Danger in deodorant flamethrower?

[semi-pro waster]

I did have a shot of 79.9% vodka once, nasty nasty.

Yep, when something feels like it vapourises in your mouth, that's usually not a good sign as far as I'm concerned.

Inazuma, if you are going to use a can of deodorant as a flamethrower I'd suggest using it in relatively short bursts to minimise the risk of overheating and/or the can running out while you are using it. You might want to try a few different ones as some look like the caps might be better than others for it.

 

[Aod]

Yup! That and WD40 which squirts a burning stream of fire that sticks to the target and continues burning

Hairspray makes the best giant hot yellow ball of fire though

i once ignited a jet of expanding liquid propane.

which turned into a jet of flame 8 feet long, culminating in a fireball which exploded...

i didn't have any hair on my fingers for weeks!

 

[Jonny69]

i once ignited a jet of expanding liquid propane.

which turned into a jet of flame 8 feet long, culminating in a fireball which exploded...

i didn't have any hair on my fingers for weeks!

We made a flamethrower out of an inverted 20Kg propane bottle when I worked in special effects. That thing would fill the whole length of the workshop with fire so hot you couldn't leave it on for more than a second or two

 

[Prophet]

Yup! That and WD40 which squirts a burning stream of fire that sticks to the target and continues burning

Hairspray makes the best giant hot yellow ball of fire though

It's as close as you can get to a flame thrower type effect The burning stream looks cool and as you say it sticks to the target and burns for a while

 

[Aod]

We made a flamethrower out of an inverted 20Kg propane bottle when I worked in special effects. That thing would fill the whole length of the workshop with fire so hot you couldn't leave it on for more than a second or two

ah, but when i did it, it was accidental

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I was once in close proximity to a tin of curry baked beans which had been placed on a fire (unknown to me) when it exploded and sprayed me with beans.

Luckily the can stayed in one piece, and just split as it exploded. So rather than being dead, i was covered in small bean shaped burns.

 

[Solari]

Yup! That and WD40 which squirts a burning stream of fire that sticks to the target and continues burning

Napalm! Awesome!

 

[Rich1988]

But not as much fun as a tin of baked beans.

quoted for truth soup/baked bean tins are amazing on a bonfire! cheaper than deodrant as well

 

[Mobius 1]

i heard about some of my mates filling a baloon with the gasses you use for welding once. they said they're good


edit: oxyacetylene is the stuff, just wiki'd it.

 

[bledd]

done it loads of times. Its good for bbq starting

then your meat would taste of Brut....

 

[The Dread Pirate]

If you play with Fire expect to get burned maybe not this time or the next but soon...

<insert Foreboading image here>

 

[Prophet]

If you play with Fire expect to get burned maybe not this time or the next but soon...

<insert Foreboading image here>

Bit like saying if you keep crossing the road you will get hit by a car.

Oh noes!!!!!1111oneonetwothree

 

[div0]

And instead of proclaiming it as tosh and leaving it at that why not educate us all with the real facts so I can be sure not to make the same mistake he has

Lets start at the beginning then

I believe there are/were two terms for 'proof' used for drinks, which differ slightly.

The 'degrees proof' value of a spirit was originally defined using the point at which gunpowder would still light when soaked in the spirit.

If the gunpoweder would still light, the spirit was said to be '100 degrees proof" - if the gunpowder didn't light, then the spirit had been 'watered down' and was less than '100 degrees proof'. I think it works out that '100 degrees proof' is what we commonly call 57% (ABV).

Basically 'degrees proof' is 'ABV*1.75'.

I think the Americans then decided to use 'proof' defined as exactly 2*ABV. So '100-proof' is 50% ABV. And this is what most people refer to today when speaking about 'proof'.

So 57% (ABV) = 114-proof, and this would (apparently) be the strength needed to ignite gunpowder succesfully. But remember this definition of igniting gunpowder came from as far back as the 1700's - so is unlikely to give an accurate measure of exactly when a spirit first becomes flamable.

The main variable that affects this test is temperature.

Many spirits can be ignited easily if warmed up slightly. This is because the ethanol (alcohol) starts to evaporate and the vapours are then readily flammable.

I think the closest answer you can get is to look at the 'flash point' (the lowest temperature where a liquid will evaporate enough to form a combustible concentration of gas) for alcohol (ethanol).

At 50% ABV Ethanol has a flash point at about 24C
At 40% ABV you'd need to heat it to about 26C
At 30% ABV would need about 29C

This seems to fit in quite nicely with my experience of igniting alcohol, so while the sources may not be entirely correct - it does seem plausible

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_proof
http://ask.metafilter.com/95484/At-what-proof-will-spirits-burn
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethanol-water-d_989.html

 

[misterPK]

Hairspray makes the best giant hot yellow ball of fire though

A guy I know made a bazooka out of some lengths of drain pipe. It fired orranges mainly, and used hairspray as a proppelant with a hob lighter as the ignition source. Great fun to watch!

We made a flamethrower out of an inverted 20Kg propane bottle when I worked in special effects. That thing would fill the whole length of the workshop with fire so hot you couldn't leave it on for more than a second or two

You worked in special effects? How easy a job is it to get into? It's pretty far up my list of completely random career changes.

PK!

 

[ojste]

What absolute tosh!


Why is it that people post something they heard/vaguely remember/made up on the spot as though 100% fact?

my answer was based on an internet search, (the proof), personal experience (sambuca), and opinion (wine) which was later corrected by another search.

if my source is wrong then i am wrong though the rest of it stands

 

[G-MAN2004]

"Just thought I'd say it".

He's still making videos I think.

 

[The Dread Pirate]

Bit like saying if you keep crossing the road you will get hit by a car.

Oh noes!!!!!1111oneonetwothree

Yes but not everyone has been hit by a car. However I do believe that at some point in their lives everybody has been burned

 

[Glaucus]

The risk is so small it's not even worth calculating. No or limited oxygen in can will mean the flame wont go inside. The flame also wont heat the can up and give you a risk like that. Use to do it all the time as a kid. burnt so many clothes, carpets and other stuff when I was a kid.

 

[Aod]

The risk is so small it's not even worth calculating. No or limited oxygen in can will mean the flame wont go inside. The flame also wont heat the can up and give you a risk like that. Use to do it all the time as a kid. burnt so many clothes, carpets and other stuff when I was a kid.

FIX YOUR CAR!

 

[Jonny69]

A guy I know made a bazooka out of some lengths of drain pipe. It fired orranges mainly, and used hairspray as a proppelant with a hob lighter as the ignition source. Great fun to watch!

You worked in special effects? How easy a job is it to get into? It's pretty far up my list of completely random career changes.

PK!

One of my smaller cannons:

That would do an orange about 100m or a tennis ball about 150m. Nearly got me into big trouble at university!!! The big one I built at Lemans last year would get a tennis ball from the campsite right into the gravel traps inside the circuit so that's what, 400-450m?

It's easy to get into if you can make things, you need to be able to fabricate with metal, plastics, wood etc. Most of the firms are based in north west London and 99% of the work is freelance so you'll have to register self employed. Warning though, the money isn't great