Zero Blaster Reviewed

Daniel Rutter writes "I've just reviewed the Zero Blaster, the smoke ring gun that ThinkGeek (among others) sell. It works. It's fun. It's a vortex ring physics demonstration with two triggers and a see-through mechanism. What more could you want for $20?" Thinkgeek and Slashdot are both owned by VA Software.

Comments

DIY Vortex Gun

[istartedi]

This reminds me of a DIY vortex gun I saw in a kids science comic thingy when I was like... 13 or something.

Step 1. Get a sturdy cardboard box no more than 6 inches wide in any dimension. 6" by 6" square with 8-12" length is good. Something cylindrical like a Quaker Oats container might be even better.

Step 2. Cut out one end and stretch a balloon over it. Firmly tape or otherwise fasten the balloon over the end.

Step 3. (perhaps the trickiest part) Attach something to the center of the balloon so you can pull it back. IIRC, they suggested that you could use a brass notebook fastener and some tape to do this. The tricky part is not to tear the balloon.

Step 4. Cut a circular hole in the middle of the other side. I want to say it should be about a 3rd the "diameter" of the box. Certainly no larger than that.

To "fire" it, just pull back on the balloon and hold long enough for pressure to equalize (this happens almost instantly because the hole is pretty big). Then, release it in a SNAP! all at once.

It's been a long time, but I think they promised a curious puff of air could be felt by people 10 or 20 feet away if you did it right.

An afternoon of scrounging for parts, construction, and experimentation with your kids is probably a more valuable experience than just shelling out for a vortex gun with nasty smoke in it.

For extra credit and to find out if your kids are mechanicly inclined, encourage them to come up with a handle/trigger mechanism for the thing so it can be pointed like a real gun.

If your DIY version works, you can take the kids out for ice-cream and get some dry ice from the vendor. See if you can make your gun smoke with that. A fun afternoon and evening for the entire family!

Glycol?

[Combuchan]

I find it interesting that Zero Toys would use glycol as the formula for the smoke solution, especially a cherry-scented concotion. Kids tend to equate cherries with stuff that tastes good, with perhaps disastrous results when we look at the defintion from wordnet:

glycol
n 1: a sweet but poisonous syrupy liquid used as an antifreeze
and solvent [syn: {ethylene glycol}, {ethanediol}]

Smells like a lawsuit waiting to happen.