Burning Your Fingers?

[belmec3825]

I am a Zippo lighter user and it sucks for fireworks! Matches don't work worth a crap either. And those long nosed lighters for camping, in my opinion are just as useless. I found a neat twin pack of lighters at my local Menards the other day and I just thought I'd share... The twin pack was less than $2.00 and they are butane and refillable and like a long nosed micro torch and not as bulky. the flame glows red after a second or two which is nice in the daylight. Just one man's opinion._052036.jpg]

[justvisiting]

With the clicky lighters, it's really important not to foul the sparking part with BP smoke. I like to hit the visco at a 45 degree angle from behind, so the fire shoots away from the lighter. With black match, I tend to use a lighter with a bigger flame, because it fouls the small lighters really quickly, due to the much larger flame.

[SeaMonkey]

Back in the '50s when we ordered our Fireworks Kits from Banner Fireworks Co.

in Ohio, they always included in the kit a package of about six of what we called

"Punks."

 

The Punk was used for lighting the fuses of the various fireworks. Once lit, the

Punk burned slowly without a flame similar to how a cigarette burns and precisely

like the Cotton Rope Match burns/smolders for those Black Powder shooters who

use a MatchLock gun.

 

Doesn't anybody use them anymore? They're still available.

 

Much safer than any kind of cigarette lighter or flame.

 

Although, Belmec's lighter above is certainly the desired flame structure for those

who like to use a flame.

Edited December 11, 2020 by SeaMonkey

[Carbon796]

A full size propane torch is the easiest most reliable route.

[SharkWhisperer]

Those cheap Menard's mini-torch lighters look promising if they hold up, though at that price it's not so important. At some point, most pyros get tired of burns from fuse spit when lighting with a Bic lighter, especially if their device is below them and the lighter is angled downward. Punks are just long unscented incense sticks that smoulder for awhile, but are a real pain to light visco with--no timing reliability whatsoever.

 

The problem with those mini torches is 1) how hot does the flame get? and 2) they're mini, so your hands are still in the vicinity of what you're igniting, which isn't always fuse.

 

Many of us splurge the whopping $15 or so for the pushbutton Benzomatic torches that attach to 14.1 oz thin propane cylinders--the kind you might use to melt frozen plumbing/pipes or heat up stuck bolts to glowing. They put out a beast of a flame, ignite visco immediately, are very useful for testing hard-to-ignite comps and stars before priming, are super reliable, and your hands are much further away from whatever you're igniting. My basic one has worked flawlessly for over 2 years, having been filled with soil from careless handling with no issues, and sparks up first try every time. Highly recommended, though your little cheapo's might have utility if they put out a reasonable torchlike flame, too.

 

Edit: Hah! Carbon and me must be on the same wavelength tonite; both posts went up the exact same minute!!

Edited December 11, 2020 by SharkWhisperer

[markx]

I can vouch for these contraptions:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ceative-503Jet-Pencil-Torch-Oxicorte-Pencil-Gas-Butane-Fuel-Lighter-Welding-PenS/233344907754?hash=item365470b9ea:g:KskAAOSwjeldgeeW

 

Works like a charm in all kinds of weather conditions and the one that I've been using has held up for years. It is small and compact, yet allows to get a safe distance between the fuse and ones fingertips. In my experience this is about as close to an ideal lighting device as one can get.

[Arthur]

I have a preference for a full size trigger operated Rothenburger plumbers torch, used with MAPP gas!

 

Trigger operated means that the flame goes out when you release the trigger. MAPP gas means that you can see it in the dark 'cos it's bright yellow. Whatever the cost of MAPP gas a cylinder full lasts at least a year.

[SharkWhisperer]

I have a preference for a full size trigger operated Rothenburger plumbers torch, used with MAPP gas!

 

Trigger operated means that the flame goes out when you release the trigger. MAPP gas means that you can see it in the dark 'cos it's bright yellow. Whatever the cost of MAPP gas a cylinder full lasts at least a year.

What does "MAPP" stand for? Unless I'm just naive, it's not a term widely used in the US. At least I've never heard of it. Here most plumbers handheld torches run off of propane cylinders and most mini-torches and lighters use butane. You can find mini torches with an 0₂ cylinder and a butane cylinder--both about the size of CO₂ cartridges used in pellet guns, but those don't provide any real benefit to a hobbyist pyro. On my Benzomatic, turn the knob to start the gas, press the trigger to light it, and it stays lit til you turn off the gas; no constant trigger pull required. Mine's proven to be very useful and really don't need a smaller substitute for anything that I do, though I'm not knocking them. The constant trigger pull set-up might be nice, though, since torch use is usually a quick on/light device/off, unless you're lighting a bunch of items in a row for a show (which is when I switch to electronic ignition anyways). Anything's better than matches and Bic lighters.

