Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
From: John De Armond
Subject: Fun with paint guns
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 94 06:05:54 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.

The other night I had just finished painting a trailer I'd built and it
was time to clean the paint gun.  This was oil-based paint so the solvent
was mineral spirits.  Fill the gun with spirits, blast it out the back door
and note the large cloud of solvent vapor.  Hey!!!  Inspiration struck.
This stuff is flammable.  Search around a bit and find the old trigger-
start propane torch.  Hold it in front of the gun, light it, pull the
trigger and.... VAVOOM!  A cloud of fire about 20 feet long.  Neet!
Soooo, figuring I could do better than this, I stepped back inside the shop
and unplugged the gun from the 40 psi painting air header and plugged it
into the 175 psi shop air header.  Point the gun out the door, light
the torch, pull the trigger and WOW!!  Flames that nearly reach the lower 
limbs on the old pine trees.  Flames that light up the place like daylight.
Flames that make the neighbors turn their lights on to see what's up.
Serious flames.  It emptied the quart cup of thinner in about 30
seconds.

This has some practical uses.  I walked out to the patch of ground 
next to the driveway that has a bunch of scrub weeds growing.  Ready,
aim, fire.  Scorched earth.  No weeds, no nothing.  Beats the hell
out of mowing :-)

Next I aimed this thing at the tile under the driveway and held
fire for a couple of seconds on the torch.  WHAWOOM!!  A deep 
rumbling whoosh as the little mini-FAE went off, throwing 
debris out each end.  Spectacular.

What one can do with a few shop tools and a little pyromania :-)

John