Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Exploding Kinetic Art, aka Stick Bombs”.
This week, i’m going to show you how to make stick bombs. A stick bomb is any configuration of flat sticks that are woven together and held under pressure when one stick is removed. The whole thing flies apart. They range in size from small handheld bombs to massive displays made of thousands of sticks to build them. All you need is a bunch of flat sticks, most commonly tongue, depressors or popsicle sticks. Let’S start by making some small single cell bombs, the most common configuration is. The triangle bomb to make it take a stack of three sticks and fan them out with a center stick on top now insert a horizontal stick that goes over the center stick and under the two side sticks then add one more horizontal stick on top.
That goes under the center stick and over the two side sticks now you have a basic stick bomb to set it off, just drop it so that it lands on a side. You can even increase the force of the explosion by doubling some of the sticks. Another common configuration is the square bomb to make.
This lay two sticks on the table parallel to each other. Next lay two more sticks on top perpendicular to the first two then lay another stick across them in the center. Lastly, weave one final: stick through the center so that it goes under the first two sticks and over the center stick.
This makes a square bomb. There are a lot of other configurations that you can try so feel free to experiment. Once you’ve had some experience with single cell bombs, you can start combining them into multi-cell bombs.
To do this just build two bombs next to each other, so that they share a single stick. They need to be in the opposite orientation so that they press against each other. Then just remove the joining stick.
Now you have a two cell bomb now: you’re ready for the fun part chain reaction, stick bombs. These are made by stringing together a long series of bombs when one cell detonates it sets off the cells. Next to it. This kind of chain reaction can detonate. Hundreds of stick bombs in only a few seconds. The simplest chain reaction bomb is a string of square bombs.
These are linked together, just like the two cell square bomb. You just continue adding cells until you have a long chain. This is called the ortho weave pattern. Probably the most popular chain reaction pattern is the cobra weave. It’S called the cobra weave because when it’s detonated in the right direction, the chain lifts up off the ground like a rearing snake to make it start by placing one stick on the ground. At a 45 degree angle place a second stick on top so that they intersect at the top third of each stick then place a third stick on top of the second so that they intersect at the bottom.
Third of the two sticks now weave a fourth stick between the first three on the left side. To lock this end in place continue adding sticks to the right side, weaving them together at 45 degree angles until you have a long chain, then set it off. Interwoven sticks can store a surprising amount of energy, but you can get even more explosive force by adding rubber bands.
This configuration is called clever levers. Two sticks are placed on either side of a block. Then rubber bands are placed around the sticks on one side to hold the sticks together.
The free end is inserted between another set of clever levers, continue, adding levers until you have a long chain. You can even add props on top of the levers that will be thrown into the air. These are just a few examples of stick bombs. You can find a lot of other designs online.
If you want to see examples of large-scale stick bomb displays, i highly recommend checking out the work of tim fort. The kinetic king tim ford, developed most of the designs that are popular today and hold several world records for the largest stick bomb displays. Well, thanks for watching and check back next week for more diy hacks and how to’s .