Make:

And exactly as I predicted, Kipkay makes something dangerous. This guy is an idiot.
The reason he does dangerous stuff is it is popular with kids and is more likely to be posted around forums and therefore make him money from Metacafe.

Make: please get rid of this idiot, don't encourage him.

Posted by: Phillip Torrone on March 21, 2008 at 11:06 AM

@selfsilent - this is from the pages of MAKE, MAKE 13 our magic issue. do you really think this is dangerous? did you subscribe to MAKE or have you done this project?

as far as metacafe goes, *we're* trying it out - this was my idea, we use blip.tv, youtube and now metacafe, we're trying to see which one will help us pay for these videos - right now we don't make any money to cover our costs.

i'll keep your comment here, but please keep it civil.

@selfsilent
yeah, i think bre's potato gun was MUCH more dangerous then this. If you don't like it watch Systm, its practically the same show. I miss bre too. This video, while better then the first 2, was NOT very clear at all!

@Moolc - Thanks for the comment. When you say it "was NOT very clear at all", what are you referring to? I thought I gave explicit instructions for every single step. What did I miss so I can clear it up for you?

Posted by: MrPlywood on March 21, 2008 at 1:34 PM

That's about as dangerous as lighting a grill. And the video was as clear as can be. I'm gonna like this mag.

I see you have been listening to the comments, Kip. Good job.

More cotton will result in more 'poof' from the ignitor, whereas more paper will result in a longer burning projectile.

One last thing to note: The glo-plug you purchased can be found at Hobbystores for about $1.

@Captian Obvious - Thanks. I appreciate that. I also try to improve and although my style may not be what some are used too I am always willing to listen to constructive criticism. That's real true about the paper and cotton. It actually took some tries to get the combo right. It seems like the tighter the paper is stuffed in, the bigger the 'boom'. But you don;t want it to be so tight or no air will get in to create the cimbustion. I couldn't find glo-plugs around and was in a bit of a time crunch but thanks for the info on where else you can get them.

@Kip: Where there is improvement, I must give credit. Such is the creed of Captain Obvious. Good, bad, ugly--I must report on it all truthfully and fairly.

The willingness to learn from mistakes is the thing that separates us Maker's from the Buyers. Your style will be different than Bre's, and that's fine. He had people that didn't like him either--and he had off weeks as well. (everybody remember the LED Pumpkin?) We all have weeks/videos that somebody is going to think is a bad idea, or it was done poorly. Just take the comments in stride, and learn. Learn, learn, learn.

My only concern with your style was that you tend to make videos that would generate a lot of buzz on the blogosphere so that you could get money from Metacafe. That's fine if that is your bread and butter--but if you're on the Make payroll, then you have to be Make first, and then your personal projects second. I have nothing against you making money, but I have a strong dislike for you to leverage Make's readers to directly pay you through Metacafe.

But that's all really a non-issue. I can't change it, nor can I persuade anybody there to change it. So I am going to simply focus on letting you know what you are doing right/wrong in your videos, so that we can get your videos to be as good as they can be. With that said...

Tighter paper dosen't let the oxygen into the ball as fast--which results in a slower burn, which results in a longer trajectory.

Gun cotton will always burn with a poof--it's fibers are so small, that you can't compress it very well, so it has oxygen to burn rapidly. Hence the poof.

To make it go faster, you can get a 2xAA holder which will make the glo-plug heat up faster. The couple of seconds that we have it on will let it last for quite a while with 3V going through it. Plus, they are cheap enough to burn up a few. :D

As a final note, I woulden't recommend scaling this up too much more than say 1" diameter because at that size, it gets really dangerous. Lot of percussive force and the burn can get hot in the pipe.

For real fun with fire... You should look into flash powder.

Where is Bre?!?!!?

Yeah, will Bre be doing videos as well as Kipkay?

Posted by: allegedfastluck on March 22, 2008 at 2:11 AM

Kip - I know you're catching some heck around here, but I just wanted to say that the vids are getting better every week. This one was great, very easy to follow.

Posted by: Phillip Torrone on March 22, 2008 at 8:17 AM

adam, zach - bre is working at etsy now.

Good video. I like your style, and your videos are very specific. You give clear instructions to an interesting project. While I liked Bre's videos too I find your videos more specific and detailed. Please keep up the good work.

Yeah, mad props for listening to comments. Fire is always a good topic for a video. I thought this looked cool in Make, but I'd have to go a little too far out of my way to get the flash paper and flash cotton. Can you really buy these things at hobby stores?

@PT- thanks for the Bre update. Others were wondering I'm sure...

Kudo's to Cap'n O for his creed also..similar to mine!

And Me...waaaaaaaaaay off topic!

Volkemon (why do I give my name signing in anon'y?)

Posted by: cyenobite2 on March 23, 2008 at 12:37 PM

Cool :)
Can I just throw out a few random comments here?
I thought the use of an unmounted Vice kinda funny :)
Seems like every week now, there is at least one comment that asks "Where is Bre?" - Maybe that should be incorporated into the video? ;)
(I kid)
I know this was mentioned before, and I think you said you were looking into it... after the video ends and metacafe suggests other videos in their thumbnails... Any way to filter these? I watched the video once at work - and one of the suggested video's was "Jessica Simpson Naked" and right now, I watched it again, and this one says "Simultaneous Breast Feeding" - what?!

@Kip: The videos are definitely getting better. I couple suggestions I have are to 1) keep the intro to under ten seconds, it has gotten much shorter already and we appreciate that. 2) save the nitty gritty details for the pdf. Specifically the materials lists, it feels very formal with the close up of everything on the table and the voice over listing every piece. When watching video I have about a two second attention span. That means I can only look at the same image for about two seconds before my eyes and mind start to wander. Maybe that is just me. 3) try to incorporate some story. Tell us why you made it or what you are planning on doing with it. I think it makes the videos more personable. 4) Why is your vise not screwed down? 5) I feel like you would benefit from better lighting. Just a few thoughts. Keep the weekend projects videos coming.
Cheers.

Seems Bre was always excited about the projects he was making. These new vid's sans Bre seem to be very cold and unfriendly. It is always more entertaining to see someone enjoying what they are doing then just making a video because its their job. On the other hand these are good instructions and possibly better explanation of the project then Bre, just not as entertaining!

@Greeno - I LOVE making videos. I've enjoyed every one of the 100+ I've made for the net. Sorry I came across as 'cold and unfriendly' to you. That's the first time anyone has ever said that. Oh well, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Thanks for watching.

Ok I thought you all at Make could use the feedback on using metacafe or whatever this video is on. It appeares as though half or more of the videos refered to after veiwing are extremely inapropriate refrencing porn, nudity and drugs. Ordinarily I wouldent say anything but I think that you guys should know it makes you look kinda bad and not entirely trustworthy (I know differently) so there you go.

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