Flaming Bacon Lance of Death, from Theo Gray's book "Mad Science"

Blog post with more links and photos: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/04...

A homemade device that cuts steel with bacon. It's a FLAMING BACON LANCE OF DEATH.

This video documents an experiment like the ones you'll find in PopSci columnist Theo Gray's new MAD SCIENCE book.

Yes, that's right, using nothing but bacon -- okay, prosciutto -- and an air hose, Mr. Gray constructs a high performance thermic lance that seriously cuts sheet metal.

In this video, you'll also see a purely VEGAN THERMIC LANCE built from one cucumber and several dozen thin vegetable-oil coated breadsticks. (Tip: the performance is all about the oil). This hotrod burns fast and furious, but does not last long enough to initiate a cut in steel sheet. The flame front travels towards the back of the cucumber and endangers the operator when it reaches the rubber connector.

And finally in today's video, the CUCUMBER-BEEFSTICK LANCE. A high-performance thermic lance constructed from seven beefsticks and a cucumber. Later versions used Pup-Peroni brand dog treats, which are exactly like beef sticks only cheaper.

In some ways this device out-performs the Bacon Lance, and it's much easier to build.

But it's not made of bacon.

Theo tells Boing Boing, "Cucumber is an *excellent* base for these things because it's air-tight, moist (to resist fire), easy to core, and has a rubbery skin that makes an air tight seal. About the only thing wrong with cucumbers is that they are not made of bacon. (I have a thing called a "fruit coring tool" which is like a very small round cookie cutter on a stick. You drill it down the middle of the cucumber until it comes out the other end, then stuff the cucumber with the chosen fuel.)"

Here are Theo's columns at PopSci.com. And more on the flaming bacon of death at PopSci.com.

These devices were created by Theodore Gray. Videography in this BB Video episode by Nick Mann. Photos by Mike Walker (http://mikewalkerphoto.com)


More: http://www.popsci.com/graymatter

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  Science & Technology

[JesterSC2]

Is this what the MailChimp developers do all day??

[Zilronman]

My bacon is the bacon that will pierce the heavens!

[Emmanuel LeBatt]

I will eat the bacon before it cuts through steel

[RetroManCave]

Bacon Lance is just a poor mans pork sword.

[atveus]

so wrong to play with food... there are peoples who don't have what to eat... and we play with food...

[Lynae Cook]

if they are...i appreciate it

[Ralph Ferrand]

This is conclusive proof that meat is better food :)

[nabreucow]

Dissing American bacon? Burn in hell!

[JimvsBob]

Parma ham.... It's Parma ham people

[Timothy Snyder]

that either smells really, really good or really, really bad.

[Gavin Brar]

What a waste of perfectly good meat.

[AelafJay]

Prosciutto is not bacon, noob.