Popped my first balloon .....

[mccarrot]

love to use this at home, any chance?

Yeah at home on you cat, dog, child, wife.

Sounds like the perfect toy for home.

[michelrietveld]

a request for enhancement : include an automatic musquito detector, lets hunt those anoying bloodsucking beasts down, o no, there is one on my back, zap.......

just kidding.

[Zoof]

not water balloons... oxy-acetylene balloons.

Just thinking.....
what would work as an igniter? Had my hopes on cap gun rounds but they will just slowly burn and smoke. Heating them in a flame sets them off but the beam is apparently not 'hot' enough.
Match heads are too slow to catch fire and only work at very close proximity... any other ideas that can be made from legally aquired materials? Or is this a too sensitive topic?

[Fenechlaser]

Why don't you try a small black plastic bag filled with Potassium permanganate (KMnO4 for the chemists around here) held over a metal container with a small amount of glycerine.

Laser = bag melts = KMnO4 onto glycerine...... (wait a few seconds / minutes) = violent purple colored flame

The only problem is that as I mentioned, it takes a bit of time and the exact amounts need to be tinkered with - but the chemicals are all available legally.

Else try igniting the percussion sand as I call it - little bags with impact sensitive chemicals. You throw them to the floor and they make a spark and popping sound. I don't know if they'll ignite with a laser, but worth a try.

Another possibility would be iodine with ammonia - the precipitate formed is very touch sensitive. Cons: iodine is VERY expensive (at least in Malta ) and the stains are unforgiving...

Edit - Have you tried GUNPOWDER / BLACK POWDER? It's already black so there is no problem with energy absorption
Happy explosions

[dash8brj]

This beats any of the pointer based (and even module based) balloon popping/match lighting/tape cutting video by far. Great work!

[steve-o]

Fill the balloons with butane or propane gas?

[Fenechlaser]

Fill the balloons with butane or propane gas?

But then where is the ignition source? Balloons pop since the latex burns/melts and the tension in it causes it to tear catastrophically. In this situation the flashpoint is not reached by the laser beam. You would need a very high power laser to ionize the air which in turn may ignite the flammable gas. Matches would work since they only need to reach a temp of + 350 degrees (try lighting one with a soldering iron at full power) at least on the surface, then chemistry kicks in and a very energetic oxidation reaction takes place aka, the flame.

What would be more appropriate is oxy acetelyne mix or ethylene. Very reactive mixture, but I don't know if it will reach its flashpoint with the laser.

What I don't know is if crushed match heads darkened with a bit of marker would act as an ignition suitable for this application. Else black powder. Wait if black powder works, then flares and stuff can be lighted with this setup

[mixedgas]

I love the warning tone going off before the cutting starts. Nice professional touch. LOL, Great, made my day.

Steve

[Elektrotechniker]

.. and it will not be made available to the community.

However, *fingers crossed*

[dash8brj]

I love the warning tone going off before the cutting starts. Nice professional touch. LOL, Great, made my day.

Steve

Yes very "Geek Groups Thumper" style with the warning tone - which sounded a lot like my federal signal 4050 horn - loud obnoxious horn I fire a couple of blasts on before discharging my 2.5kj capacitor bank