Make: Fire: The Art and Science of Working with Propane

A now-essential guide for making propane flame effects.

I had been thinking about buying this book for a couple of years. Now, as I needed to work on some real projects, this book proved to be essential. Great scope and coverage of most things you need to know about propane and fire, both for business and pleasure.

I've been doing fire performance and making burnable structure art for Burning Man for over a decade. I'm also an electrician by trade, and have done some basic plumbing and know the NFPA 70 and 160 pretty well. This is an excellent, well written, and accurate book. It's comprehensive, easy to read, and a lot of fun.If you are looking to build or add propane effects to your sculptures, this is a great resource.I had made low pressure effects before, but wanted some insight into doing arduino effects controls and larger fuel supply depots for a mobile flame effect. This book gave me all the basic safety information I needed as well as good direction on how to look up the relevant codes and make NFPA 160 compliant operation diagrams.It's really inspiring, with good information on solid skills you can use for building effects. I work in trades, and I still learned new skills from this book. It's excellent for beginners, and really inspiring for novice builders who want to make bigger effects with more features. Lots of great information on stepping things up.

I wanted to make a propane-powered flame thing for an event like Burning Man. I'm an experienced maker, and have closely examined other propane flame effects, so I thought I knew what to do. But... it could be dangerous for someone with no experience.This book filled my need perfectly. It goes through some example projects in great detail. It also explains enough of the theory and general principles so it's clear *why* things should be done the way they are. I'm going to build one or two projects from the book to gain experience, then do my own.The book is clear, very well written, and fun to read. I highly recommend it.

A great guide for anyone interested in learning about creating fire art. It covers everything from the very basics (propane, tools, etc), to easy projects (fire torch and pit) and then on to more advanced projects - like how to build large poofers, add electronic controls and more. Deagan's writing is clear, approachable and entertaining. He keeps a good focus on both safety and having fun, and his walkthroughs are excellent.This book is suitable for a total beginner as well as those who already have experience. I have taken fire arts classes, and worked on several fire art projects in the past and I still learned a ton from this book. Enjoy!