Abstract: A surface mixing burner (16) is positioned in alignment with a mold of a glass container forming machine of the I.S. type to produce a supply of soot to lubricate an inner surface of the mold, the soot being produced by combustion of a rich, combustible supply of a fuel and an oxidant. The supply of fuel and oxidant is intermittently ignited by a sparking device (54) that is positioned within a sooting head (10), and an ignition coil (56) is positioned within the sooting head to deliver a high voltage pulse to the sparking device by the inductive discharge method. The ignition coil is positioned sufficiently close to the sparking device, and preferably in direct contact therewith, to avoid interference with the proper operation of an electronic control system for the I.S. machine. A remotely-positioned power supply (62) is provided to energize the ignition coil, the power supply providing power to the ignition coil at a relatively low voltage, for example, 12-24 volts d.c.