Desktop flamethrower
By Ben Everard. Posted
File this one firmly under ‘do not try at home’. Unless you have the skills, patience, and safety protocols in place to make what is essentially a DIY flamethrower. It’s not just a flamethrower, however, it’s a subscriber counter that shoots fireballs for every ten new YouTube subscribers.
Maker Tomasz wanted to celebrate his friend Dan’s new YouTube channel, so he built him something tangible to encourage him to increase his online following. Rather than gifting Dan with something pedestrian like a numerical display ticking upwards as your follower count grows, Tomasz took inspiration from the name of his friend’s YouTube channel: Gears, Code, and Fire. The final product combines all three of the elements: gears, some code, and the aforementioned incredibly dangerous fire.
Before the internet, one of the activities I imagine some people partook in to pass the time was making a flamethrower out of a can of deodorant and a contraband lighter. Tomasz’s follower counter is literally the same thing but levelled up with automated gears that switch the lighter aflame and spray the deodorant for you. Fourteen-year-old me did not foresee being concerned with these things so many years later, let alone in a professional capacity, but here we are.
