Cautions

Making It Magic

At the same time, I have no desire to lie to people and lead them into believing that this is real magick.

In order to balance these factors, I have a policy of never talking about how an effect is done on the day it is done. But if you want to ask me the next day about how I lit the fire, I'll be glad to share.

Who Is In Charge?

Lighting The Fire

Wired Electrical Ignition

Note: I have tried many designs over the years, some of which I like more than this one. But this particular design scores well for safe, effective, easy, and cheap. Be aware that nothing is truly goof-proof and fire can be dangerous, especially when it comes unexpectedly. Be cautious and use good judgement.

Materials:

• Estes-brand model rocket igniters
• highway safety flare
• ordinary paper matches, from a matchbook, 2
• "D" cells
• battery holder for "D" cells
• plenty of 2-conductor insulated wire; stranded, 16 ga or thicker ("zip cord" or speaker wire works well)
• about 6" of insulated single-conductor wire
• momentary action switch, normally open
• toggle switch, DPDT
• masking tape
• plastic wrap
• corrugated cardboard, about 1 foot square

The equipment is taken to the bonfire site as three seperate units: the igniter assembly, a spool of wire, and the power pack.

This is a pictorial of the power pack. When the DPDT switch is in the "safe" position, the wires to the igniter assembly are shorted out, so no power can get to it.

In the past, Estes had at least two different electrical igniters for their model rockets. Included with the engines were some simple igniters that worked well when powered from a 12V car battery. Estes sold fancier igniters under the "Solar Igniter" label. These worked off of less power, like 2 "D" cells. That's what I used at first.

These are the Estes model rocket igniters at my local store as of 8/2004. The back of the package says they want 4-6 Volts.

My suggestion is to get whatever model rocket igniters they are selling this year and put together enough 1.5V "D" cells to equal the required voltage.

This diagram looks down into the end of the highway safety flare, which should have a black "button" an the end, where you light it.

The model rocket igniter is in the middle, flanked by the matches. The matches serve to catch the flame of the model rocket igniter and amplify it to insure that the highway flare ignites.

The shunt wire is a short-circuit across the model rocket igniter that prevents it from igniting in case it gets power by accident.

Assembly:

• Conduct igniter assembly outdoors, without kids or pets nearby.
• Glue or tape the highway safety flare in the middle of the corregated cardboard.
• Take the single-conductor wire and strip about one inch of insulation from each end. This will be used for the protective safety "shunt".
• Cut about two feet of 2-conductor wire. On each end, separate the two conductors for about two inches, and then strip the insulation for about an inch.
• Pick one end of the 2-conductor wire and get ready to attach that end to the igniter and single-conductor "shunt" wire.
• Take one wire from the igniter, one from the single-conductor shunt, and one from the 2-conductor wire and twist them tightly together. Cover with a bit of tape.
• Do the same twist-and-tape with the other wires from igniter, shunt, and 2-conductor wire.
• Mount the igniter on the top ignition button of the highway safety flare. Secure with more tape.
• Leave the looping "shunt" wire accessible.
• Cut a notch in the bottom of the cardbard and pass the wire through it and tape securely. This provides strain relief, so if somebody tugs on the cord, it won't pull off the flare.
• Roll up the rest of the two-foot wire attached to the igniter and prepare it for transport.

The igniter assembly must not transported connected to anything else! In addition, place pieces of masking tape between the model rocket igniter, the matches, and the ignition button on the highway safety flare. Do this in such a way as to isolate each blob of chemicals from the other chemicals. Some chemicals will catch fire when pressed into contact with others. Since we don't know what went into any particular batch of flares or matches, this precaution is taken to keep them apart.

When you get to the bonfire site, lay the fire with the ignitor in mind - where are you planning to put it? I like to put mine inside the bottom of the log cabin, so that the rising flames inside will rapidly light more of the wood. Hook the igniter assembly to the spool of 2-conductor wire, put the igniter assembly near where it goes in the fire, and run the wire to the control location.

Disguise the wire running from the fire pit to the control location. I usually have a nice clean fire pit with concrete walls. I tape the wires to the walls of the pit, going out, up, and over - then rub mud on them to disguise the wire. When the wire exits the pit, I bury it a few inches deep. I secure each end with a tent stake, so that if somebody does accidently dig up the wire and trip on it, it won't pull down the stack of wood.

Insure that the safety switch is in the "safe" position and than nothing is pressing against the "fire!" button. Attach the cable to the power pack. Go to the igniter assembly, carefully remove the masking tape that provide chemical isolation, make sure that the assembly is pointing in a safe direction, and cut the "shunt" wire. Place the igniter assembly in the pile of wood, in such a way that the accelerant is unlikely to be poured directly on it. Aim it so that the jet of fire that it produces will wash over a piece of wood wet with accelerant. Use plastic wrap to protect the igniter assembly against stray splashes of the accelerant.

