It was great to meet you all - thanks for the pointers on the fire bow, now all I need to do is practice... alot...
RAPPLEBY2000 said:
by the way anyone know where i could get hold of a block of perspex to make a fire piston from?
I've just looked at fire pistons and how much they are and also quite alot seem to be sold in kit form seems sensible to have a go at making one, and i like the perspex idea so you can see it working!
Ahhaa! Another converted to the dark side - :borgsmile the fire piston will prevail :borgsmile
Prating about aside, for demo's may I make the suggestion you scale things up a little? True the larger the diameter of the cylinder, the harder you have to push to compress the air to the point of combustion, but the increased wow factor may lend itself to larger audiences? Have a look at
this page - there's a vid part way down illustrating what I mean.
...I had another link to a vid of a hand sized polycarbonate piston being used but I've mislaid it, so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was no-ware near as impressive...
Should be easier to find a poly pipe than machining out a block as well... a quick google found
this site, they have clear tube but only have 'non optical' rod.
Just a quick safety note - plastic fire pistons have been known to 'fail' during use - the recommendation is to wrap them in clear packing tape to help negate the risk of shrapnel
)
I'd not even considered that!
