Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 12:05:47 -1000 From: Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite) Message-Id: <3s4sbr$fd2@southern.co.nz> Organization: Southern InterNet Services Subject: Bubble Machines, Gadgets & Gizmos ==================================================================== Those Amazing Young Men with their Bubble Machines ==================================================================== A new printing of "The Bubble Book" has appeared in the Global Sky Kite Shop here. It comes with an elaborate Giant Bubble Maker - book and bubbler for NZ$ 29.95. "The Unbelievable Bubble Book" by John Cassidy with David Stein, inventor of the Bubble Thing which has produced the Guiness Book of Records largest bubble - 250 feet long. Klutz Press, Palo Alto, California. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: BUBBLES! From: irving@sys.toronto.edu (Irving Reid) Date: 28 Apr 93 20:20:34 GMT era_pul@ki.ericsson.se (Peter Ulfheden ) writes: >I've been thinking about entertaining my kids (and myself ;-) by making >a wind powered bubble maker that could be raised with a kite. >Anybody seen something like that? >Peter I have a Pustefix "Wirbelfix", which is a plastic airplane-shaped bubble machine which uses the propeller on the front to turn bubble wands through a trough full of bubble mix. I had to make a little frame for it in order to hang it from my line and keep it pointing into the wind. It's very eye-catching; you get a long "tail" of bubbles streaming >From your kite line. Guaranteed to please all but the toughest crowds. The hardest part in designing something similar would be to keep it pointing into the wind, and to keep it from tipping and pouring bubble mixture onto innocent bystanders. - irving - -------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Bubbles! From: era_pul@ki.ericsson.se (Peter Ulfheden ) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 16:06:11 GMT Organization: Ericsson Radio Systems AB, Sweden My *IDEA* of a bubble maker on a kite looks like this. Note that I haven't tried it yet. I assume that the viscosity(sp?) of the water will keep the speed down on the rotors. Shaft v Top O--+--O <-- PingPong ball rotor view | +------------+ | | | | o-+-o <--|--- Four bubble frames on sticks | | |<-- Tank +------------+ | O--+--O <-- PingPong ball rotor Side ) ) view \ / +-----X------+ Bubble frames not shown |~~~~/~\~~~~~| \ ( ( / --------- The tank must be suspended in such way that it's aimed in the direction of the wind. A way to do this is to it the way cameras are suspended. _________ Kite /\__\__\__\ \/__/__/__/ . . . . knob--> o/ The kite line should be turned ./<-- stick a couple of turns (I don't know ./ the English name of the knot) ./P <-- hinge around each knob ./ | o o/ | o o o o . | o o o o o o . / \ o o o o o o o o . +---+ o o o o o | | <-- Tank o o +---+ Ahhh... I couldn't resist making all those bubbles ;-) Tight Line(s) Peter -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite) Subject: Re: Bubbles! Date: 1 May 93 07:15:36 +1200 Peter Ulfheden (era_pul@ki.ericsson.se) wrote: > My *IDEA* of a bubble maker on a kite looks like this. Note that > I haven't tried it yet. I assume that the viscosity(sp?) of the > water will keep the speed down on the rotors. Peter Ulfheden's design for a Flying Bubble Generator is admirable. It has yet to be manufactured and tested. A much simpler mechanism may be available. Many years ago you could buy very lightweight tin birdwarblers. They looked like tiny watering cans. You put water in the can and blew down the spout and out came a delightful bird trill or warble. This device, part filled with bubble liquid ( or detergent ), could be taped to the base of the spine of a simple single-line stable kite. The spout would be positioned to point into the wind. An assistant would be needed to carefully and gently launch the kite to avoid spillage. I feel sure that the resulting audio-visual bubbles would be a delight for other fliers and spectators. When the liquid ran out the steady whistle from this device would continue to entertain for hours. Different warblers would also produce a variety of sounds. perhaps even music ? The Birdwarbler could become a standard kite accessory. After all the Chinese put clackers, whirrers, flappers and bangers in their dragon kites. So why not bubble blowing bird warblers ? Colin Douthwaite New Zealand 1/5/93 -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: zpmobley@TRIDENT.TEC.SC.US Subject: Re: Bubbles Date: 2 Sep 1994 13:53:07 GMT In article , Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite) writes: >In article dangit@netcom.com (Lam >Dang) writes: > >>I plan on doing a project/paper/modeling of the characteristics >>of bubbles, such as their shapes, surface movements, how they >>pop (the black spots right before), and possible other related >>kinda of things. > >>The problem is that I'm not sure where to begin -- is there a >>scientific 'name' for bubble? Does this have to do more with >>physics, chemistry, or equally in both fields? Has much work >>been done in this field? [Has too much work been done in this >>field? :]. Where do I begin my research? > >>Thanks, >> Jimmy Dang (jdang@goober.mbhs.edu) Well, chemistry is just area specific physics actually. The deal here is surface tension. The colors (make em in the dark and hit em with a flashlight...you'll see some amazing colors happening and they move) is due to thin film physics, and that black spot before they bust is where they are so thin that they reflect no color. That is the point where the bubble actually busts due to lack of surface tension...all of the liquid that creates surface tension flows to the bottom of the bubble, which you can watch happening, and the top of the bubble gets so thin that the tension from the bottom rips the top apart. I make large bubbles, and have actually put people inside them....bubbles are right up there with kites for me. Bubbles are also great in a strobe light, and you can use a butane cannister to inflate them and then hit em with a lighter and they poof really neat. (don't try this without parental supervision kids) Per research, are you looking for serious scientific research or just your everyday joe kinda research. Bubble technology is it's own scientific field, and there are scientists who do nothing but study bubbles/suds. I made a bubble machine once that flew from the bottom of my delta....rotating wheel (wind rotates it) passes bubble wand through a container of soap and as it comes out the bubble fly! Neat as hell when winds are right. tension and tight lines to ya. