POSTED BY

Xeni Jardin

AT 8:44 AM
Wednesday April 15, 2009

HOWTO and DIY

BB Video: The Flaming Bacon Lance of Death, from Theo Gray's book "Mad Science"


FLAMING BACON LANCE - THEODORE GRAY MP4 Download here. Or, watch this video on YouTube here.

YouTube channel here, subscribe on iTunes here. Twitter updates @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video.

Yesterday, I blogged about the release of Popular Science columnist Theo Gray's new book, MAD SCIENCE.

In today's episode of Boing Boing Video, a collaboration with PopSci, we debut the world-premiere of the first video documenting an experiment like the ones you'll find in this book -- in which Theo cuts steel with bacon. It's a FLAMING BACON LANCE OF DEATH.

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.

CUCUMBER VEGAN FLAMING LANCE - THEODORE GRAY

Gray also created a 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-performed 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 (shot on the 5D Mk II). Photos by Mike Walker.

Previously: Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home, But Probably Shouldn't (Book)

Special thanks to Boing Boing Video's hosting partner Episodic.

FLAMING BACON LANCE - THEODORE GRAY

FLAMING BACON LANCE - THEODORE GRAY

CUCUMBER VEGAN FLAMING LANCE - THEODORE GRAY

17 Comments

Albdirs

#1 – 8:55 AM April 15, 2009

Time for the meatsitck...

Anonymous Anonymous

#2 – 8:56 AM April 15, 2009

Disturbing, gross, funny, and enlightening ... who could ask for more? :) :) :)

Anonymous Anonymous

#3 – 9:19 AM April 15, 2009

The amount of bacon innovation going on never ceases to amaze me. Between the Bacon Explosion, Squeeze Bacon in a bottle and this, I feel like there should be a venture fund around this. Excuse me while I buy a bunch of pork bellies... (Javaun Moradi)

Anonymous Anonymous

#4 – 9:41 AM April 15, 2009

smells better than normal cutting lance too!

UnnecessaryUmlaut

#5 – 11:33 AM April 15, 2009

The spinning at 1:05 is mesmerizing.

ryuthrowsstuff

#6 – 12:23 PM April 15, 2009

Prosciutto is ham not bacon. And expensive ham for the most part.

Enochrewt

#7 – 12:47 PM April 15, 2009

#6: And yummy. But yes, also very expensive as far as deli meats go. Prosciutto is ~$25 per pound for the average consumer.

BastardNamban

#8 – 10:01 PM April 15, 2009

This is: (count them) 10 LEVELS OF AWESOME.

This man is my hero. Screw the jaws of life- I ever get in an accident, I'm calling Theodore Gray to cut me out of the car with some tasty, tasty prosciutto.

Anonymous Anonymous

#9 – 4:09 AM April 16, 2009

Hi

Maybe with Lardo it would kick even more
http://www.frega.de/jcms/images/stories/algemein/lardo_di_colonnata.jpg

Anonymous Anonymous

#10 – 4:40 AM April 16, 2009

(linkback) Wow! or Meh? The Flaming Bacon Lance of Death (watch it cut through metal) [VOTE] - http://www.pikk.com/653d7

Anonymous Anonymous

#11 – 7:40 AM April 16, 2009

The man is a God, now what is the next level in motorized bar stools?

Anonymous Anonymous

#12 – 4:05 PM April 16, 2009

Once you get the steel red-hot -and any fuel burning in pure oxygen will be hot enough- all you need is the jet of oxygen. The steel itself becomes the fuel.

Anonymous Anonymous

#13 – 8:41 PM April 28, 2009

All he did was make a nozzle to direct the gas. O2 is gonna burn...the bacon is doing absolutely nothing but directing the gas...

Hey look I made a car using nothing but bacon!(well all I did was cover a car in bacon but I can still say its a car made of bacon right?)

Anonymous Anonymous

#14 – 9:53 AM April 29, 2009

Look i know that prosciutto and bacon are similar, but let us not just flip flop the words around like it doesn't matter. If that were actually bacon you would probably end up with cooked bacon at the end making this WAY better. I will say still cool.

Anonymous Anonymous

#15 – 9:19 PM May 4, 2009

#12 - Correct, exactly what I was thinking while watching

#13 Derp... Yeah oxygen burns by itself man, for sure. Hurr durr.

Anonymous Anonymous

#16 – 3:07 PM September 13, 2009

#15 It's the fire that burns, the oxygen just keeps it going, and the bacon just directs it. You're fucking retarded if you think the bacon has anything to do with the fire except for containing it.

soybees

#17 – 1:05 AM October 27, 2009

god bless this man,he is brave oneough as a hero. avi converter for mac

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