That's the stuff fur-sur! Isn't that what is used to polish the copper bottoms of the samovars? Burak?

i had that idea wenn i first came across the cholcate/sodacan fire thing. ipolished mine halcon stove for that purpose, but i was never able to light anything... need some low tempature tinder....

Ah, yes - but to make the coffee, wouldn't you need to start the fire first? <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Just a quick polishing report. There are artifacts in the scans below - reflection overloaded the scanner, I guess. I had an early version vermiculite-filled pop can stove sitting near the keyboard - made from a Squirt can, for the record, not a Coke can. Scanned it as-is:




Walked back to my metal shop and hit it a quick lick with Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish and a shop rag - about 10 seconds. Big improvement, so I put a linen buffing disk on the Dremel and loaded the disk, hit the can for 20 seconds - here is the scan:



If it was a flat piece, it would be a good mirror. I haven't wiped off any residue; that is the way the buffing left it, so it will clean up a bit more. 6061 and 7075 aluminum that I have polished with Mothers and left lying around are apparently as shiny several months later as when I polished them, FWIW.

I'll give toothpaste a whirl in the next day or so and report results. Don't expect to try to ignite anything - I'm too busy right now during the daytime.

Yes you are right. It even has a special name. We call it "telve".

Burak

What's the use of warming up and surviving if you can't, then have a decent cup of joe?

Ever been conscious for a serious bout of caffiene withdrawl? I'd rather poke my eyes out with glowing red knitting needles held in bare scorched hands while standing on a nail!

PC2K first told me about this site and how he polished the bottom of his Halcon stove a few weeks ago. I thought it was a great idea and I tryed toothpaste. I polished for about five minutes and it starto get passibly shiny but no where near as shiny as yours. The aluminium polish is much better. However I don't own any.

The sun has graced us with an appearance, so a quick report before I trudge off to work for some catch-up.

1. Wear sunglasses when you try this <blinking away an afterimage spot> the spot of light is very intense

2. Focus is very important, as I would have expected from a hemispherical reflector. There is for all intents and purposes an exact focus only - not a millimeter in or out. I braced my hands on a picnic table to keep the most steady focus possible.

3. Precise orientation to the sun not critical (again reflector shape) although the closer to right-on the more energy available.

4. A bit of char cloth or charred cotton cord or lantern wick may be more rewarding than other targets. I'll check this eventually, but right now it appears that we may not be seeing ol' Sol for a week or so - just had a break in the cloud cover today. In any event, I got a very perceptable surface temperature rise in about 30 seconds (touch to lip), but my target (scrap of very thin paper) was too reflective. Don't expect flames from this; think glowing ember and it might just work.

I'll give toothpaste-as-polish a whirl tonight, but I intend to "cheat" and use the Dremel tool again - it's not better; it's a heck of a lot faster.

Tom

Sorry Greg, I made the original post and no one seemed interested, so I didn't add what I'd found out from playing with it in the field. Havn't tried Chocolate yet, instead I tried things that i was likely to have or find in the field. The times varied from 5 minute for the stropping compound I use on my belt to almost an hour for dried grass. A small piece of char, tinder fungus or bone dry rabbit pellet works great. The problems i've seen with people learning it , are that people don't point it at the sun and focus to a pencil lead size " steady" spot and they forget that since it is parabolic the holder and target have to be as small as possible or you greatly reduce the amount of energy avaible in some cases to the point that it won't work. So far the most fun i've had with it was at BoyScout camp, It rain 24/7 for the hole week and toward the end some of the boys were [censored] about how hard starting the camp fire was getting. I try to set a good example for the boys and keep them on their toes, So I said, " You know a good woodsman can get it done no mater what his resource are, I'll bet I can get it done with just this can of coke" ( I'd pre polished one of the can in my six of coke) ; ) ; ) ; ) I had some previously gathered tinder fungus in my pocket and their was some dry natural tinder in camp that the boys had completely missed. It took me maybe two minutes to get the fire started and after their shock wore off, i let them in on the secret and broke out the raggs , aircraft aluminum polish, and char I'd brought so they could make their own. The only thing I really don't like about this tech. other than you need the sun, is that finding an aluminum can in the woods when you need one has become " WAY" to easy. : ( : ( : ( <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Nice idea, but the problkem with these is that you are reliant upon the sun. But, definatly something I will try!