# A silly seasonal project........propane tank jack'o-lantern.....



## brino (Oct 27, 2021)

I normally stick to projects with a utilitarian end goal....and drawings.

However, partly inspired by both @Tmate (who has so much fun using his plasma table for artistic pieces) and @Ulma Doctor (who has such a creative streak and apparent love of whimsy) I came up with this. 

Monday the idea struck me at work and I cut it out that night. 
Tuesday I picked up some spray paint and got a coat on. 
Tonight (Wednesday) I got a candle in and some more photos.

Cut from an old, retired 20lb propane tank that had the valve removed years ago.*
I kept it rough......like a pumpkin.
I cleaned-up the plasma cuts on the lid with a flap wheel, but not the face.
I did not have green paint for the "stem", but may need to rectify that.

First I quickly ran a wire-wheel over the rough cylinder to remove the worst loose paint, drew on my pattern with a marker, drilled some starter holes and cut it with the plasma torch.



...and here are the cut-out "negative" pieces...maybe I can use them somewhere as decoration too......




Then a quick wipe with alcohol (hand cleaner since I have now adopted that for many things in the shop) and a quick shot of paint.




....and a couple pictures with a candle inside.
Flash off:



and flash on:



*The first time I used one (for a chain guard on a go cart for the kids) and cut into it with the angle grinder it felt just so wrong!
Partly because that smell really lingers, it seems to stick to the inside.
However, when a tank is passed its expiry date I'll keep it, pull the valve and store it behind the shed until I need something of that shape.
For overkill (...and not be killed), before cutting I will blow some compressed air in.
I think the first one I filled with water and drained....it just felt so very, very wrong.......

-brino


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## francist (Oct 27, 2021)

Sweet Brino, I love it! You’re giving @Ulma Doctor a real run for his money now


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## mmcmdl (Oct 27, 2021)

Neat brino ! The Doc and Tmate down the road from me sure come up with some cool ideas . Always interesting to see what they come up with . Our member down in the Carolinas who makes the smokers is another one . Always making cool projects . Let me know if you need any empty propane tanks , I just brought 6 home from the camp .  Hope to get up into Toronto very soon btw .


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## Nutfarmer (Oct 28, 2021)

You are braver than I. Propane tanks scare me. I have seen the big ones bleve in a forest fire. The train tank cars that went up in Roseville made the classic mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion and left 50 foot craters. Really like the looks of your jack -o lantern.


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## Lo-Fi (Oct 28, 2021)

I have seen what happens when a tank is angle ground through with a tiny amount of gas left in. Was one of the big 5ft ones. Chap had it on the floor, was cutting a square hole in the side with a grinder. One cut went fine, the second cut, with the first supplying fresh air, resulted in two rather large gouts of flame through the newly ground slots and quite a sizeable BANG. The chap with the grinder froze in place, I had to go and remove his finger from the trigger and tell him to get a fresh pair of pants. 
In fairness, the cylinder had been drilled through and filled with water prior to try and force the gas out.
The joys of being young. Life was so simple...


Lovely job!


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## projectnut (Oct 28, 2021)

Believe it or not you may have stumbled onto a new and quite lucrative source of income.  We were at the Cranberry Festival in Eagle River Wisconsin a few weeks ago.  There was a vendor there selling all kinds of signs and decorations made from old boat gas tanks, propane tanks, 5 gallon buckets, and similar containers.  All were left rusty and crusty like your first picture.  

He was literally selling hundreds of them at $50.00 for the least expensive and $125.00 for the more unique ones.  The amusing part was that we had just disposed of an old boat gas tank a few weeks before.  We had to pay $25.00 at the county recycling center to get rid of it.


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## Ulma Doctor (Oct 28, 2021)

I love it @brino !!!


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## DiscoDan (Oct 28, 2021)

I watch a guy on YouTube that makes these out of all kinds if metal canisters and calls them "junk-o-lanterns"! I also now see them at Home Depot.


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## markba633csi (Oct 28, 2021)

Everyone will know a machinist lives at your house! 
Great Idea Brino
-M


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## GunsOfNavarone (Oct 28, 2021)

It's just ingrained in me now, but anything that EVER held anything explosive, I won't cut, scratch, plasma, smoke near, magnify glass etc... it ever.
Nice work and you're a braver man than myself!


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## DiscoDan (Oct 28, 2021)

Here is the guy on YouTube that I mentioned.


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## Boswell (Oct 29, 2021)

markba633csi said:


> Everyone will know a machinist lives at your house!



Instead of candy, pass out handfuls of excess Nuts and Bolts from the "To be sorted" bin.


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## lordbeezer (Oct 29, 2021)

Before I cut a propane tank open I hacksaw valve off , fill completely full of water. plug hole lay on side.draw lid out.make couple passes with grinder. Cot one corner thru for a safety flap. Then finish up cuts. Water smells strongly of propane.


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