Cricket
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Posts: 172
From: USA
Registered: OCT 2000
posted 06-16-2001 03:08 PM
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I found a jar of acetone mixed with NC (from shotgun shells) and I guess I forgot to put the lid on. All the acetone was gone and I was left with a black plastic stuff in a jar. So I broke the jar and pealed off the rest of the glass. Then I cut the plastic into strips (about the size of a tooth pick) and wrapped it once with tape. I found it will burn pretty good and the first one burned under water fine. The other two burned under water only for a second, but I was able to re-light them. I have about 10 strips left and will make more experiments with them and post the results. The main thing is I want to mould it into an antenna or something to make it round instead of square (so the inside and outside will burn more evenly). The fuze is kind of stiff, but flexable also.
[This message has been edited by Cricket (edited June 16, 2001).]



richl261
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Posts: 134
From: uk
Registered: MAR 2001
posted 06-16-2001 04:04 PM
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wow, sweet! how much was there?


sealsix6
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Posts: 155
From: NYC,NYC,USA
Registered: NOV 2000
posted 06-16-2001 04:05 PM
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Do you think this would work with Ping-Pont balls?


kingspaz
Frequent Poster
Posts: 360
From: UK
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-16-2001 04:29 PM
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hi
i thought of making a fuse using nitrocellulose but i was thinking of making a standard black match fuse and coating it in nitrocellulose paste made from mixing it with acetone. as i don't have any nitrocellulose at the moment i haven't been able to test it yet. i also thought the addition of a small amount of aluminium powder would keep the flame hotter allowing better burning under water.
i don't think pingpong balls will work as they don't have a high enough nitrogen content but they could work to water proof a fuse.


Agent Blak
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Posts: 772
From: Sk. Canada
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-16-2001 07:51 PM
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NC will not burn in the absense of O2. it can be used to coat the fuse as a water proofing coating. But it will not burn without O2. I have made under water fuse if any wants the article on how-to? let me know
Drop me a line;
agent_blak@yahoo.com
------------------
A wise man once said:
"...There Will Be No
Stand Off At High Noon
... Shoot'em In The Back
And, Shoot'em In The Dark"

Agent Blak-------OUT!!



MacCleod
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Posts: 220
From:
Registered: DEC 2000
posted 06-17-2001 02:42 AM
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Hey,Cricket,If you add just enough acetone to soften it,then place little blobs of it in your palm,you can roll it into round strips (but if it's double base,you'll probably get a headache!).


Anthony
Moderator
Posts: 2383
From: England
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-17-2001 10:13 AM
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Cellulose won't burn without O2 but nitrocellulose will, else firearm cartirdges would be a bit useless!


Agent Blak
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Posts: 772
From: Sk. Canada
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-17-2001 01:52 PM
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try this;
pour 3 TBSP of Smokeless in a dish.
add just enough acetone to soften it(about 1 TBSP)
stir until it starts to become stiff
now put on some latex gloves, pivk it up and roll it in to a ball between your palms.
alow it to dry out.
Put on some welding gloves(leather), light the ball. You can play with it(your it around) and it will stay lit, but cup you hands around it a making it so no O2 is available. it will stop burning. it can then be re lit and you can repeat this.
I never saying thing is some way unless I have tried it.
------------------
A wise man once said:
"...There Will Be No
Stand Off At High Noon
... Shoot'em In The Back
And, Shoot'em In The Dark"

Agent Blak-------OUT!!



Anthony
Moderator
Posts: 2383
From: England
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-17-2001 07:27 PM
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That is damn strange!


PHILOU Zrealone
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Posts: 479
From: Brussels,Belgium,Europe
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-18-2001 05:49 AM
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Exactely my thought too!
How the hell nitrocellulose can make the D to D transition without being able to burn without air (under confinement thus also!).
I think that the remaining aceton might be the explanation or the quality of the nitrocellulose (% of nitrogen in it)...usually bullet NC is cut in little shapes to ensure a certain rate of combustion depending on the reaction surface!
Here your reaction surface is strongly reduced; also NC with low N% is needed since people don't want their gun to detonate while shooting (different from blast NC)!



