Ruben's Tube

So, coolest thing ever... they call it a Ruben's Tube and basically what it does is turns fire into an music equalizer.

The device was created by a German scientist called Heinrich Rubens in 1905. He discovered that one could demonstrate a standing sound wave by playing music into a gas filled pipe with uniformly distributed holes drilled on top in a line. His original tube was about 13 feet long and had over 100 holes drilled in the top.

For the past few days my friend and I have been building this pyromaniac/music lover's dream, though on a much smaller scale. Ours was only 3 feet long and had 56 hole, but still just as awesome. The materials we used were:
-3ft. ventilation duct
-2 brackets to fit
-propane (we used 2 small camping propane tanks)
-tubing (1/2in diameter)
-2 hose t-connector
-2 hose splicers (1/2in diameter)
-2 propane control valve (pretty much a simple blow torch adapter)
-latex sheets (we cheated and cut up latex gloves to fit)
-scrap wood
-speaker to fit the the diameter of the ventilation ducting
-old computer speakers you don't mind disassembling
-assortment of screws
-plumber tape
-duct tape
-silicon epoxy
-teflon tape

So to start off we took the ventilation pipe and a tape measure and marked dots for holes starting from the center and working our way out. The dots were about 1/2in apart and we left 4in clear from the edge of the pipe. Next, we took a hammer and a nail and slightly dented each mark to make it easier for for the drill bit to stay in place as we drilled. Next we drilled the holes using a 1/16 inch drill bit.

(this here is my friend being a boss...)

Next we constructed the diaphragm. This was one of the most important parts of the project because this is what controls the gas inside the ventilation duct (side note, make sure to take out the second insulation pipe inside the duct, it will interfere with the sound waves and the gas pressure). We taped the edges of both ends of the duct so the metal would not tear the latex sheeting. Stretching the latex over the ends of the pipe, we made sure there were no wrinkles and we taped it down taught. You want the latex to sound like a drum if you tap it. There does not need to be a diaphragm on each side of the pipe but we did it anyway for future experiments.

Next, we started to install the fuel input system. For this we drilled two 1/2in holes in the duct so the gas would evenly distribute gas inside the tube and installed the hose splicers into the holes. To make the input system gas tight we layered on silicon epoxy around the perimeter of the splicer to fill any gaps we then used our tubing, hose t-connector, and silicon epoxy to make an air tight input system like such:

(in some adjusting we added another propane regulator for another tank, there is only one in this picture)

After putting teflon tape on all the appropriate screw tops we started assembling the speaker system. For this I just combined an old set of computer speakers I took apart and a 3in diameter speaker to fit the diameter of the duct. I took the circuit board amplifier from the speakers, connected them to the speaker, and mounted them on to some plywood scraps I found and cleaned off. This was completed using just a few screws and some plumber tape.

Lastly, we connected and mounted all of the items onto a long piece of plywood I found, and basked in the glory of completing a work of art.

                                                    (Wyatt and I)

(Clayton and I)                              (Wyatt and Clayton)

(video will be uploaded shortly...)
OHH.. also be very careful... things can blow up, and will. It happened to us a few times in the process of making this.

Burglar Proofing Your Living Space

This seems like a random topic, but my love for hard-fiction and television cop shows has lead my to realize that people suck at hiding stuff in their house. I mean really the freezer, mattress, or closet... you might as well be giving crooks your stuff.

 

Based on all my TV watching, I have decided that there are two types of burglars: amateurs that just need the money, and pros that are after something in particular. Now, unless you are an international spy or are storing some pretty heavy duty government secrets, then you are most likely just going to have to deal with those petty amateurs. Amateurs usually want to be in and out of your house fairly quickly, this means they'll take whatever is handy at that moment: computers, phones, wallets watches, jewelry, etc.. Easy Fix: put your stuff away, lock it up, or hide it.

High end thieves or pros are a lot more careful, they'll usually do a clean routine sweep of the house and check the sucky hiding spots first. These guys will be very thorough so I came up with a clever little fix for this (and when I say "I", I mean one of my favorite burned spies "Micheal West" from Burn Notice). Now it may be a pain in the butt, but the best place to hide your stuff is in your walls. While this makes your item hard to access, if hidden right, no one will find it.

Clever Idea: Fake wall sockets

The cool thing about this little guy, is that if your professional burglar decides to take a metal detector to your wall, he won't suspect a thing what it goes off around the socket. The picture above is of one you can buy online here: http://www.goneblue.com/hifawaousa.html, but I  build one for myself by just installing a socket without any of the wiring... pretty easy.

Pneumatic Cannons + Fire = Big Fun

So last summer I had this great idea to create a pneumatic cannon (also known as a t-shirt cannon). I found out that with a little bit of money, time, and planing these things weren't that hard to make. The cannon was basically comprised of a tank to store the air, a trigger mechanism to release the air, and a barrel to load the projectile into. I got all my material at my local pluming store and had every thing assembled and ready to go in like two weekends. When it was all finished and painted, let me tell you we had FUN! We launched everything we could fit in the 3in diameter barrel: apples, bananas, onions, t-shirts, water bottles, and more recently FIRE. Yah, I figured out then when you blow a puff of cornstarch into a flame, the high surface area of the powder results in rapid burning. Or in other words, a humongous FIREBALL. So what did I do? What any other self respecting teenage kid would do; I loaded my air cannon up with cornstarch and had my friend fire it at a tiki torch.

BEST IDEA EVER. Anyway, moral of this story is, every kid should go out and build themselves an air cannon. Its a necessity.