Flamebarring a book?

[Kenneth McAllister]

Hi all - I've a task of sorting out a corner of a book to be set on fire in a show we're prepping now. My plan so far is to trial flamebarring a book, letting it dry, and then putting a small amount of flamepaste on a corner to give a controlled flame. The book will then be dropped into a metal bin. Anyone had any experience of trying something like this?

 

So far I've soaked one copy of Harry Potter in flamebar, and it hasn't dried out yet after a week of the hottest weather this year! The book in question will need to be something like a Woolworths jotter, but I'm wondering if I'm barking up the wrong tree trying to soak & dry an entire book in flamebar. The book will probably need to open and be "real", rather than a solid brick that could be safely glued shut etc.

 

Anyone got any useful experience to share?

[Wingwalker]

I think that your problem may have been that you tried to soak the book rather than spray each page and let it dry. Very tedious I know but thats the only thing that springs to mind as to why its not dried yet. Another spanner in the works is that to properly flameproof any material you have to spray it and let it dry three times before its actually going to do the job.

 

David.

[Jivemaster]

RS certainly do a ceramic fibre paper gasket sheet, you could possobly use a couple of sheets to make the book plus some retarded paper board for bulk. This paper isn't just flane retardant it's fire proof so add 2ml of kerosene or coleman fluid and the fluid will burn and the pages will not.

Search nomex paper or superwool paper. Superwool goes to about 2000C !!

[andy_s]

without knowing the exact circumstances, I wonder whether it's worth looking at this from the other direction, so to speak, to keep it simple.

If you are setting light to a cheap jotter rather than an expensive published book (despite my approval of your choice of experimental material - the more HP that goes up in smoke the better in my view), I'd be tempted to buy in bulk, then set light to one untreated book per performance, having thought about what I could put in the metal bin to extinguish the flame. e.g. water.

 

you might need to use the flamepaste or some other accelerant, very carefully, to get the book to catch as it can be quite hard to set fire to thick things (think about making a campfire - you need very thin kindling to get started, then add bigger stuff when the flame is hot enough). What will you be using to ignite the book? a match? lighter? candle flame? blowtorch?

[wycome5]

There is a magic gimmick available which fits into a book an ignites when the book is opened, with some modifications this could produce the required effect?

[adam2]

There is a magic gimmick available which fits into a book an ignites when the book is opened, with some modifications this could produce the required effect?

 

I would avoid this.

Sounds very useful to terrorists seeking to make bombs concealed in books, and therfore perhaps something best not found in your possesion.

Also risk of inadvertant ignition, unlike flame paste that requires a deliberate act with a flame to ignite it, and cant be readily ignited by mistake.

 

I would use a real book, soaked in water before use so as render it unlikely to burn.

Apply a little flame paste to the part that you desire to ignite.

After use place in a metal waste bin that contains sufficient water to fully cover and reliably extinguish.

Uuall caveats regarding use of real fire or flame on stage.

[Smiffy]

There is a magic gimmick available which fits into a book an ignites when the book is opened, with some modifications this could produce the required effect?

 

I would avoid this.

Sounds very useful to terrorists seeking to make bombs concealed in books, and therfore perhaps something best not found in your possesion.

 

By that logic then we should all stop owning cars, as they are often used as bombs. Gas cylinders should be banned, all productions must immediately stop using Wireles Triggering devices, as they too could be made into bombs. Pyro contains explosives so they should all be banned henceforth - Ad-Infinitum..... If the magic gimmick will do the job then use it...

 

Cheers

 

Smiffy

[wycome5]

There is a magic gimmick available which fits into a book an ignites when the book is opened, with some modifications this could produce the required effect?

 

I would avoid this.

Sounds very useful to terrorists seeking to make bombs concealed in books, and therfore perhaps something best not found in your possesion.

 

By that logic then we should all stop owning cars, as they are often used as bombs...

 

 

Had you not heard Smiffy? 'Marvin's Magic' has been uncovered as an Al Qaeda sleeper cell with Siegfried and Roy at the helm. Apparantly Allah invented the cups and balls as well...