smoke.

Jeff F
moderator
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movieman, you can rent smoke machines, or sometimes you can buy one relatively cheap (used of course)

later
TOm

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What everyone seems to forget is that once we look past race, religion, gender, and all that, everyone on this planet is first and foremost...

...a PERSON

dont forget to send $ to LAS at:
Like A Story Productions
92 Porch View
Dahlonega, Georgia 30533

I decided to do a little experimenting with my spare kettle, some electrical tape and the guinea pig hutch. To cut a long story short, the kettle is bust, I burnt my hand trying to retrive it, the guinea pigs are sulking with me.

Oh yeah and it looked nothing like smoke.
(More like a steaming guinea pig hutch )

Building a dry ice fogger is not tremendously difficult. Handling dry ice itself is where the risk comes in. Never place dry ice into hot or warm water - it can shatter! BIG OUCH!

Glycol (water based) foggers (cracked oil foggers are long defunct due to their various hazards) aren't something easily built. Each manufacturer heats their particular glycol fog formula to a specific heat to produce the moisture-encapsulating fog. Overheating any fog fluid will cause it to break down, going from a relatively human friendly vapor to a toxic one.

Only use the fog fluid made by the manufacturer for their machine!

Don't try to use the cheapest fog fluid to save a few bucks. Fog machines are avaiable for a reasonable rental rate from theatrical suppliers (check the yellow pages or call local theaters & ask who they rent stuff from) and DJ supply stores.

Get a constant duty fogger: the intermittent duty ones let out a blast of fog, then shut down the output fan while the heating chamber re-cycles. Annoying and sometimes problematic. Continuous foggers do just that: output fog continuously, with few if any pauses in operation. Don't keep your talent/crew in the fog for extended periods, have them move out into clear air between takes, and use fans to clear out your set when a wait of any length is going to take place.

Don't be shy, give it a try.

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That's not really such a good idea. The fluids used in a smoke machine are not oil, and the temperature of charcole burning is too high. Adding oil to charcole is not a good idea either. It will release smoke, but that smoke can cause cancer.

Smoke machines in the uk use synthetic material which is fine, i've found under the right cir***stances.
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I Thank You

[This message has been edited by Critter (edited 05-29-2000).]

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
H.L. Mencken

Mineral oil is traditionally used in model train smokers, and is workable (but less dense than Machine oil) as a fog oil, but is also a breathing hazard and harmful to the lungs. It tends to coat the contacts of dimmer boards, requiring cleaning and maintenance, but not as corrosive or damaging as machine oil.

Water based fogs have food grade glycols as their primary component, and are considered to be safe for short exposure periods. All manufacturers advise users to avoid prolonged exposure to the fog. I have a friend who worked in a night club years ago who was exposed to large amounts of water based fog (heated properly and used in the proper fogger) for about 3 months running and continues to experience respiratory difficulties to this day. Overheating glycols causes them to break down into a toxic compound. If you eat commercially prepared foods, you digest pounds of glycol every year, but your lungs aren’t identical to your stomach.