Jem Stansfield from BBC's Bang Goes the Theory has "put scientific theory to the test" with his Vortex Cannon. Filmed at 1300-fps, you can see the cannon knock down three different houses made of straw, stick, and brick with an explosive vortex ring.
The vortex ring that comes out is not smoke, however. After detonating the explosive gas mixture of acetylene and oxygen, "one of the most dangerous gas mixes in the world," the ring forms from the pressure drop inside the vortex. It condenses the lake's damp air and shoots a cloud out at 200-mph, knocking down anything in its path.
Stansfield's cannon is probably too big for the average do-it-yourselfer, but Edwin Wise from Make Magazine has a few garage-friendly vortex cannons - the Tub Thumper, Barking Tube, and Big Bad Boom Cannon.
Get the full PDF instructions or see Kipkay in action below, building Wise's first two vortex cannons.
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48 Comments
and he huffed... and he puffed... and he fired his vortex cannon and blew down the little piggies house
gay. what kind of weapon is this? it just blows smoke rings. gay gay gay. i at least had fun making Beavis and Butthead laughter for all the times he says "tube" and "ball" hahahaha
read the document, you idiot Wormcult..
As it states, it's not a smoke ring. it's condensed air caused by a rapid pressure drop within the vortex, which is travelling at 200mph when it leaves the cannon (according to the article).
What's a Wormcult?
It's a TROLL... Never get near one and never comment on one..
Anybody who is ignorant enough to think that "gay" is a pejorative--or in any way relevant to this video--doesn't have an opinion worth paying attention to.
Well you're paying attention to him though.. TROLLS... hehehe we all never learn..
PCHS!!!!! Mr. Frost is the Teacher of the year!!!
Oh ya nice vid
-Lil Chris
perry county high school ?
@Wormcult
Pay more attention, those aren't smoke rings!. It's a mixture of Oxygen and acetylene, the same stuff in welding torches, and the most explosive mix that can be created by almost anyone.
can you make a vortex gun?
compressed air the size of a bullet travelling at 200mph is just like a sneeze.. wouldn't do any good or bad..
It doesn't seem to me that this thing really has that much force. I doubt it would hurt you to get shot by it. It would probably cause ear damage but that's about it. Those bricks were stacked so they'd fall down.
So in my final assessment, I agree with Wormcult. This weapon does seem to be just a tad gay. No matter what your definition of gay is, we can all agree that an atom bomb is way less gay than a cannon that poots out air donuts.
Some weapons of questionable gayness are: the flamethrower, and the jackhammer.
A very heterosexual weapon is the Bushmaster. Nothing is more manly than mastering bush.
Agree with chewywater. It was a pile of bricks stacked to fall down; it didn't even have four walls or mortar. Same with the straw and stick houses, they both looked very poorly built.
I'm going to agree with randomguy123, that's agreeing with chewywater, that's agreeing with Wormcult in calling this weapon gay. Those bricks where stacked very poorly, and the stick house was just pushed to the side.
this thing would not even hurt your ears, the ring is just water vapor, its just a poof of wind thats pushing these things over, the cannon is just focusing it into a narrow area. for that matter, if you took the acetaline and oxygen, and put it in the house, then blew it up, you'd get a much better effect. oh yah and i agree as well, this thing is flamingly gay
oh yah and +1 to chewy for choice use of the word "poot" lmao
agreeing with major of the peeps in here, the structure of the house is not even what it's suppose to be like i guess a real wooden house would have survived this...learn how to make a tornado gun then i will say your wind will blow off houses
We'll just your imagination guys.. compressed air travelling at 200 MPH? just add shrapnels (nails and broken glass will do) and those who said gay please stand in front of my VORTEX cannon.. though it wont be called a VORTEX cannon now..
my question is: Is it really even a weapon? Nowhere in the article, or on the video, did they call it a weapon, it's just some guy's experiments that yielded something remotely interesting that's just fun to mess around with. The over analitical nature of some people truly is astounding.
Gay is not a discription. Nothing but gas and you knock down bricks? There is is science here.
Knock down enemies without killing them and then immobilizing them. This seems like a front line weapon that can work.
They're not gonna be knocked down, they're just gonna fall over laughing when you hit them with an oversized hairdryer.
Just thinking...
The military is always 15 years ahead of commercial stuff.
I have to agree AND disagree with the posters saying this is gay. The real vortex cannon is NOT gay. To those of you that are saying it is, I would like to see you stand in front of it while it fires and get the snot knocked out of you. The TUB THUMPING "vortex cannon" is DEFINITELY gay. To anybody that thinks it is not, I would like to see you stand in front of it while it fires and get the gayness knocked out of you.
You are all crazy, the vorgina gun is awesome.
The title of the article is 'Vortex Cannon Demolishes House'.
