For Halloween this year, I am going dragon!
I have already made a flying dragon mobile, now its time for the centerpiece
a real fire breathing dragon, i have been randomly posting bits of it all over the forum
and thought I would put it all in one place.
since building the body would be impossible, I am designing a ‘cave’ where the dragon will have his head poking out and flaming…
SO to start Here is my fire testing the dragon head
So…pilot light?
no, I am trying again with a 12v 1000k igniter, the issue with a pilot light is then more tubes to run, and deal with it blowing out (it will be outside) I need something that will light the LP every time…
(in short bursts)
I’ve reflected on this at times and knowing that there are insects that mix two chemicals together to create stuff, I figure dragons must have some type of gland system that makes an hypergolic fuel that ignites when mixed. It’s really the only way they could be fire breathing without a pilot light.
Very cool! I was playing with the same idea but was sitting in a camp full of tiki torches at the time. So…
When I was younger and braver, we used to experiment some with pure sodium and magnesium…I’m wiser now…
NERD!!! 
but then again, so am I
Trick or treating at your house will be epic this year!
Making outside dragon for porch light / streetlight
It’s amazing, but feeling a bit sorry for the littlest ones who might be scared. I’d run the blast just for the older kids.
I think younger kids (not babies) will dig it the MOST!
I started out trying to have the flames come from the mouth but discovered that it considerably overheated the tip of the nose so ended up moving the flame to the nose itself.
What have you been able to do in that point?
they sell this stuff in a caulk gun called ‘fire sealant / barrier’
you use a wooden stick and make a second ‘roof’ on the upper part of the mouth where the flame hits it - that acts as a heat barrier. - you need to use caution, this will work for flame bursts, not a continuous flame, anything more you need steel or stone.
Jonathan
You can get ceramic fiber insulation that’s good for 2400F/inch of thickness. It’s something like $10/sqft in small quantities (even less in larger ones). Used in jewelry kilns and such. You used to need to find a specialty house to get it but now it’s everywhere including Amazon, HD, Grainger, etc.
You can build all sorts of fire-breathing apparatus and keep the decorative parts safe from damage.
Good to know! - you have a link to it, so I can check it out?
Jonathan
found it, it looks like great stuff, but won’t work in this specific install, I was hoping it would come in sheets (like asbestos used to) to form around the mouth, this only comes in foam rolls.
Depending on how you’re going to use it, you want to keep an eye on the ratings - they usually have a max & a continuous temp rating. Continuous tends to be about 20% less than the max.
Actually they have the same stuff as the old asbestos paper but is ceramic fiber.
It goes from fairly good Fiberfrax to zirconia ceramics that are almost immune to high heat circumstances
Or there is a Fire sale here.
I bought quite a lot after a real fire sale as the building burned down but of course the fiber etc. was ok but wet and full of smoke and carbon.
