Red Hot JACKHAMMER Vs. Frozen Lake

While standing on a frozen lake and trying to jackhammer through said lake with a red-hot jackhammer tip seem like a real, "hold my beer" kind of moment, that's not why I posted this video.

Instead, it's because of the utterly surprising but in retrospect kind of obvious results from the red hot jachammer tip.

See, the first four minutes are the guy (host of the Hydraulic Press Channel) just digging his way through half a meter of ice with a non-red-hot jackhammer. Meh...

It's at 4:19, though, that the material science gets real.

(Spoiler...watch the video first, at least the part from 4:00 through 4:30 before you highlight the text below)

At 4:19 the red-hot jackhammer tip meets the ice, and the jackhammerer learns a little bit about the effects of phase changes on steel. The tip - now properly softened via BCC to FCC phase change, curls right in on itself like it was made of soft butter.

He and his wife laugh like loons as the tip curls into nearly full U-shape.

Brilliant...

To quote at 4:49, "I think this is bad idea."

Then we're treated to an up-close replay at 5:03.

After about 5:40, then, there's nothing much to see here. Just a guy hammering away at blocks of ice he's cut from the lake's surface.

The money shots are all between 4:00 through 4:30 - or maybe through 5:30 if you really want to fill a little more class time.