Graham. wrote:
"ARWadsworth" wrote in message
om...
Sod Teddy Bears. This article reminded me of my first childhood DIY
experiments

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8154757.stm


I had several DIY childhood experiences and the bigger the good hiding
from my parents the more damage I must have caused.

The most memorable experiment was when my brother and I found our Dad's
hammer on the landing and we smashed the bathroom sink into bits to see
how long it would take to smash the sink into bits.

So what DIY experiments did you perform as a child? I know that one
regular poster deliberately electrocuted his sister.

Adam

I brought a 4ft diameter met balloon into collage once and we decided
to fill it with gas from the Bunsen burner supply* in one of the labs.
We released it from a top floor window aided and abetted by
our lecturer. I suggested that we should attach a card with a message
on it from us, but he didn't think that was a good idea.

*proper coal gas, not the modern heavier than air substitute we get now.

Ah WE used a camping mattress pump to fill ours from the gas poker,
taped a fuse to it, and generated UFO sightings over west London.

Then there was the 'ball bearing cannon' featuring 1/4" pipe, two
bangers (dismantled) and a 1/4" ball bearing. Sited carefully on a cast
(steel? iron? Mezac?) plate on a tennis court in a field..it made a
satisfying bang. We walked over and found a quarter inch hole punched
through the 1/4" cast plate..