A video demonstrating the iconic Indian 'Phat Phat Boat,' a cheap kids' toy sold at festivals. It has a tiny steam boiler powered by a bottlecap filled with paraffin with a little wick, and when powered, it poots around in circles.
YouTube link
(via Boing Boing)
4 comment(s):
I played with these whilst growing up in England in the 1960s, they were very cheap, and my friend's father used them and other similar toys to interest us in science and engineering.
They'd probably be banned now, can't let kids near flame or steam, or even sharp metal edges.
The mechanism is just great!
I thought this was great! I've never seen one before in Canada. I just bought one on ebay for a couple bucks.
We've had a couple for years. It amazes me how far they can travel on one itty bitty candle and such a tiny amount of water.
I often think of scaling it up just a little. Not too much because I suspect it doesn't scale too well, but somehting a little bigger would go well on more open water. These little baby ones tend to swamp really easily.
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