# Smallest Light that will burn paper? 2 answers: LED and NON-LED



## Wacki (May 27, 2012)

What's the smallest light that will burn paper? I don't care if it's tissue paper or newspaper or something else. 

Would be nice to know the answer is in both the LED category and the non-LED category.

Thanks!


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## Solscud007 (May 27, 2012)

Non LED category. A match.


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## Nyctophiliac (May 27, 2012)

I've never seen any kind of LED light boast about burning paper so far.

There are lots of Incandescant lights that are very very hot at the business end - once burnt myself with my old 6P, but I doubt it had reached the old 451 Fahrenheit famously needed for paper combustion. Mag 85 mods usually were the subjects of such flaming youtube clips in times past. Nowadays people seem to want to light matches and burst balloons with lasers. It's all about throw and not flame.

Interesting though. Must ask at the next CPF UK meet (June 16th).


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## ev13wt (May 27, 2012)

OP what are you, 12? Use a lighter please.

LED, I doubt it. Laser, sure, but please use proper safety equipment and read up on the dangers of UV light. Incan, with mods and proper focusing, yea I guess...


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## Benson (May 27, 2012)

@ev13wt Hey, it's a time-honored tradition, and one of many reasons lovecpf

@Wacki at the moment, the smallest build I've made or heard of is:
* Your favorite 18650+P60 host (e.g. Solarforce L2)
* 2x AW's IMR18350
* Lumens Forge IMR-9, dealextreme sku.3218, or similar lamp assembly
* aspheric lens to suit your host -- I have used some DX lens for this (don't remember the sku), my last build I used ahorton's lenses. Whatever fits, with the round side in and the flat side out (opposite normal, because we're focusing a parallel beam from the reflector down to a point).
* Optional: a stabbity bezel -- if you're lucky, you'll find one with the points exactly in the focal plane, so you just rest the paper against it. Less lucky, get a long one and sand it down till it _does_ line up. Or just hold it the right distance manually (you'll soon see the worth of a bezel, then). If you or someone you know smokes or vapes, it can help you see the hourglass shape of the beam, and measure the focal distance.

Now if you'll believe it, I've got a smaller one planned -- using some cylindrical Li-poly cells of the sort used in e-cigarettes, which I finally found a source for (hobby-king). They come in sizes as small as 6mm diameter (tho' 8mm is more interesting to me, as it fits 3-wide in a 19mm bore) and permit 15C drain, so I'm looking at building a slightly oversize 18350 battery that's 11.1V, 180mAh, and good for 2.7A continuous. Naturally, the first and most important role of such a powersource shall be to demonstrate combustion of various materials...

I'm also considering modding a Zippo with a 3-cell pack (could be those round Li-poly, could be flat Li-poly), a WA1166 bulb, and some sorta elliptical reflector to focus the light up top. I'm not sure whether it's actually gonna be hot enough to light a smoke, but I know it'll do paper.


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## turbostreetracer (May 27, 2012)

*Wicked Laser's The Torch*

This flashlight can melt plastic and burn paper and is rated at 4100 lumens.
It's a mediocre inefficient light and has a battery life of 5 minutes.
If you want a light to ignite paper buy a high powered green colored laser.

An LED light is presently not able to ignite paper.


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## Illum (May 27, 2012)

turbostreetracer said:


> *Wicked Laser's The Torch*



But the Mag85 is hardly considered small.....

The thread op said "light," didn't say it had to be in the visible spectrum... infrared LEDs are quite powerful nowadays


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## Wacki (May 27, 2012)

ev13wt said:


> OP what are you, 12? Use a lighter please.



I'm a scientist that likes asking "silly" questions for the sake of knowing "silly" answers.

The flashlight is to teach a 9 year old that flashlights are dangerous to the eyes, they are serious tools not toys.


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## Wacki (May 27, 2012)

Illum said:


> But the Mag85 is hardly considered small.....
> 
> The thread op said "light," didn't say it had to be in the visible spectrum... infrared LEDs are quite powerful nowadays



I'm open to doing a custom build with an infrared LED if I can swap out a white light LED later. I actually like the non-visible route better as it is more likely to shock the kid than burning paper with a laser.


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## Helmut.G (May 28, 2012)

No LED that I know ofcan burn paper, but incandescent a Surefire 6P will do, depending on the drop-in and batteries configuration.
The 6P is pretty small already but technically you could probably build an even smaller light that will do it without big problems.


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## ev13wt (May 28, 2012)

Sound legit if you wanna teach a 9yo. Didn't want to step on anyones toes, from the simple and direct question I assumed its a kid asking.


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## Illum (May 28, 2012)

ehh.... an XML driven to 2.8A + Fresnel lens will blacken colored paper at point blank range if waited long enough.... but yes, unless we are referring to diode lasers, no LEDs can burn paper.


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## Cataract (May 29, 2012)

I doubt my TK70 could even get a filament of smoke out of paper. Coupled with a lens? possible, but I haven't been successul with my predator and a magnifying glass...

I've heard of stories of 6P's with original dropin burning through leather holsters, but that took a while and the officers were unharmed. Not sure about the car seats, though. 

I've also heard a story from Black Rose who almost set fire to a scratch-type lottery ticket in a few seconds while trying to see through with an incan (most likely a surefire). The funny part is that he was in an airport LOL!


Just my 2 cents: setting fire to paper with a flashlight sure is impressive, but that does not mean the light is actually harmful to your eyes (unless you hold it at the same distance from your eye) There is currently little to no evidence that flashlights can cause eye damage. For that matter, it takes more than a few seconds for the sun to cause permanent damage. I'm excluding anything that emits UV from this comment, though. Intense light can cause serious problems at night, however, since it will temporarily blind you (well, kill your night adapted vision momentarily) and that can lead to all sorts of accidents.


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## fyrstormer (May 31, 2012)

Using a flashlight to ignite paper is like using nuclear fusion to boil water.

Hmm...wait a second...:thinking:


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## Slazmo (Jun 1, 2012)

old mate from Blackbear who mod's Mag's, I think most of his torches burn paper, was a vid on there at one stage however now gone?


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## Quest4fire (Jun 6, 2012)

I like this one.


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## Cataract (Jun 6, 2012)

How to make fire with an LED flashlight (not the way you think, though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5LmWEnDoQo&feature=related


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## ericjohn (Sep 19, 2012)

I wouldn't be surprised if a Mini Maglite incandescent, in "candle" mode touching paper or cloth could eventually ignite it. My dad always warned me of that when I was younger.


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## Norm (Sep 19, 2012)

This incan works without fail for me.







Norm


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## lwknight (Sep 19, 2012)

Torch on a stick will do it every time.


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