This is not a house. It's a #$%@ing straw hut the size of an outhouse. I could #$%@ing lean on it, and it would be demolished.
touché !
It is as gay as sunrise and village people.But you don't have to worry.Iran doesn't have it.There is no such gay thing in there.
If you pay attention in the video, he says "acetylene, and oxygen in the AIR" mixing that quantity of acetylene with oxy would blow that ring cannon to pieces. I have seen firsthand what happens when people get too carefree with that mix, a trashcan full stripped the insulation off of 400 feet of telephone line, and sent a 6 volt battery directly through a mans chest. Seriously, NEVER mix those two gases in anything larger than a balloon unless your ready to put your life on the line for stupidity.
It may not be strong enough to damage a house or heavy metal, but I wanna see that bitch smoke a person
"Iran doesn't have it.There is no such gay thing in there."
Ask a man from the Middle East, and he'll tell you. "women are for breeding and men are for fun". But yeah, they're not gay. One man's gayness is another man's pooter canon.
Loganbro you made my day... danm yeah! lmao
A few .50 cal rounds and that brick pile would been dust! The bricks weren't mortared so anybody could have knocked the whole thing down with an umbrella!
The second video IS NOT like the first one. The first one is made by an explosion, and is cool. The second one is made by an idiot, and is gay.
The smoke cannon has the same amount of force as a sneeze from a small mouse or rodent!
That is GAY!!!!
What an idiot!
yes finally, thank you badger for differentiating the two videos. I just found this page again by accident and...LMAO@all the comments I inspired just by calling this thing "gay". To clear this up, I did actually mean the one in the second video. That thing in the garage was beyond lame. I was hoping to learn how to build something like in that first video and then aim it at my neighbor's house because they keep parking all their damn trucks in my spot. So I wasted my time and watched that stupid ass video, and decided it was "gay". That first video was pretty cool though, and I agree with the one guy who said it would make a good 'front line weapon'. When I originally called it a weapon, I was kind of in an Invader Zim type mindset. It's funny how the rest of the comments in the thread just went along with that until the one guy said something like "when did they even call this a weapon??" hahaha. Ok now since I have this flame war going on here, I want to say all of you are incredibly gay and I have a band called Wormcult and a website called Wormcult.com. There's stuff on i-tunes and some other download sites, and a new album on the way. Add Wormcult on Myspace. I have a feeling you guys are all going to make posts about how gay my band is now hahaha have fun :P
It could be a front line weapon if the smoke ring was ganja smoke. Then who would you have firing it? Yup, COL Snoop Dog!
love the bbc
What a hunk of Junk. Waste of time. abomination to science, not to mention its stench of homosexuality. Why click on the second video if the first one was so weak?? You guys should seriously consider some career changes
#$%@ u wormcult, I listened to ur band, theyre not gay, they G.A.Y. , which means good ass yodeler, i invented that, u know how yodles u suck on, well i mean u suck dicks, so go #$%@ yourself bitch!
gaygaygaygaygaygaygaygaygaygaygayGAYmegagay
This thing operates on the same principle as the Conestoga "Big Bang" acetylene cannon. Intended only as a noisemaker, I nevertheless shot potato cores over the house across the street into its backyard, at least 200'. Had the copz in Cookeville, Tn. hunting all over the area for it one night! I was on the second floor landing of the old store building across the RR crossing from the old library. Bang! Here'd they come. Bang! Scurry, scurry back the other way. High fun.
In case your canon misfires, I'd keep Puff The Magic Dragon on standby or maybe even your fat girlfriend with a can of pork & beans. I'll consider building one if see the rag-head terriost blowing up our buildings with them.
You all think this would work as a Texas Mosquito Repellent? Or would it just tick them off and end up getting me in the "END?"
I have to agree that the canon is not very powerful, but have you ever punched a stack of brick? Made to fall down or not, the amount of force needed is more than enough! If you look carefully at the brick "house" demonstration you can see it falls in a semi-circle where the bottom of the ring hit. If you shaped it right you could do al sorts of stuff! Imagine a pin-prick of wind coming at you with the speed of a race-car. All it needs is a bit more though and it could be used for all sorts of practical things! Through in a bit more science and it would do allot more then it can do now.
I have to agree that the canon is not very powerful, but have you ever punched a stack of brick? Made to fall down or not, the amount of force needed is more than enough! If you look carefully at the brick "house" demonstration you can see it falls in a semi-circle where the bottom of the ring hit. If you shaped it right you could do al sorts of stuff! Imagine a pin-prick of wind coming at you with the speed of a race-car. All it needs is a bit more though and it could be used for all sorts of practical things! Through in a bit more science and it would do allot more then it can do now.
Oh alright... It's gay then just as wormcult said..
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