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: seanl@harlequin.co.uk (Sean Lange) Subject: Re: Bubbles 94 20:53:26 +1200 Organization: Harlequin Ltd, Barrington Hall, Cambridge UK Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 08:42:33 GMT > I made a bubble machine once that flew from the bottom of my > delta....rotating wheel (wind rotates it) passes bubble wand > through a container of soap and as it comes out the bubble fly! > Neat as hell when winds are right. I too have tried a bubble machine under a delta. It was a small toy, shaped like a plane with small trough for bubble juice and and prop that when spun caused wands to dip in and out of the juice. In good wind conditions if was great - a very impressive stream of bubbles. The one problem I had was getting the gizmo into the air without spilling half the bubble juice over me, the kite and the field. Anyone else experience this and/or have solutions. - sean -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: zpmobley@TRIDENT.TEC.SC.US Subject: Re: Bubbles Date: 7 Sep 1994 13:34:39 GMT Organization: Trident Technical College Message-ID: <34kfhf$gf3@ns.sunbelt.net> , In article , seanl@harlequin.co.uk (Sean Lange) writes: > >> I made a bubble machine once that flew from the bottom of my delta....rotating >> wheel (wind rotates it) passes bubble wand through a container of soap and as >> it comes out the bubble fly! Neat as hell when winds are right. > >I too have tried a bubble machine under a delta. It was a small toy, >shaped like a plane with small trough for bubble juice and and prop >that when spun caused wands to dip in and out of the juice. In good >wind conditions if was great - a very impressive stream of bubbles. >The one problem I had was getting the gizmo into the air without >spilling half the bubble juice over me, the kite and the field. Anyone >else experience this and/or have solutions. > >- sean I had that problem as well...I don't have the perfect solution, but if you center the prop in a deep wide bucket and only fill it a quarter full it spills less than with the prop originating outside the bucket. (I say bucket when I should say lightweight soap solution container, don't try it with a 5 gallon galvanized pail unless you have a hell of a delta!). At the top place parallel strips of saran wrap alongside, but not in the way of, the prop, and this will reduce spillage considerabley. Using a stiff tape like duct tape to keep the wrap from blowing all over and screwing up the airstream will produce better bubbles. Also, use a little extra glycerine in the solution and shoot for dry cool (cold) weather....hot dries bubbles and humid dilutes them, both shorten bubble lifespan. Make sure the wands are wide and serated to hold maximum quantity of your solution and that the prop is hindered enough to keep it from spinning crazy and throwing solution all over....Also, if you strongly illuminate downwind from the underside of the bucket the extra weight (again, don't overdue the weight or you'll be grounded) helps keep it from swinging so wildly and the light makes great colors in the bubbles at night. Crude and elementary ascii drawing follows... >From the side... _____ _____ | | | | |___| |___| \ / \ / ________________________________________________________________________ | \ / | | \ / | | \ / | | \ / | | \ / | | \ / | | O | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | _____ / \_____ | | | | | | | | |___| |___| | |______________________________________________________________________| >From the top.... ________________________________________________________________________ | | | SARAN WRAP | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | SARAN WRAP COVERED WITH TAPE | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | PROP | | ---------------------------O------------------------------ | | | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | SARAN WRAP COVERED WITH TAPE | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | SARAN WRAP | |______________________________________________________________________| Happy trails Tom -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: zpmobley@TRIDENT.TEC.SC.US Subject: Re: Bubbles Date: 12 Sep 1994 15:22:30 GMT Organization: Trident Technical College Message-ID: <351rnm$6i3@ns.sunbelt.net> In article , Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite) writes: >zpmobley@TRIDENT.TEC.SC.US wrote: > > [bubble stuff deleted] >> I had that problem as well...I don't have the perfect solution, >So what size and weight of bucket are you describing and what >diameter for the bubble wands ( I assume they are circular shaped at >the ends to form the bubbles ) ? > I couldn't tell you the weight, but the bucket was app 12 x 12 x 6. The wands I cut off of bubble wands (app 1" diameter), and the prop was hand made. I cut off the end of a walnut dow rod for the center piece and whittled my own props from walnut stock. It flew with the wide side to the wind and required 4 bridles to hold it in place. It would probably be better behaved with the narrow side to the wind and by using ping pong halves below the wands rather than the prop. May have more success in lighter winds also. Mine was crushed in the next to last move I made, and I think that when I remake it I will try it with the smaller sillouette to the wind and the ping pong balls. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: seanl@harlequin.co.uk (Sean Lange) Subject: Re: Bubbles Date: Tue, 13 Sep 1994 10:21:04 GMT Sean Lange (seanl@harlequin.co.uk) wrote: > I too have tried a bubble machine under a delta. It was a small > toy, shaped like a plane with small trough for bubble juice and > and prop that when spun caused wands to dip in and out of the juice. What sort of dimensions and weight did this gadget have ? Presumably it was made mainly of plastic with metal for the prop shaft and wands ? What did the toy cost ? The gadget was made of plastic, with a plastic prop and wands (3) the only metal was the shaft from prop to wands. The tank for juice was semicircular about 3in radius and about 3/4in wide (not big enough in my experience). 3 mount points, both wings and tail. Overall wingspan 9in, length 10in (all dimensions approx). Cost 5 quid. - sean ==================================================================== = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =