Steampunk Canada

I'm building a steampunk machine prop and, well, steam machines tend to produce smoke.

I've planned for my machine to have a chimney but it will most likely be just for show. Still I can't help thinking that it would be very nice if I could get some smoke to come out of it.

I thought of dry ice but I'm not sure of the constraints regarding temperature. And the fact that dry ice vapors are heavier than air doesn't produce the best effect.

I know some model trains produce smoke by heating a special liquid but I don't think this can be done at my scale and I believe it requires a quite powerful electrical current which would be complicated since my machine has to be portable.

Does anyone have an idea how this could be accomplished?

as I recall its quite simple to make a smoke bomb analog using saltpeter and sucrose.

Something akin to the contents of a smoke bomb might be  your best bet, as it would be a powder one could adapt for a small to medium scale machine.  

Thats the best I can think of right now.

PS: I've tinkered with train smoke before, and you can get some that does not require high current, rather it just requires a light heating. 

I've had success with my idea!

Its possible to rig a mistmaker into your prop and produce the desired steam effect. In my tinkering I've found that 2 mistmaker machines wired together (also connecting to an on/off switch) produce a satisfactory amount of heavy 'steam' smoke. It looks alot like train smoke with the same white-ish color and density but is produced by a high frequency sonic pitch instead of a heat source so there is no risk of burning yourself. It's not a banned material/product,does not risk injury to oneself, is cheap to refill as it runs on water and can be built to run on a couple of D batteries linked together.

Hope that helps

You've caught my attention!  

Mist makers are an excellent idea. We used them to imitate camp fires [with a few battery operated twinkle lights] when we did indoor belly dance shows. No way to hurt yourself other than tripping over one.

Unfortunately, the more my project advances the less likely it seems that I will have space for something to make smoke. Still, does anyone know where I can find these devices other than on line?

I have seen the mist makers at garden centres, home and decor stores and also in household clearence stores [not $ stores]. Happy hunting.