Brian does Ridders flame eater

[vpt]

I had some "real" work at my office across town today, but before I went I degreased/de-oiled the engine and tried firing it with my propane torch. It didn't take off and run on it's own, but it did give some very heartening effort. It tried to run, which thrilled me all to pieces, but then I had to leave and go earn some money.

Thats good to hear! Hope it doesn't take long to take off on its own.

[brian Rupnow]

This mornings work was to put a 0.140" deep counterbore into the aluminum baseplate and J.B.Weld a powerful magnet into place. This will keep the alcohol burner from jumping around while the engine is running. And now I am completely stymied because I don't have a wick. I have a 1/4" wick on order from ebay but it won't be here until mid March. I have called every model shop, upholstery shop, scientific supply shop, and coffee maker supply shop in Barrie, and nobody has 1/4" cotton rope.

[Willy]

I have seen some wicks used on alcohol burners made from a very fine stainless mesh screen.
although I haven't tried it I would think a piece of steel wool should work similarly. All it would take to function is capillary action to draw the fluid up. The wick's end does not get very hot at the flames base and is constantly cooled by the liquid so experimentation time seems to be in order for the day.
No sense waiting for that slow boat from China.

It's looking very nice Brian, looking forward to the video of it's first run.

[BCRider]

Brian, do you have a scrap of old fiberglass cloth kicking around? Unravel it and form a bundle of the strands together so they fit through the wick tube snuggly. The glass cloth won't burn the end up like you'd get with cotton. What it will need though is to have some way to tie the tail of the bundle together where it sits down in the alcohol so it doesn't just splay out and lose the capillary action. But that can be button thread or a fine wire or whatever, That part will never burn.

Glass fiber bundles like this is what you'll find in a lot of the glass globe style oil lamps. They last forever.

[dalee100]

Hi,

Go to the craft hobby store that your Wife enjoys. Odds are they will have candle/lamp making supplies. I was able to go to Hobby Lobby and buy all the cotton/fibreglass mix wicking i wanted.

[RichR]

... and nobody has 1/4" cotton rope.

Maybe a piece of 1/4" cotton clothesline?

[danlb]

You used to be able to get wicks for kerosene lamps at hardware stores. They can be cut lengthwise too. We have decorative blown glass oil lamps that use about 1/4 inch wick. We get them at the hobby shop.

Dan

[brian Rupnow]

The wick issue has been resolved for the moment. I found a fabric shop about one mile from where I live that sells natural cotton rope in either 6mm diameter (which is slightly to small) and 8 mm (which is slightly too big).--I have a 1/4" hole in my wick tube, which translates to 6.35mm. I will make one of them work. I also went to the pharmacy and bought a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, which is a 70% solution. I asked the pharmacist if it was available in 95% and he said yes it was, but he would have to order a small bottle for me, and it will be here tomorrow.

[brian Rupnow]

Well, we have an alcohol burner. I used the 8 mm rope and managed to squeeze it through my 1/4" tube, filled the body with alcohol, dribbled a bit of alcohol on the fuse to make sure it was saturated, then lit it. The good news is that it didn't explode. The bad new is----well I'm not really sure at this point if there is any bad news or not. It flamed up quite large when it was first lit, probably because of the extra alcohol I had dribbled onto the wick before lighting it. After about two minutes, the flame died down to a much more sedate pace. I'm just going to let it burn until it goes out.--I can't do anything on the engine today, because it will take 24 hours for the J.B.weld holding that magnet in place to cure.

[dave_r]

rona and lowes (in canada) both have tiki torch wicks on their web sites...might even have them in a local store... also higher-end places that sell home decorations or cooking stuff are likely to have wicks for fancy lamps or for keeping food warm...

[danlb]

Not to derail anyything but...

When I was a kid, the instructions in my chemistry set was to put a cotton ball in a saucer of alcohol and light it. That was my "bunson burner".

Of you want to have an adjustable flame the wick should have a way to pull it down into your lamp. Less exposed wick means smaller flame. Kerosene lamps use a knurled shaft that presses against the wick.

Dan

[brian Rupnow]

I well remember kerosene (we called it coal-oil) lamps. That is all we had when I was a kid. I did actually buy a set (2) of Tiki torch wicks, but they are 1/2" diameter.

[Seastar]

Brian
Can't wait to see your "licker" running.
As always your posts and builds are very entertaining!
Good work!
Bill

[Lew Hartswick]

I well remember kerosene (we called it coal-oil) lamps. That is all we had when I was a kid.

Right on Brian. We had the same from the time I was 6 till the end of WWII . Even had a 2 burner "Coal Oil" stove in the kitchen for the summer . Winter was just coal stove. :-)
...lew...

[brian Rupnow]

Lew--I was born in '46, but the hydro lines never came through our part of Ontario until about 1953 or 1954. Nobody used coal, but then again we were right in the center of Ontario's arboreal forest, so everybody burned hardwood for heat. My father was an Orangeman, and I well remember him and mother taking me to dances at the old Orange Hall in Detlor--It was lit by two great big gas lanterns that hung from the ceiling on hooks. Everybody threw their coats down behind the piano once the hall got heated up by the big wood burning stove, and when I got too tired to stay awake my mother would lay me down on the pile of coats and I would sleep there with the other small kids. Nobody got babysitters back then. People went to dances and took all their kids with them, and it seemed to be the most natural thing to do.---Brian