit this with thermite :D

[EpicFatKid]

God damn, that is so cool!

Think of it, we are just some little puny animals on this one planet and we are harnessing fire and heat and melting anything we want with it!

Pretty crazy!

[redneckcaseyjones]

Very cool i learned something, I never knew something like this exist. IS this home made or did you buy it?

[WonderfulMrShyne]

so..gundams CAN exist..:D

[OliKills]

@WonderfulMrShyne - please enlighten us........what is a gundam?

[NinjaFreak4675]

@OliKills seriously?

[kizahd]

@OliKills Gundams are large humanoid robots with cockpits. About 18 meters tall.

I think what WonderfulMrShyne was referring to was the "light saber" like weapon some used, but the show described it more of a chemical or plasma process like the thermal lance.

[OliKills]

@kizahd nice explanation:)

[DrZegobob101]

these can cut through anything!

[cheeseboat15]

We just did this in my last welding class. I was amazed by how powerful it was. I really wish I had my video camera with me at the time. It was amazing. Thank you for posting this video

[OliKills]

your welcome, thanks. it is amazing bad luck about the camera.

[zpardos]

Very cool. Very terrible video codec but very cool.

[OliKills]

Sorry about the codec, but glad you liked it anyway.

I took the vid with a small outdated camera with video option - it was all i had at the time.

I have since run it thru vdub but could gain no improvement.

[junkdeal]

Wanna buy one? Nothing to it! Airgas is one source; they're in any major city. Buy in bundles of ten, various diameters. About 7-14 dollars each tube. They burn enormous amounts of oxygen, and last 3-6 minutes. They hit far higher than 4000 farenheit, as much as 9000 degrees. If you can find a magnesium wire version, they hit 14000. There is truly nothing they can't destroy, including the mightiest refractory linings or brick. Say NIHIL OBSTAT! (nothing stands in the way- Latin)

[OliKills]

Absolutely correct.....the burnable rods are inexpensive.

In terms of 'bang per buck' it probably doesn't get much better than this....particularly if you do some cutting at night.

However, the key is not 'what it can cut'.....rather, it is the time it takes to make that cut.

ie. As junkdeal points out...these lances burn out pretty quick..........hence the problem with cutting concrete.

......as for cutting metal......it's like butter :).

[OliKills]

thanks or the advice :)

[Khono]

Nope, apparently there are materials with higher metling points. Google: "highest melting point".

[OliKills]

And these materials are.......?

[Khono]

One listed is: "tantalum hafnium carbide (Ta4HfC5), a refractory compound with a melting point of 4488 K (4215 °C"

Carbon is listed as having a variable melting point "40274427 °C", probably varying due to different crystal structures. I saw others listed but you can google them yourself, if you'd like.

[zhmapper]

@Khono

True, but the oxygen coming from the tube would rapidly turn the carbon to carbon dioxide gas. The Ta4HfC5 would similarly lose its carbon resulting in a mess of molten Hf and Ta oxides and more carbon dioxide. You would need a refractory which is highly resistant to not only temperature, but extreme oxidation as well.

[werewolf7789]

were can i get one of those

[OliKills]

These were made in Northern Spain by PlacidFerrer

[pushpush01]

how do you make one of these lances or where do you buy them?

[jbek63]

why don't you read the 1st comment, doh

[rabarber7]

ha ha two guys one lanc lol...

geeks ;)

[OliKills]

Yes, these lances are very long, and so you have a guy at the back controlling the oxygen valve.....while the guy at the front, holds the tip of the lance in the tip of the gas burner flame.

So it does take 2 people to ignite a new full length lance.

But I don't get what is funny about that.

Also I don't get why anybody associated with these lance test can be considered geeks.

What a wierd statement .......these guys are the exact opposite of geeks....lol

[OliKills]

lol realy

[86Ivar]

the red smoke is toxic!

[OliKills]

In fact the video doesn't show the full extent of the smoke, nor the viciousness of the lance.

What was really bizarre was that the guy carrying out the test, didn't wear any safety gear (at first),

It was only when the concrete began exploding, that he stopped and donned a bit of cover.

[OliKills]

We tried cutting stone - you can see the stone we tried, to the right of the concrete being cut.

Sure, it worked, but it takes too long, so it's just not practical (cutting concrete and stone).