Pyro Woot!

[andygates]

I like playing with pyros, always have - my junior school volcano caught fire and my LARP scripted wizard fights had flashpots and fireballs from hilltops. Lately it's been firebreathing and thermite. :evil:

A friend has a solstice bonfire, with booze and wassailing and fire-breathing and stuff. It's become tradition that I light the bonfire with thermite. It started out as an expedient event for testing my composition, but the planned use -- one-shot thermite art casting -- got distracted by the FOOSH! Oh such a lovely foosh.

As you all know from school chemistry, it takes a high-temperature source to ignite thermite. You generally use either a magnesium taper or a bit of pyro composition; schlubs like me use garden sparklers, as the sparks are magnesium hot and Mg tapers are hard to light outdoors. It's a bit close though and I scream and swear when startled by FOOSH so the plan this year? Electric igniters.

Got me some nichrom resistance wire. Wound a coil around a slim former, soldered on some fly-leads, then slid it onto a sparkler. Applied 12v. The wire glows red immediately, the sparkler ignites with perfect control.

WOOT! Houston, we are go for ignition.

[This is Seth]

Well that sounds safe. Gods forbid you burn off that magical moustache of yours.

[Timmy M]

lol nice video... gotta love the 'you beauty!' at the end works well with the accent

[smurray]

That was awesome! I am glad you found a better way of lighting your thermite.

[ETFnerd]

I feel like I just met you in your youtube videos. Nice to meet you Andy.

[Hermione Gainser]

That was awesome. But please... be careful of the 'stache. That is too glorious a 'stache to go up in flames.

I highly encourage more youtube videos.

[bigm141414]

That was awesome. But please... be careful of the 'stache. That is too glorious a 'stache to go up in flames.

I highly encourage more youtube videos.

Do they make fire rated 'stache protectors? Like a little hard hat? Because that stache needs to be preserved for future generations.

[Hermione Gainser]

Do they make fire rated 'stache protectors? Like a little hard hat? Because that stache needs to be preserved for future generations.

Seriously, you're killing me today. My coworkers think I've lost it.

Also, I think I have a new product line in mind! Facial hair hard hats! *Teeeheee*

[andygates]

Doubly dangerous if you've got a waxed moustache. That's a total human-wick spontaneous human combustion threat!

Spent, er, the entire day building and testing my pyro firing box. I really need a better soldering iron. These little butane jobbies are field-expedient but suck compared to even a cheapo mains unit. Still, I have triple-safe heavy 12v making incandescence at a safe distance, which is what is required. :thumbsup:

Ready to misbehave. by andygates, on Flickr

Nerd points: the box is a couple of old backup tape cases, and the battery is one scavenged from a UPS that was being retired.