Hello
I have a sight blackener that was in my cometition shooting box for over 15 years.
The calcium chloride chunks are now just fine powder.
The instuctions call for a few drops of water on a few chunks of the fuel.
I selected some coarse kernels of the fuel,and tried,twice to activate it with water,without any success.
I admit to being a little timid because I know that calcium chloride is serious stuff;it can explode.
Is the loose powder less potent then the compact chunks?The same,or more potent?
Thanks,
Frank

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Frank

calcium carbide calcium carbide + H 2 O = accetelyne
accetelyne over 15 psi without accetone to stabilize it can go BOOM
calcium chloride used for filling tires for construction equipment ,use in concrete to modify setting time & prevent freezing & pore on roads to rust out your car
got rid of my dust,try welding supply shop for more, some hardware or sporting good stores may have it also though I haven't seen it in years it was used in carbide lamps

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KG0BW Jim

Thaks,Jim
I'll leave the lamp/sight blackener home.
Frank

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Frank

Frank - take along a small stub of candle. Works great to blacken up the sights.

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"Firearms only have two enemies - rust and politicans" author unknown

hey,
My grandmother gave me one of my uncles old gas lamps.... I've moved and am not even sure where all the stuff is.... I believe that I have some calcium carbide (in solid form).... The lamp is missing the glass part (anyone know of a common jar that can be used)... It also has a flint striker, this I think I can get working....

SO, I believe that I need a glass jar to fit to the lamp, then add the calcium carbide solid + some water, then open the valve and add flame (or flint striker) and I should have old school raccoon huntin head lamp power....

Any of you experienced and educated folks know???

A glass jar would not be the best idea. Regular glass is not very
good at heat shock. Any raindrops or even a cold wind might be enough
stress to shatter the glass.
Thats why Coleman lanterns use the spendy Pyrex glass shields.

On the other hand our grandfathers didn't have fancy borosilicate glass available.
You might try two or three glass jars and see if any will handle the
heat and then a few drops of water to see if rain would crack the glass.
Find a good one and keep it.

Cheers!

BigMikeG

Do not use a carbide lamp or candle to blacken the front sight if it has a plastic red insert. I speak from experience or ignorance, which ever came last.

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A truely successful life is mostly based on how well you handle PLAN B.

Frank,

The white powder is the residue of used calcium carbide. My blackener does the same thing. You leave it unattended for awhile and moisture from the air gets in and gradually uses the carbide up, bleeding tiny bits of acetylene out over time. You just need to put some water in and use a popsicle stick to loosen the stuff and scrape it all out and flush it down the drain. Once it's gone, you dry the lighter out. Get some fresh calcium carbide to drop in, and start over. It will work fine.

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Nick

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Ray-vin.com has 1# containers of carbide and it can be sent through the mail. They also have a nifty, compact burner.
Some people use paint but I still believe sight blackening by smoke works best unless it is raining hard. It only takes a little and it is easier than trying to get something else to smoke just right.

I have one of these doodads in my gunbox too. Haven't used it in many years. I always emptied the carbide out of mine after the matches. If you have fine powder left in yours, scrape the bottom half out and give it a good wash in hot soapy water. Leave the top half alone. Once carbide turns to powder, it's useless. Believe the unit is made of aluminum so rust is not a problem. My flint froze in its housing and had to be drilled out. Would suggest you run a fine wire through the nozzle/jet to clear it of any old dust or debris before attempting to use Gunsmoke again. This little sight blackener works fine and other than the hassel of maintaining a carbide supply, is probably impossible to wear out.

After my last post, regarding the flint sticking in the Gun Smoke, I checked the flint assembly today and found the new replacement flint that I had installed a few years back had gotten stuck again. Evidently, Ronson flints do not like to be left compressed for long periods of time. The flint turns to powder and hardens so that it no longer bears against the serrated wheel. A small phillips screwdriver cleared the blockage, a small drillbit would do it faster. If you have any intentions of using your Gun Smoke again, check to see if the flint is working properly before heading for the range. I now store my flint along with it's coil spring in the bottom half of the Gun Smoke. I'll assemble these parts in their respective places when needed.

When I shot competition in the Army, I used some stuff called Em-Nu (spelling ???) on days when I knew the weather wouldn't allow use of my carbide smoker. It is really for blackening military ensignia with a "flat, no glare" color, but worked pretty well on sights.



It's all about the X-RING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do any of you guys want to sell your old carbide lamps ?

I have a bottle of what is called 'M-Nu' for touching up emblems, etc. Had it in my old military stuff.

I painted a stripe of it on the front sight posts of a S&W 686 about a year ago, and after MUCH shooting, drills, matches, it is still on it. Painted the front sight post on one of my carry guns (S & W 638) and same thing...stuff is really hard to ewear off.