Tips for "blackening" aluminum needed.

I now have some ethanol and will dig out my Trangia sometime and give it a try.

 

I've heard you can also use grain alcohol, it's crystal clear AND you can drink it in a tight spot.

 

I think ethanol is the alcohol in alcoholic drinks, but I don't think you can drink the chemically produced stuff I have.

 

yes you can Trevor
i used to share a house with some students and one was on the way to his doctorate in chemistry he used to bring home a large brown glass bottle of ethanol from the uni lab mix it with a couple of cartons of orange juice and get him and the rest of the students totally wasted
never tried it myself as i was the only one in the house who didn't drink alcohol (well maybe i'll have A pint once a year but i never did get on with alcohol 8-[ )

 

Here's the stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everclear_(alcohol)

(you will notice that among it's uses, stove fuel is mentioned)

When I was in college we would have a large party and everybody was assigned to bring something. One person brought a clean trash can with new liner, one person brought a bottle of Everclear, everybody else brought some kind of fruit juice/drink/mix, whatever...even fruit itself. It all went into the trash can and we just dipped our mugs into it all night. Never, ever in my life would I repeat this experience...the morning after was hell to pay.

 

I was thinking about setting up one of my Optimus 111s with the alcohol jet and running it on Everclear. I just want to see the look on my friends faces when I screw the cap off the brass tank, tilt up the stove, and take a pull on the fuel. The only hitch is that I'll have to drive to Arizona for the Everclear since it isn't sold in California.

Ben

 

Pure ethanol is quite toxic I would not attempt to drink it like that. Also it attracts water so it would drag the moisture out of your lips diluting it as fuel.
You could however pour a table spoon of it into a half pint glass and top up with your favourite diluting agent (juice coke etc) this would work out around as strong as most beers

 

How are nominations for this year's Darwin Awards coming along...

 

ethanol is ethanol, unless it has had an additive added to make it undrinkable.

in terms of human nutrition ethanol is unique with 3 separate classifications,
nutrient, in small amounts because of the calorific value.
drug, in larger amounts because of the effect on the central nervous system.
toxin, lethal in larger dosages.

so the key is moderation

the temperature of ethanol vapour burning in air? about 200 degrees celsius.
waste of time burning it then so you might as well drink it.