The site is now live and must be protected against curiosity or accidental intrusion!

Add the accelerant as near to the beginning of the bonfire ceremony as possible. Try not to get the liquid on the igniter assembly.

To fire, make sure that the area is clear. Flip the safety switch from "safe" to "fire". Then hold down the "fire!" button. When the fire starts, flip the safety switch back to "safe".

Notes:

• The shunt wire places an electrical short-circuit across the electrical igniter. It is intended to prevent accidental operation in the event that power is accidently applied to the igniter. In order for the igniter to work, you have to cut the shunt wire. In order to extend your protection, cut the shunt as late as possible.
• Do not make a batch of igniter assemblies and store them for later. Make each one shortly before use.
• Make sure that your igniter is protected from getting wet with accelerant. It might cause it to fail.
• If this were a professional system, you would want to include a safety switch that is operated by a key to insure that only the authorized operator is capable of setting off the fire. Instead, I keep my power pack in a locked metal toolbox underneath the seat that I will occupy at the bonfire.
• When the main bonfire is over, find a moment when nobody is looking. From the outside of the pit, find the hidden wire going down into the pit, and pull it out. The last few feet of the wire will be burnt and crispy. Remove the stake holding down the end of the wire, and roll up the wire going back to the control location. Remove that stake, and put everything away.

Backup Ignition

Hypergolic Mixtures

Colored Flames

Copper Sticks

• Pick a length. It's not critical. Anywhere between 6" and 18" is great.
• Get an old plastic garden hose and cut it into pieces of your selected length.
• Cut a piece of copper pipe to the same length. It can be any diameter that is large enough that the hose fits inside the copper pipe. It works best if the pipe is just a little bigger than the hose. 3/4" pipe is usually good. The pipe can be an old piece of scrap, but make sure it is copper. No galvanized; no lead.
• Optional: Drill some holes all the through the pipe from side to side. 1/4" holes work well. Drill a hole every 2"-3" or so. Accuracy is not important.
• Stuff a piece of the hose into the copper pipe. You might want to bend the copper pipe slightly, so that the piece of hose doesn't fall out.
• Toss the assembly into the fire. It works best when the fire is very hot, but is closer to embers than big logs. It might work a little better if the pipe is mostly horizontal.

Tips:

• If you make the pipe on the long side (~18"), just use one. If you chose a short length, you can toss in a couple.
• As long as the fire is hot, the tube will continue to add color for 4-5 hours.
• The copper pipe can be removed from the cold ashes of the fire the next day. Don't try to re-use it as-is, because if it produces colors at all, they won't last long. But you can shove in a new piece of hose and use the copper pipe again, up to about 4 times.

Hazardous Waste

I have seen a few web pages that make this suggestion:

There are several chemicals that can be placed in a fire to make the flame different colors.
They are as follows: 
  Calcium - red flame 
  Copper - green flame 
  Sodium - orange flame 
  Lithium - pink flame 
  Potassium - purple flame 
  Barium - light green flame 
  Lean - blue flame 

What's wrong with this?

• The list probably came from a chemistry text that described flame tests. But the elements listed are rare/expensive/dangerous in their elemental form. Yes, it is possible to purchase "Sodium" (metal). But it has a tendency to react vigorously (sometimes explode) when it gets wet. You won't find it at your local drugstore or hardware store. Even if you could get it, you wouldn't really want it. What you probably want is Sodium Chloride, which is cheaply and safely available as table salt.
• The instructions usually say "Finding some of the chemicals mentioned above can be hard!" Yeah. I can see it now, "I'd like half a pound of Potassium, please."
• "Lean". I've never seen "Lean" on the periodic chart. Some web sites cite this as "Lead", which is more logical, but toxic.

Color Cakes

• sawdust
• waxed paper cupcake or muffin cups
• candle wax and a way to safely melt it

Procedure:

• half fill a cupcake cup with sawdust
• add a spoonful of the color chemical, crushed into small pieces (grain of rice or smaller)
• mix the sawdust/chemical in the cupcake cup
• pour in melted wax until the sawdust is covered

Color chemicals:

Commercial Fireplace Colors

• Some brands of commercial fire logs (made from sawdust and wax) sell a slightly more expensive version with color added.
• I have seen canisters of chemical "color crystals" to throw in the fire.
• I have seen pine combs treated with chemicals and commercially sold to add color to a fire.

These may be a seasonal items for winter and the Christmas season. You are most likely to find them at stores that carry fireplace supplies (think tongs, pokers, and grates), like Home Depot (in season) and BBQ shops.

Simply using large quantities of these commercial fireplace materials would probably do well in a bonfire.

Fire Flares

Related Pages