37 replies to this topic

[magician]

My logic is that if you can modify the wick to take fire easily it might just work. I'm sure others will suggest ways to do this but fraying it and dipping in NC sounds plausible to me.

I did think about those 'fire wallet' props but I'm assuming they work with lighter fuel so wouldn't be suitable...

I see what you mean.
Yes, the fire wallets use lighter fuel. I think they also have a flint.

Edited by magician, 22 February 2011 - 03:53 PM.

[whoof]

A piezo ignition system would be great but it requires physical force and I don't see how that could be done remotely except via some kind of solenoid. I guess a solenoid might do the trick.
Yes PVA was a rather stupid thought. There are plenty on non-water based binding agents around.

A piezo will not work on its own as there is not enough energy.
The wax has to melt and vapourise first to give off the vapour which is what burns.

I would suggest that you need a slow ish burning pyrogen coated on the wick .
Perhaps someone here could suggest something that would be relativley safe to make and looks white.

'Magic candles' use very finely powdered magnesium which is rather dangerous to handle.

For ignition a turn of nichrome wire around the wick would work, 44 guage will easily fire from a small battery but is very fiddly to use.
A small ematch would be much easier.

Edited by snert, 22 February 2011 - 04:45 PM.

[Mixologist]

2nd vote for Nichrome wire.

I used to make my own ignitors with fuse wire, much like the filament in a light bulb, wrapped around match heads. Works every time.

Edited by Mixologist, 22 February 2011 - 06:43 PM.

[Arthur Brown]

I may be looking at the Le Maitre catalogue they supply flash paper, flash cotton and flash string. They also supply wands with fireball shooters in the end(s) which run off batteries and a glow plug. They also supply the spare glow plugs.

Can you look at casting a candle with a battery compartment and an igniter built into the wick with a pressure switch in the base so that it lit when stood on it's base.

Le Maitre will supply igniters too.

Go for a fat candle then there is room inside it for bits, go for a coloured candle then the contents dont show up when the candle is lit.

Anyone have a comp that lights when wetted with water?

Does this effect have to be repeatable or can it be reset first?

[magician]

The fireball shooter is nice - I have been meaning for a while to make something similar which can be concealed in the hand and then "vanished" but I think that something like this will produce more flash than useful heat, at least on the scale I am thinking of.

Yes the pressure switch on the base a good idea but I want to be able to detonate it remotely and secretly at a time of my choosing, and I have that side of it figured out, I think.

A single shot is fine but for a working effect, rather than proof of concept, it has to be quickly resettable without too much fuss

I may be looking at the Le Maitre catalogue they supply flash paper, flash cotton and flash string. They also supply wands with fireball shooters in the end(s) which run off batteries and a glow plug. They also supply the spare glow plugs.

Can you look at casting a candle with a battery compartment and an igniter built into the wick with a pressure switch in the base so that it lit when stood on it's base.

Le Maitre will supply igniters too.

Go for a fat candle then there is room inside it for bits, go for a coloured candle then the contents dont show up when the candle is lit.

Anyone have a comp that lights when wetted with water?

Does this effect have to be repeatable or can it be reset first?

[crystal palace fireworks]

Magician, is this what your looking for? ;- http://www.thetricke...andle__8907.htm

You also have the option to experiment with old christmas tree fairy lights that you could buy off of ebay quite cheaply, it might be possible (fiddly) to cut/grind/snip the tip off the light bulb with holder and two wires still intact, insert a tiny candle wick holder next to filiment and glue it to the bottom, you can then practice/experiment with different types of compounds/materials to attach/paint on the wick.

[magician]

Thanks for the link - but it looks very unconvincing and plasticky in the picture. The problem for me is that the magician has to hold that candle - presumably to press the piezo igniter. Really just a disguised cigarette lighter?
Christmas tree lights are an option, with the right pyrogen.

[magician]

Thanks for the link - but it looks very unconvincing and plasticky in the picture. The problem for me is that the magician has to hold that candle - presumably to press the piezo igniter. Really just a disguised cigarette lighter?
Christmas tree lights are an option, with the right pyrogen.

[magician]

This is very interesting -

http://www.mimesis-m...788/8193992.htm

although not as far as I can see in production

[cooperman435]

OK................

I stand slightly corrected.

After an hours playing with both 44swg and 40swg Nichrome I managed to get a standard Paraffin wax candle to ignite only twice.

The 44swg seemed too thin and would burn out very fast if short enough to actually ignite the wax, usually before vaporising and actually igniting the wax, if too long it never gets hot enough to reach flash point.

with the 40swg it was a bit easier to get the almost white hot wire to stay together long enough to ignite it.

I suspect a bit more playing would get better results but Id not like to say how reliable you could get it.

Id agree a pyrogen would do the trick easier and more reliably.

[Vic]

I have tried also.

Wick dipped in NC and then into 2fg BP prime with ematch tied to the wick with cotton did not work,
prime lit ok but just too fast to melt the wax and get it all going.

[crystal palace fireworks]

Thinking out loud chaps after your trials, its possible to buy zinc or tin cored candle wicks, if this particular wick had a high current running throught it from say a glow plug as suggested by others, then I guess it would ignite if you just dabbed the wick tip in parafin, white or methylate spirit, lamp oil, and not parafin wax (which is harder to melt).

Edited by crystal palace fireworks, 24 February 2011 - 04:24 AM.

[Peret]

Potassium permanganate and glycerin self-ignites. Make a shallow pit in the candle next to the wick, enough for a drop of glycerin. On the other side of the wick, make a deeper pit for a few permanganate crystals. Load the candle offstage, then as you set it down, use your thumbnail or something to cut a small canal from one pit to the other and let the glycerin flow through to the permanganate. The reaction takes a few seconds, enough to get the doors closed.

[fruitfulsteve]

NEGATIVE X
A mixture of finely powdered ammonium nitrate,ammonium chloride,and zinc will produce fire when a small amount of water is added or you can omit the ammonium chloride and add a small amount of dilute hydrochloric acid instead of water.
far less messy and a more candle like flame than potassium permanganate and glycerine.

[whoof]

OK................

The 44swg seemed too thin and would burn out very fast if short enough to actually ignite the wax, usually before vaporising and actually igniting the wax, if too long it never gets hot enough to reach flash point.

with the 40swg it was a bit easier to get the almost white hot wire to stay together long enough to ignite it.

Maybe a 2 stage approach is needed ?

Low current to heat up/melt then high current to ignite or 2 wires
.