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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jacques Chitte who wrote (54570)	8/15/2000 4:06:11 PM
From: cosmicforce	Respond to of 71178

We got the syringes for free. Mom was a nurse. Polyethylene. I think it may have frosted with protracted exposure, but did not dissolve. We used a lid to hold the acetone, sucked it back to the "right" level (determined empirically). The black buna plastic button on the plunger swelled a bit with use,so we'd have to cycle through a few of them, letting the BUNA outgas between shots. I wasn't that scientific. Since the fumes were heavy, we put the hole towards the bottom 1/3 of the air space. A nail at about the 2 foot mark kept the projectile from sliding too far down - providing a 2 foot long flame chamber and a 4 foot barrel. When the vapors rose to the hole, they'd light. Muzzle smoke and distance was our best indicator of "optimal" mix. The rich fumes were generally easier to light. The optimal mixture burned best, but required patience for the mix to equilibrate. We optimized for cycle time. But remember, trying to accelerate a 4-5 oz projectile in cardboard - gotta watch that pressure. A long moderate burn seemed to work the best. The flame front would start mixing things and it seemed the mixture started slow and the pressure increased quickly to a "fwooomph" sound as the projectile left the barrel. We found that acetone actually worked almost as well as acetylene from the calcium carbide Bangsite (as measured by height). Better than gasoline. We also bent signs with balloons filled with an optimal oxygen/acetylene mix. We'd set the flame from a torch - snuf it out. Sounded like a cherry bomb from a 6" balloon. Very impressive. And energetic. Glad I've still got all my fingers. Don't tell any of this to my kids. They can look through the telescope or microscope to satisfy their science interest.