You are building a flamethrower that is fairly safe, the materials can be acquired from almost any hardware store (think ACE), shoots a 3' flame, and has an epic "cool" factor.
Materials:
Caulking gun with lever release (see pics - very important)
Hose clamp (2"-3")
Long handled butane lighter
Lighter butane refill (see pics - key element here!)
Short self-tapping screws (4-6)
Canning jar lid (see pics, as you can easily improvise)
Tools
Electric screwdriver/drill (Phillips bit and small drill bits)
Critical! - When you are at the hardware store, make sure that if you put the butane canister in where the caulking tube normally goes, that it slides freely back and forth!
Build it!
Alright so now that you've got the parts, drill one of the self-tapping bits right below the lever release far enough to stay but make sure that the pull-back can move very freely. See the pic below, but yours may be different.
Next, take the canning lid and the short self-tapping screws and attach it to the other end of the caulking gun as shown here:
You want the screws to be short enough that they don't hit the butane canister, but enough so they stay put.
Take the lid off and put the butane can in gun where the caulking tube normally goes. Note where the fill valve hits the canning jar. Take your small drill bits and find one that would just let the smaller part of the nozzle go through, but still stop the big part (see the picture :-).
Drill a hole in the place you noted before through the canning jar lid. Now slide in the butane canister, nozzle end into the hole first, then lower the back in place. Put the hose clamp around the middle of the canister and the caulking gun and tighten it. Leave it loose enough so the butane can moves freely however. This is what it should look like. (Note: the blue thing on the lighter handle is something else I'm trying, so don't worry about it.)
Go outside and push the rod forward until it hits the back of the canister, and then squeeze the caulking gun's "trigger". You should be rewarded with a spray of butane. When you release the trigger it should stop spraying. Now the fun part!!!
Outside, take the lighter and click it on. Position the flame about 3" in front of the flamethrower, and squeeze the trigger of the gun. A FOOOSHHH and a flame should congratulate you. Move the lighter away once the flame is lit, and keep holding the trigger to sustain the flame. The spray should turn into flame about 3" away from the nozzle, and make sure it stays that way. If the flame starts creeping towards the nozzle, release the trigger. The last thing you need is 6oz of butane blowing up in your face.
See the video at the bottom of the blog!!!
Troubleshooting:
Troubleshooting:
Q. The butane can is not sliding freely. What's wrong?
A. Make sure the hose clamp is loose enough. The clamp is there to stop the canister from falling out, not to squeeze the butane can in place.
Q. The rod is not sliding freely! Help!
A. Adjust the screw that holds the lever in. It rubs on the rod if not adjusted properly.
Have fun and ask questions if you have them!
