Thread: Interesting, Odd or Funny Pics II.

Calcium carbide, when reacting with water, produces acetylene gas. This can be burnt in a fishtail burner to give a brilliant yellowish light, at low running cost.

Carbide lamps were the goto light for bicycles from the 1890s, and cars until electric light became usual by the 1920s. They continued into the thirties for motorbikes, and were used for utility lamps as indicated above for caving, wherever a bright, cheap light was required, until rising living standards and cheaper dry batteries meant they were displaced by various types of torch.

A typical lamp had a two chamber tank. This screwed into two pieces, with the bottom filled with chunks of calciumcarbide. The top part had a vent and a needle valve to allow water into the lower chamber, which had a pipe to the burner. Bicycle lamps were single unit, with the burner enclosed in a lamp housing, usually with a hinged glass convex lens in front, and a concave mirror behind. Cars and trucks usually had a separate gas unit, often on the running board, feeding both headlamps, which were similar construction, but much larger. Amount of gas produced, and hence brightness (and rate of consumption of carbide) was adjusted by the needle valve. Utility lamps were commonly like the bike lamps but without the lens or mirror, and sometimes with the burner not enclosed at all.

Carbide was readily available at bike shops, hardware stores and places like Coles variety stores in my childhood, but I have not looked for it for at least sixty years. Manufacture is cheap and easy - heat a mixture of coke and limestone in an electric arc furnace.

Originally Posted by 4bee

I suppose it must have been, I never heard the name Calcium in connection to this. Small bits of something grey in colour packed into a Bex Bottle & top screwed down & then thrown.


I can't recall where it was obtained from it just turned up. CIG ( Now Liquid air?) Carba dry ice? Was it acetylene ? No idea. Carbide was used in old Cycle & Car Lamps.

I see it can be used for fruit ripening as well as a base for Acetylene
It was approx. 75 years ago. Have never given it another thought since then.


Apparently is Illegal to use acc. Gargle.

Calcium Carbide Suppliers Australia

Just checked out that link
The supplier in WA seems to only do minimum 25kg
That means lots of experiments, so anyone else want to “experiment”

Or

I can do one big “experiment” 🤪🤪🤪

Unfortunately most of the experiments I conducted while young ended up with me either in font of my parents, grounded amongst other things or, in front of a boarding school headmaster clinching my bum cheeks for what was to come.
I still haven't worked out after "The Great Dinning Room Smoke Bomb" of '76 we didn't get expelled?
Jonesfam
Man, it was beautiful!

[QUOTE=Gav 110;3128701]The spud gun
Works with air pressure but also can shoot water
We used to get cast ally ones, also remember the plastic ones similar to these

Potato Gun | Mad About Science

We also built our own
100mm to 60mm reducer, screwed cap on the 100mm end, about 1 meter of 60mm pipe on the other
Gas igniter in the 100mm end
Spray in some carby clean, load a spud (or lemon)
Push it down the tube (compression )
Click the ignition and BOOM
Watch the flying potato go through the neighbours fence (run and hide)🤭
(Good idea to wrap a rag around the big end in case of rupture, don’t, I repeat don’t use oxy acetylene, guarantee rupture, even though it makes the spud fly a couple of hundred metres through the air)


Oh yeah
Don’t tell the kids


Gav[/QUOTE

The one I had was metal & looked like a Luger . My father worked at the Darra Cement Works , I was given it by Santa at the Christmas function .

[QUOTE=1950landy;3128769]

Originally Posted by Gav 110

The spud gun
Works with air pressure but also can shoot water
We used to get cast ally ones, also remember the plastic ones similar to these

Potato Gun | Mad About Science

We also built our own
100mm to 60mm reducer, screwed cap on the 100mm end, about 1 meter of 60mm pipe on the other
Gas igniter in the 100mm end
Spray in some carby clean, load a spud (or lemon)
Push it down the tube (compression )
Click the ignition and BOOM
Watch the flying potato go through the neighbours fence (run and hide)🤭
(Good idea to wrap a rag around the big end in case of rupture, don’t, I repeat don’t use oxy acetylene, guarantee rupture, even though it makes the spud fly a couple of hundred metres through the air)


Oh yeah
Don’t tell the kids


Gav[/QUOTE

The one I had was metal & looked like a Luger . My father worked at the Darra Cement Works , I was given it by Santa at the Christmas function .

A REAL Christmas present
You had a real good (bad) Santa that year

It's surprising that most of us lived past adolescence if you think about it. But we did. I played cowboys and, well you know, with cap pistols etc when I was 5. Did I grow up wanting to shoot someone... well, best be careful here. I blew things up, mates and I had air rifle shoot outs, shot spud guns at trains... had a visit from the local plod over that one..., set fire to a paddock, didn't mean to, honest, and generally had a blast.

I wonder what todays kids will tell their grandkids.

Originally Posted by Tins

It's surprising that most of us lived past adolescence if you think about it. But we did. I played cowboys and, well you know, with cap pistols etc when I was 5. Did I grow up wanting to shoot someone... well, best be careful here. I blew things up, mates and I had air rifle shoot outs, shot spud guns at trains... had a visit from the local plod over that one..., set fire to a paddock, didn't mean to, honest, and generally had a blast.

I wonder what todays kids will tell their grandkids.

How great there childhood was, sitting on the lounge, staring down the latest game on the X Station with thumbs and forefingers out of proportion with the rest of there hand🤣🤣🤣

Originally Posted by jonesfam

Unfortunately most of the experiments I conducted while young ended up with me either in font of my parents, grounded amongst other things or, in front of a boarding school headmaster clinching my bum cheeks for what was to come.
I still haven't worked out after "The Great Dinning Room Smoke Bomb" of '76 we didn't get expelled?
Jonesfam
Man, it was beautiful!

There was me thinking you were the non-mischievous type. Bloody Hell!

Sounds like it might have been worse than my grassed up compulsory visit to the Headmaster's office for having a few ciggies in a proper ciggie case.

This bastard (Bert) carried a narrow leather Razor strop tucked into his waistband & his punishments were the acts of a Sadist, but he did return the fags.

Not surprised when I found out who the probable Grasser - upper was , his old man was a Sergeant of Police SA, & Arthur later became one of the Army Regimental Police jokers. Therefore, a couple of very possible snitches.

Otherwise, he was a nice bloke, when he was a kid.