.... Flamers .... DISCLAIMER: The following file contains information of harmful or illegal nature. Neither the BBS or author providing this information can be considered responsible for the use of this information. The person using this information is solely responsible for it's use or misuse. I have to assume that the person attempting to build this has some experience with fabrication or machine shop knowledge. If you don't, please gain some experience before attempting to build this device. It is very dangerous if not built correctly. You may not get a second chance. Flamers: Flamers, or one shot flamers, are simply one shot flamethrowers. This device can, if constructed properly, can shoot a 10 ft. dia. ball of flame about 100 ft. The flame sticks to the target and is very destructive. The flamer has been made by someone very close to the author and when made correctly is safe to the operator. Because of the availibility of parts it's hard to give measurements of different parts but this also gives some leeway in its construction. A flamer is a hollow tube that contains an ignition system, a propellant charge/delayed flame ignitor and a charge of napalm. The ignition system which can be mechanical or electrical, is trigerred. This in turn set offs the propellant charge which pushes a barrier/delayed ignitor down the tube. The barrier pushes the the napalm out the tube towards the target. The ignitor comes flying out and ignites the napalm 2 or 3 ft from the tube. Napalm must be used. Gasoline is explosive especially when being sprayed from a tube. Also, with gasoline you'll find the range is decreased as the gasoline is a thin liquid. Napalm on the other hand is not explosive,and can be made into a thick jell and burns slowly. One ounce of gasoline burns for about 5 mins. in a small cup. An equal amount of napalm burns for about 17 mins. under the same circumstances. Instructions will be given for making napalm. Obtain a metal tube 12" long with 1/8" walls with an inside diameter of about 1". This tube should be seamless and made of steel,iron or aluminum. Thread one end of the tube for 1" to accept an endcap. Cut 2 disks of fuel- proof plastic the same I.D. of the metal tube and about 1/16" thick. Glue this disk about 1 1/2" into the threaded end of the tube. For the glue, use gasket cement found at auto supply stores. This is similar to a blue RTV cement but it is gasoline proof. Run a small fillet of gasket cement around the disk on the threaded tube side. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly. After the glue is dry, fill the tube up with napalm for 8". This will leave 2 1/2" of tube empty. Push the other disk down the tube until there is only 1/8" of airspace over the napalm. Glue the disk in place with a small fillet of gasket cement. Allow the glue to dry with the tube in an upright position. After the glue dries lay the tube down for at least 24 hrs. and see if any leaks develop. If the tube leaks, either repair it or try your skill again. If you have decided on electric ignition proceed as follows: Fashion an electric match from a small 3v. light bulb. These can be found at Radio Shacks and other hobbyist electronics shops. The bulbs are used to illum- inate meter dials and as pilot lights. If there are no wires on the bulb, solder on two small wires to the terminals. Use a small triangular file and open the end of the bulb. If you are careful, you can open up a hole in the glass without breaking the filament. Mix a small amount of BLACK POWDER with a few drops of water to make a paste. Carefully stuff the bulb with the paste taking care not to break the filament and set it aside to dry. Drill a small hole in the endcap for the wires to go through. Insert the wires through the hole and glue the bulb to the inside of the endcap with a drop of epoxy. Seal the hole and wires with more epoxy. Put about 1 1/2 tsp. of FFF BLACK POWDER and 5 ignition matches into the threaded end of the tube. Clean off the threads and screw on the endcap. Obtain or make a battery case for a 3v. battery supply. Mount this on the flamer and wire it in series with a normally open "fire" pushbutton switch and a normally open "safety " slide switch and the flamer. To use the flamer, simply point the open end of the tube towards the target. Close the safety switch, and push the fire button. This device should be tested a number of times as performance may vary de- pending on differences in construction. Electric ignition makes testing safe. The firing wires can be led out for a safe distance then connected to an appropriate power supply. Make sure the napalm sprays out far enough and that it ignites away from the flamer. Also check the flamer tube for any signs of overpressure such as a bulge in the tube. Another thing to consider is the recoil of this device. You may have to adjust the powder charge up or down to make it comfortable/reliable. You can also decrease the napalm charge up or down slightly. If you want to use a mechanical method of ignition, here is one method: Obtain a small metal tube about 1/4 I.D. and 4" long. Wind a spring to fit in the small tube. This spring should be about 2" long. Drill a 1/4" hole in the endcap and epoxy a shotgun shell primer into it. Weld or glue a small collar into one end of the 1/4" tube. Fashion a firing pin from a nail or a piece of round stock. Drill a 3/32" hole in the small tube in the end opposite the collar end. This hole should go through both sides of the tube. This hole is for a piece of 1/8" safety wire. Insert the spring into the tube. Put the firing pin though the spring and let it stick out of the collar end of the tube. Insert a safety pin through the safety hole. Finally, epoxy the firing tube over the primer. Let the epoxy harden. To use, pull out the safety wire, point the tube at the target, pull the firing pin back all the way and let it go. The spring propells the firing pin into the primer setting it off which in turn ignites the powder charge. By the way the collar holds the spring/firing pin in the ignitor tube. This is a rudimentary form of mechanical ignition but bells and whistles can be added. This can be lever cocking, squeeze ignition, or a standard pull trigger. Use your imagination and check out your sources of hardware as many variations are possible. IGNITION MATCHES: These are simply small flares that ignite the napalm. They are made as follows. Mix 5 parts Potassium nitrate, 3 parts Powdered Aluminum and 2 parts Sulfur. To this add FFF BLACK POWDER in a ratio of 1 part mix and 1/3 POWDER. All parts by weight. Add a few drops of cornstarch solution to this mixture and shape the paste into 1/4" balls. Let these dry for at least a week. NAPALM: Napalm is simply thickened gasoline and can be made a number of ways. The original napalm was a powder that was added to gasoline to thicken it. It is made by taking a concentrated Ivory soap solution (not detergent) and pouring it into a concentrated solution of ALUM (aluminum sulphate). A whitish precipitate will result. This is napalm. Filter out this substance. Dry it in the sun for a few days. If you plan to store this napalm for a month or more, add a few (2-3) percent of fine ground silica gel to the napalm. This should stretch out the storage time for up to a year. To use it just add it to gasoline and shake the mixture for a few minutes. Let it sit for about an hour and the gasoline will thicken up. Depending on how much napalm is added, the gasoline can be made a thin syrup or a thick gel. A newer method of making napalm is to dissolve polystyrene in benzene, toluene, xylene or the like and then add this to gasoline to thicken it. Napalm for use in a flamer should be made thinner than maple syrup.