Make your own fire starter that uses compressed air and burns at 500 degrees!
Thanks to Bill Gurstelle for showing us this at Maker Faire.
To download The Fire Piston MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes.
Pick up your own Fire Piston Kit in the Maker Shed.
Posted by KipKay |
Jul 3, 2009 05:00 AM
MAKE Podcast, MAKE Video, Weekend Projects |
Permalink
| Comments (4)
| Email This |
| Digg this!
Oldest comments listed first.
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)
Check out all of the episodes of Make: television
 |
MAKE on Facebook Visit our Facebook page and become a fan of MAKE! |
 |
MAKE on Twitter Follow our MAKE tweets! |
 |
MAKE on Flickr Join our MAKE Flickr Pool! |
Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!
Click here to advertise on MAKE!
Gareth Branwyn
Senior Editor
Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
| AIM | Twitter
Becky Stern
Associate Editor
| AIM | Twitter
Marc de Vinck
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
John Park
Contributing Writer
| Twitter
Sean Ragan
Contributing Writer
| Twitter
Matt Mets
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
Dale Dougherty
Editor & Publisher
| Twitter
Shawn Connally
Managing Editor
| Twitter
Goli Mohammadi
Associate Managing Editor
Kip Kay
Weekend Projects
| AIM | Twitter
Collin Cunningham
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
Adam Flaherty
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
More contributors: Mark Frauenfelder (Editor-in-Chief, MAKE magazine), Kipp Bradford (Technical Consultant/Writer), Chris Connors (Education), Diana Eng (Guest Author), Peter Horvath (Intern), Brian Jepson (O'Reilly Media), Robert Bruce Thompson (Science Room)
Weekend Project: Making Char Cloth
Learn how to make a cheap and effective fire starter made from an old t-shirt. To download The Char Cloth video click here and subscribe in iTunes. See Char Cloth in action with the Fire Piston from William Gurstelle....
More...
www.flickr.com
|
www.flickr.com
|
Help | Write for MAKE | Contact Us | Subscribe | Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy| About MAKE | FAQ
© 2009 O'Reilly Media, Inc.
All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing on makezine.com are the property of their respective owners.
RSS
I thought compressing air generated heat because it increases the friction of the air molecules 'gainst one another; is that not so?
Reply to this comment
Friction in the air molecules may be part of the reason for the heating. The other reason is that a given volume of gas has a certain amount of heat energy in it (related to the temperature), and if the gas is compressed the same amount of energy is pushed into a smaller volume, resulting in a higher temperature. Refrigeration operates (more or less) on this principle.
Given the speed with which the air is compressed, it's hard to say to what degree each effect contributes to heating the air without figuring out some numbers and doing some calculations (for which I lack the necessary thermodynamics knowledge).
As a side note, both effects would take place no matter how fast the air was compressed, but in this case it has to be compressed as quickly as possible because it's always losing heat to the outside environment (the system is not adiabatic).
Reply to this comment
Kip Kay is the Billy Mays of Make.
Reply to this comment
500 degrees (°C ? °F ? °K ?) seems a lot for a plastic tube ... Is it one shot ?
Kip Kay seems totally unimpressed by the fact that Rudolf Diesel was inspired by a Malaysian fire making technique, but I think it's totally awesome !
Reply to this comment