Coloured flames and toxicity

I want to colour my fire on my poi. I've heard you can buy stuff which does the job, but i don't know what it is or anything, if anyone can help i'd be very gratefull.

thats funny...why havent he mods moved this to technical discussion?

ok for colored flames i dunno about the boric acid
but most of the metal hydrides wont dissociate enough into kero\parrifin if ur not in teh US
for those who didnt know
also
something i was thinking of was potassium permanganate in glycerin cause i know that makes a fREAKIN HUGE FLAME
i mean MASSIVE
like we put in about 10g of KMnO and about 4g of glycerin into a 100ml beaker and the flames almost reached the ceiling
if your going to use potassium permanganate its a mad oxidizer so BE CAREFUL
Ok this might sound crazy but i was thinking about making a mix kinda like this
ok use lamp oil and white gas as ur fuel
then if your going to use a metal hydride
for example Copper Chlorate (brilliant blue green flame)dissolve that into acetone, paint thinner, or mineral spirits...Basically a really really stong industrial solvent
then u mix the solvent w\the dissolved metal hydride into your white gas and lamp oil mix
methinks it would work
i dunno risk of flashback might be really hi tho.......
another thing i was thinking of was using that goo\paste that they use in hibatchi.....
ill check out teh solvent thing w\me dad
hes got a degree in organic chem. so well see
more details tomorrow

ok i found out about the boric acid peice
go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid
and thats just about everything on it
its only a mild irritant if inhaled or gotten on skin etc etc etc
not lethal unless ingested
so yeah thats about it on the boric acid topic

i've heard that blue-stone gives a green flame.......

can anyone verify this?

ken

blackbird......you're funny. i'm gonna try table salt and see what happens, too.

Whoever was tlaking about using boric acid....DONT it will kill you!!! That stuff should have a little label on the side saying that this is DEADLY TOXIC TO PEOPLE AND PETS!!!!!

Just a little warning.....look at my signature to see what i mean about what will happen if you use this stuff!

Ug... we've talked about this a billion times before... Boric Acid is only dangerous if you eat it. As is Kerosine, lamp oil, kevlar, ball chain, or leather straps. As long as you don't eat any part of your poi (including any boric acid) you won't have to worry about the toxicity.

Boric acid is used as a rat poison but only kills rats when they eat it. Not when they twirl fire with it or put it on their fur.

Don't eat it.

hmmm.....good point...but let's think about this....eating, breathing, if you're downwind or the wind changes and you're breathing it in....or you open your mouth and the wind changes....you're kind of screwed...!!!! Just to give you a little heads up!

(Not to be mean or anything)

The Dragon of the Poi

Not to be mean or anything but generally people don't eat the poi wicks which is what we're talking about.

If you are spinning poi and fire ends up in your mouth you've got bigger problems than boric acid.

and one can buy these cool sounding chemicals...um...WHERE?!?!

*walks into sainsburys*
ah yes hello...i would like half a kilo of pottassium permangenate, 2 oz of hydrochloricbexyhydrountramonesoduim glucim nitrate please.....thanks..


i dont think..

salicylic acid is toxic when administered in small amounts over a long time?

that's normally called asprin, you know.

has anybody tried putting the metal salts into the wicks as solids, before rolling / folding them? I'm imagining even having powdered magnesium. hmmm. there must be some way of delivering a compound into the flame and avoiding having to dissolve it first.

I found that when you make your wicks, if u want really good color you can seed your wicks i.e. sprinkle boric acid on the kevlar while ur rolling the wick.

IT DOES WORK

IT DOES WORK...

... when you use the right fuels.

(Not lamp oil, kero, etc...)