Toluene in a zippo?

fast14riot

fast14riot

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Oct 27, 2010
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First off, this is not for smoking or anything I'm going to consume. I'm looking for a "dirty" fuel that can work in a zippo. I need it to burn really sooty for blackening sights. I basically just don't want to spend $30 on a carbide lamp and another $10-20 on moon rocks to keep it going. I have an old zippo in the drawer, if I can get a dirty burning fuel that is safe to use in it for a few bucks at the hardware store, I'd rather do that.

Thoughts?


-Xander
 
Soot comes from a very rich burn. Even toluene won't make soot unless you can get it to burn very rich. Tough to do with a zippo with any fluid since evaporation is controlled through the wick. Don't think that's gonna work like what you need.
 
SVTFreak said:
Soot comes from a very rich burn. Even toluene won't make soot unless you can get it to burn very rich. Tough to do with a zippo with any fluid since evaporation is controlled through the wick. Don't think that's gonna work like what you need.
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I was thinking that since toluene has triple bonded carbon atoms it will not burn cleanly in open air, leaving a dirty sooty smoke. Much like styrene (the old trick of burning the spoon from an MRE to black your sights). I'll do some looking around to see if there is something acceptable and reasonably controllable to use in an evaporate burner (zippo).


-X
 
Candle works when I'm at home the night before a match, but if my sights get smudged at the match and I need to re-black them something like a zippo would be handy. I might play around with some different things to see what I can use that won't totally destroy a zippo, burn out of control or leak like crazy and ruin anything near it.

-X
 
toluene is also pretty bad for the brain. bad stuff to have around in an unsealed container.

Maybe something like lamp oil in the zippo, or a bic and a birthday candle.
 
A little bigger than a Zippo, but should fit in a range bag.;)
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Or get a miniature kerosene lantern.
 
Toluene may be illegal for certain applications as an intoxicating inhalant. I sure wouldn't want to whiff it. I'd use a sharpie or the sight black.
 
+1 mykel m

No muss, no fuss and probably enough in one(1) can to get you through the next 15 years of Wimbledon Cup matches.

Best.
 
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