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Has any one got an idea on how I can light flash paper that does not use me getting a lighter out of my pocket and behaving like a pyromaniac what I need is :

No Sparks
No flames
No noise

The spec must be able to touch the flash paper before the flaming begins too. I want it to be quite a clean gimmick I have spoken to few people about using electric touch but it doesn’t seem to be as powerful for what I want it for.

All ideas greatly appreciated.

i was demonstrating the magical properties of flash paper to some jugglers a while back, and to stop the paper blowing away i weighted it down on the grass with my acrylic contact ball. a few seconds later the 3 sheets i'd put under the ball went up in what was a truely wonderful flash.
so, under the right circumstances a contact ball can ignite flash paper

One way of doing it L-dawg. But Pocket space wont allow it.

Hold it to your forehead and imagine fire.

Sorry, about that. I do have an idea, but it could be dangerous. If you could find a way to get an extremely small amount of sodium or potassium (I'm talking about a 1/32 - 1/16 teaspoon of it), it could help set the flash paper on fire. All you would have to do was to like the tip of the flash paper. Then you just tap the potassium or sodium onto the licked end, and it should go up in flames.

You might be able to use matches. If you scraped the lighting bit of a light anywhere match you could maybe glue it to the paper, fold the paper over slightly and just a little rub might set it off. Or something along those lines.

It could be dangerous though (providing it actually worked of course ). I may get some matches tomorrow and have a little play around.

Not too sure about the noise issue here, having not tried this for some years, but may be worth a look....

Do you remember, when you were a kid, and you could buy these joke-type things, called 'Fun Snaps'? They're small twists of paper, containing some kind of pressure-sensitive crystals.

The idea was for you to chuck 'em on the floor, and they'd make a 'snapping' noise. Interestingly, you could also squeeze/grind them between your fingers, and they'd explode just as well.

You can still pick these things up today, at Joke Shops/Market stalls, and I'm guessing that, if you were to grind one (concealed between your fingers) against a piece of FP, that'd certainly be enough for a nice, clean ignition.

Let us know what you come up with - be interesting to hear how you get on

Rob

robstanley1 wrote:Do you remember, when you were a kid, and you could buy these joke-type things, called 'Fun Snaps'? They're small twists of paper, containing some kind of pressure-sensitive crystals.

I don't know about it in the UK, but in the U.S., it's actually low-grade gunpowder that's in the paper. I remember one time I bought them, I think about a year ago, emptied out all the powder in a line in my drive way and set it on fire for fun (I know, it was weird). I'm not sure if just squeezing the gunpowder would be enough to make it go off. As I remember, you had to throw them on the ground with a little bit of force, as they usually didn't just explode if just dropped.

Le Maitre, make a hand flash and wand flash devices - that fit to your wrist to inable you to produce balls of flash.. PM me for more info on this.

Proud member of the Mark Louis sycophant club.

Hey Michael,

I actually think moniker was taking about the low-grade explosive substance found in the 'Fun-Snaps', rather than the composition of FP itself.

I'm actually fairly sure the stuff in the FS isn't gun-powder (at least not in the UK), as it has a crystalline structure.

That said, the FP-igniting pen in your link looks interesting

Ah - I see you've already realised tha bove, and edited it out of your post

robstanley1 wrote:Hey Michael,

I actually think moniker was taking about the low-grade explosive substance found in the 'Fun-Snaps', rather than the composition of FP itself.

Ah - I see you've already realised tha bove, and edited it out of your post

I really had hoped that nobody saw that...

[Edit] I've posted an idea which could work in the top secret r&d section: http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic18808.php

taneous wrote:[Edit] I've posted an idea which could work in the top secret r&d section: http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic18808.php

Well I am not allowed in there so i cant see . But thanks taneous And thank you all for your ideas. I know there use to be a TT that allowed you to do this on the market but i cant find it any where.

I hope taneous doesnt begrudge me for saying this, but, I think his way would be a little bit complicated if you weren't very skilled at soldering and powering things via battery. I think the best way would probably just be to keep searching for a TT that already lights up and try and use that.

I built a remote controlled ignition system recently and I just don't solder the nicrome wire - not sure how to explain this because i have no electronics background, but there's this connection 'thingy' where you fold two pieces of metal over the wire and then clamp it down with a pair of pliers. It does the job. Perhaps one could use something similar to this. But - it's just an idea. I'm going to do some experimenting this weekend and see if I can get it working.