Awesome Dangerous

A while back, Hacksmith Industries built a working lightsaber with a terrifying 4000º plasma blade. Now James is here to test whether there’s a safe way to put his hand into its beam, along with a lesson on the physics of heat transfer.

Mr. Michal shows off a metal truck that incorporates a multi-fire rocket launcher in its bed. Loaded up with gunpowder, it puts on quite a spectacle, but the danger level rises precipitously with the addition of ball-bearing projectiles. Yep, don’t try this at home. Leave it to the YouTube “professionals.”

(PG-13) Self-proclaimed professional idiot Steve-O returns to Hot Ones for another round of butt-burning sauces. For the season 14 (yep, that’s right) finale, the daredevil and comedian is back to outdo himself while he talks about his most ill-advised stunts, his love for skateboarding, and immortalizing his exploits on video.

After creating a robot that gives haircuts to humans, Shane from Stuff Made Here has bestowed one of his robots with a far more dangerous tool than a set of clippers. While his chainsaw-wielding robot arm is designed for carving shapes from foam blocks, we could see it taking off an arm if there’s any bug in his programming.

Inspired by LockPickingLawyers‘ videos showing how to use a gunpowder-loaded nail gun to break padlocks, The Backyard Scientist wanted to build something a bit more powerful. His goal? Build a weapon that can punch and smash through bricks. It’s also way better at breaking locks, and works as a demolition tool.

We watched in amazement as BASE jumpers Espen Fadnes and Andreas Haaland Hemli jumped off of a mountain in Norway in the dark of night, then lit up their flight path with brilliant flares attached to their feet. We thought we were watching a missile launch.

The Backyard Scientist conducts another ill-advised and dangerous experiment by loading himself and a bucket of molten aluminum into a cherry picker, then ascending to 50 feet before pouring the metal into an aquarium on the ground. We’d like to say this was for science, but it’s clearly just for the spectacle.

Anni and Lauri of the Hydraulic Press and Beyond the Press Channels show of one of their deadliest creations, an air-powered launcher that can fling a circular saw blade at breakneck speeds. The sound it makes is both satisfying and terrifying.

Chris Benchetler shows us green run amateurs what we’re missing out on with this amazing POV of his line at California’s Mammoth Mountain. Watch as he winds through precariously tight rock formations, then catches air performing flips and spins on his quick trip to the bottom.

Given ElectroBOOM’s tendency to shock himself while working with electricity, we’re not sure that a 500,000-volt generator is a something he should tinker with. But that’s exactly what he shows off in this video, a high-voltage circuit made up by charging a number of capacitors in parallel, then connecting them in series.

Taking a page from the Beyond the Press channel’s sawblade car, RC car fan Fivo Nine modded their Traxxas Xmaxx trophy truck, and outfitted it with 7-1/4″ blades from a circular saw. The RC truck has a tremendous amount of torque for its size, so it quickly digs in and starts cutting into the surface of the frozen lake.

If there’s one thing that we can say about maker Colin Furze is that he’s ambitious. For his latest build, he and his friends made an enormous trebuchet that can barely fit inside the workshop where they assembled it. Fortunately, it has wheels so they can tow it out of there. We’ll have to wait to see it in action though.

Nibbling on crushed ice can produce a satisfying and cooling sensation. But we can’t advise doing the same with dry ice. What If explores what kind of terrible things would probably happen to you if you downed a big hunk of the solidified carbon dioxide that likes to maintain a temperature around −109.3 °F.

Coolest Thing introduces us to self-proclaimed mad scientist Lance Greathouse. Among his many builds is a motorized wheelchair that packs a flamethrower on its front end. But he doesn’t just build silly stuff, Lance and the folks from the Wheelchair Labs helps refurbish wheelchairs for people in need.

You would think lighting anything around your on fire would be a bad idea, but that didn’t stop The Hacksmith from doing just that. In this insanely cool build, they created a version of Ghost Rider’s fiery helmet that burns propane fuel. As a bonus, they threw in a flaming chain.

You wouldn’t think that something as innocuous as corn starch could cause a massive fireball, but you’d be wrong. The Beyond the Press channel conducted a series of experiments to show just how flammable various kinds of dust and powder can be when exposed to a flame. They didn’t try non-dairy creamer though.

People do some strange things when they run out of stuff to do. Take, for example, this annual festival which takes place in San Juan de la Vega, Mexico. The sole objective is for participants to hit things with a sledgehammer packed with explosives so it blows up. Todd Hata takes us inside this wild and loud celebration.

After building a retractable blade lightsaber, The Hacksmith is back to show off what this impressive plasma weapon can do. Watch in awe as it burns right through a Stormtrooper, slashes through walls, and melts metal and glass like butter. It’s not as quick at cutting as the ones in the movies, but just as awesome.

Longboarder Josh Neuman and his pals take us on a wild ride down one of the coolest roads on the planet, as a FPV drone pilot Rene Renson chases his crew along a portion of the Lysevegen, a super-curvy street that runs down a mountain in Lysebotn, Norway.

The Hacksmith has been trying to build a real-world lightsaber for quite some time now. The closest he’s gotten up until now is a deadly electric heating element. Now his shop has created a version that retracts like the ones in Star Wars, burning a 4000ºF beam of plasma. That brass and copper steampunk hilt is too cool for words.

There are numerous articles out there on how to make a messy concoction called elephant toothpaste. Engineer Mark Rober has even filled a swimming pool with the stuff. Now, he’s made something far more reactive and explosive, dubbed “devil’s toothpaste.” He then supersized the experiment for a very special fan.

Inspired by the Junk Jet in Fallout 4, The Hacksmith went ahead and built a real-world replica of the unique and destructive weapon. Simply load up its steel barrel with anything you find lying around, and its airbag-powered launcher turns random junk into deadly projectiles.

Joel Creates previously showed off two different designs for a weapon that can fire hot glue. Now, to prove that the third time’s a charm, he created an even more dangerous version. It’s basically like a Super Soaker, except it shoots a stream of molten glue instead of water. Needless to say, don’t try anything like this at home.

In order to improve his hit distance, engineer Shane Wighton Stuff Made Here created a baseball bat with the ultimate sweet spot. If hit just right, explosive charges fire, pushing a piston forward, and launching the baseball into home run territory. Along the way, he shows off his fancy new Tormach 24r mill.

Over the years, The Hacksmith has made some pretty badass gadgets, often inspired by movie props and weapons. This time, they built themselves an awesome metal gauntlet that looks like Iron Man’s armor, then upgraded it with the ability to slice through metal with a plasma cutter. Every workshop needs one of these.

(PG-13: Language) A while back, Joel Creates built a dangerously literal weapon that actually fires hot glue as projectiles. He’s since gone back to the drawing board, revamping its design so it fires a stream of molten glue, and making it a lot cooler to look at.