------------------
"Life that deadly disease sexually transmitted".
"Chemistry is all what stinks and explode; Physic is all what never works! ;-p :-) :o)"



BoB-
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Posts: 706
From:
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-18-2001 06:10 AM
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Philou is right, whenever I would light a bit of NC before it was completly dry, it would barely remain lit and would go out easilly as Agent blak reported.
But if the NC and acetone solution were a little bit thinner, like syrup, then poured onto wax paper it would be completly dry by morning, and would sustain a flame easilly, but also burned faster.

I have dreamed about experimenting with Smokeless powder in fuses, I would dip sections of cotton twine in NC laquer, then roll it in fine (I dont remember which, SR-7625 maybe) Smokeless powder, when dry, the fuses burned way too fast to be useable.

A 12" length burned in approximatly 2.4 seconds, obviously thats no good.



Agent Blak
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Posts: 772
From: Sk. Canada
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-18-2001 10:04 AM
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So what you are saying that the smokeless(NC) burns because it is in little cylinder shapes alowing for air space, as well as it not being right full of smokeless. so in actuality it is not burning in the absense of O2. Fascinating... looks like I kew what I was talking about after all.
*wink*
------------------
A wise man once said:
"...There Will Be No
Stand Off At High Noon
... Shoot'em In The Back
And, Shoot'em In The Dark"

Agent Blak-------OUT!!



kingspaz
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Posts: 360
From: UK
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-18-2001 10:30 AM
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agent blak - i'm sure that NC could burn without O2 presence because how else could smokeles powder putty and AP work?....i think the reason your experiment may have apparently proved this is that the gloves smother the only burning suface the NC has. in rifle cartridges there are burning surfaces between the powder allowing burning. however with your gloves you are covering the only burning surface. if you take some NC and put it under a bell jar shorly after ignition it would prove once and for all whether it needs O2 to burn. as if it does it would shortly go out - if it doesn't then it'll keep burning. personly i think it need burning surfaces (lots of them) so watever is in contact with the container will burn toward the container or somthing like that....now i'm confusing myself....i hope somebody knows what i'm trying to say. oh yer also you could try thw glove thing with powdered NC to see if i'm right.
[This message has been edited by kingspaz (edited June 18, 2001).]



Microtek
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Posts: 212
From:
Registered: JAN 2001
posted 06-18-2001 02:25 PM
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When You say "smokeless" do you mean single-
or doublebase?
If you are using doublebase, then remember that quite a large ´part of it is actually nitroglycerine which is has excess oxygen.
By the way, I also think good quality NC will burn without oxygen.


kingspaz
Frequent Poster
Posts: 360
From: UK
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-18-2001 05:11 PM
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i think i'm right because NC burns inside a rifle cartridge but not in the gloves but the key difference able to explain this is the burning surface. i don't have and NC at the moment so i can't test it.


Agent Blak
Frequent Poster
Posts: 772
From: Sk. Canada
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-18-2001 07:31 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We also dropped it on the floor it continued burn. We then place a clean, empty soup can with one disc missing(like a cup) over top of it and it snuffed itself out in several seconds.
------------------
A wise man once said:
"...There Will Be No
Stand Off At High Noon
... Shoot'em In The Back
And, Shoot'em In The Dark"

Agent Blak-------OUT!!



kingspaz
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Posts: 360
From: UK
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-19-2001 04:43 PM
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how nitrated was the NC? or was it commercial grade stuff...i'm really surprised. i'll try that if i can get some NC soon.
[This message has been edited by kingspaz (edited June 19, 2001).]



Agent Blak
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Posts: 772
From: Sk. Canada
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 06-19-2001 11:28 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It states above that it was smokeless that was used... so I guess that would be commerically made.
------------------
A wise man once said:
"...There Will Be No
Stand Off At High Noon
... Shoot'em In The Back
And, Shoot'em In The Dark"

Agent Blak-------OUT!!



Cricket
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Posts: 172
From: USA
Registered: OCT 2000
posted 07-14-2001 10:52 PM
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My NC was from shot shells. And I think that this NC can burn without extra Oxygen because it does in guns. So there is a bit of air in the spaces in the flakes, well air isn't pure Oxygen, and I didn't think that much air would do anything. And if it was burning underwater, would it burn hot enough to separate the Oxygen from Hydrogen? I might make more of this soon. The stuff I had was not all the same (the NC closer to the outside of the jar is thinner and other variables).