[Carbon796]

Most plumbers here in the US, most likely use mapp. Rather than propane in their hand torches. It burns hotter, allowing you to solder/silphos faster and larger copper pipe/brass fittings. But there is a limit 1-1/2 to 2 inches, most will switch over to a larger, hotter B tank torch. Acetylene/air. If you go in a hardware store mapp gas tanks are yellow, and propane is generally blue. Mapp is more expensive. So you'll probably find that most true plumbers run mapp, while a homeowner or handyman will choose propane. Not really knowing what mapp is, or understanding its benefits. Though true mapp gas is no longer available, so its advantage is no where near as distinct, as it once was. Edited December 12, 2020 by Carbon796

[NeighborJ]

MAPP gas is a blend of acetylene and propane. Im not exactly sure what the acronym stands for.

 

Acetylene gas is generally required to achieve high enough heat to braize copper. It is generally stored in "B-tanks" which use coarse diatomaceous earth to prevent the gas from off-gassing violently during use. The MAPP gas uses propane and makes an aziotropic blend to accomplish the same thing, thou it isn't quite as hot as pure acetylene.

[SeaMonkey]

MAPP gas was a trademarked name, belonging to The Linde Group, and previously belonging

to the Dow Chemical Company, for a fuel gas based on a stabilized mixture of methylacetylene

(propyne) and propadiene. The name comes from the original chemical composition,

methylacetylene-propadiene propane. "MAPP gas" is also widely used as a generic name for UN

1060 stabilised methylacetylene-propadiene (unstabilised methylacetylene-propadiene is known

as MAPD). MAPP gas is widely regarded as a safer and easier-to-use substitute for acetylene. In

early 2008, true MAPP gas production ended in North America when production was discontinued

at the only remaining plant in North America that still manufactured it. However, many current

products labeled "MAPP" are, in fact, MAPP substitutes. These versions are composed almost

entirely of propylene with minuscule impurities of propane (<0.5%).^[1]

 

 

MAPP Gas - Wikipedia

 

MAPP Gas vs. Propane Gas

 

 

...which use coarse diatomaceous earth to prevent the gas from off-gassing violently during use.

 

 

The Diatomaceous Earth is saturated with Acetone which dissolves the pressurized

Acetylene thereby rendering it incapable of detonation. Acetylene pressurized to more

than 15 psi is very dangerous and liable to detonate unless dissolved in Acetone.

 

When acetylene must be pressurized and stored for use in oxy-acetylene welding and metal

cutting operations, special storage cylinders are used. The cylinders are filled with an absorbent

material, like diatomaceous earth, and a small amount of acetone. The acetylene is pumped into

the cylinders at a pressure of about 300 psi (2,070 kPa), where it is dissolved in the acetone.

Once dissolved, it loses its explosive capability, making it safe to transport. When the cylinder

valve is opened, the pressure drop causes some of the acetylene to vaporize into gas again and

flow through the connecting hose to the welding or cutting torch.

 

 

How Acetylene is Made

Edited December 13, 2020 by SeaMonkey

[Arthur]

For fireworks MAPP gas (in the UK) has only the one advantage that the can is painted yellow so it's harder to lose in the half dark of packing up after a display. Visco still lights instantly on being lit with a blowtorch flame (MAPP or Butane or Propane)

[Smokelvr]

A full size propane torch is the easiest most reliable route.

this^^^

seen micro torches, but those seem... easy to lose in the dark, easy to burn yourself, as they get too hot to pocket, a good plumbers torch is cheaper in the long run (burns cheap gas, not special lighter/propitiatory $$$)

[dlking59]

I can vouch for these contraptions:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ceative-503Jet-Pencil-Torch-Oxicorte-Pencil-Gas-Butane-Fuel-Lighter-Welding-PenS/233344907754?hash=item365470b9ea:g:KskAAOSwjeldgeeW

 

Works like a charm in all kinds of weather conditions and the one that I've been using has held up for years. It is small and compact, yet allows to get a safe distance between the fuse and ones fingertips. In my experience this is about as close to an ideal lighting device as one can get.

 

That's like the one I have. Works great but slowly leaks over several days.