PHILOU Zrealone
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Posts: 479
From: Brussels,Belgium,Europe
Registered: SEP 2000
posted 07-23-2001 08:24 AM
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No way it will decompose water to do so you need temps over 2000°C; thermite can do the job (3000C), or oxyacetylenic welder torch (3200C) or the plasma created by oxycyanogen welder torch (very toxic gas NC-CN)(4200C).

hey cricket, i also found out (by accident) that the NC will turn into a paste when mixed with acetone. my sister accidentally knocked over a bottle of acetone based fingernail polish remover into some NC i had just shelled out. don't ask how. however, mine did not burn very well. i assume it's because it was not pure acetone. i'm trying to find a way to make a good homemade fuse because it is diffacult for me to obtain visco since i am "underage". any ideas for something fairly easy and reliable?

I think it was just the acetone that was burning, and not the NC since it was probably poorly homemade NC.

I too had a dream about experimenting with NC based fuses. In my dream I made NC using Mr.cool's method. Then dissolved it into acetone to form NC laquer. Then diped a cotton string into the mixture. I let it soak for a minuite then pull it out. I hanged in the air to dry. After it dried I tested it, the test was not as I expected it to be. When the string was lit, the outer layer burned quickly at the rate of 2 inches per second, after it was burned it left the wick partually scorched. Which mean the NC coating burned but the cotton didin't. I will dream of more test later.

TNT, I think to get your fuse in your dream to work, you may have to dream about making the NC laquer thnner. That way the acetone will penatrate the cotton and leave a more desirebale product. Or if that method doesn't float ya boat you could use the thicker stuff and let the cotton soak for a day or two to ensure it is really soaked, cause I think 1 minute is far to short to getting any penatration (now that leaves space for some dirty replies ;) )

I think I'll try this if I find a suitable dia of cotton string (2-3mm)

Another problem is I guess the cotton string is too thin. It is about 1mm thick or less. So maybe not enough area for the NC to pentrate.

The idea of a fuse made of NC is something I haven't tried, however I tried to make some det-cord equivalant this way with AP putty. The NC+acetone paste dries pretty hard in my experiance, but maybe the hardness varies between your NC source.

Just a thought, people make flash paper (nitrated paper) why not nitrate some cotton string to make "flash string" I know it would burn very fast but perhaps there would be some way to slow it down?

I would think adding some fuel to it such as dexterin. It is added to backpowder to backmatch it slows it down.
I had a dream of making a larger NC fuse still no success, it is 4mm in diameter, many smal cotton strings wraped around it. It was left in the solouiton for 12 hours, taken out, then hung dried. When lit, still the outside layer burned, but it only scorched the string.

Dextrin is used to toughen the fuse, making it less likely to bend and crack. If you wanted to slow down a mix, just overfuel it with carbon. If you can make flashpaper, you have access to either xNO3/H2SO4 or HNO3/H2SO4 so you could just use the nitric acid on a potassium salt to yield KNO3 or use the nitrate. Why bother making a flashpaper fuse? I can't see any practical use for it other than quick match, which already exists. Would it be cool though? Of course :)

Made some BP/NC laquer dough and stuffed it into 60ml syringe. This made some fine string with diameter same as hole (1,5mm). I found that BP have to be fine, since I was lazy and didn't crushed all BP granules, it stuck several times but overally it seems to be a very easy and fast way of fuse making.. oh, fuse should be placed on a surface with starch, it seems to stick alot.
Syrigne is then cleaned easily. Hole could be enlarged.
I didnt make any tests on reliability but it seems to be a promicing fuse.

for a simple short fuse that costs pennies for 50,

get some packaging string (cotton/paper) NOT plastic based! from the post office, about 20 pence (10 cents) a ball.

goto your local newsagents (tobacco/newspaper store) and by a pack of kingsize Rizla papers (i like the blue ones best)

then all you need it make a saturated solution of your favorite chlorate/perchlorate (potassium salts are best, less moisture sensitive)

soak a length of your string in the sollution and let it dry.

cut up into 5 inch (12.5 Cms)

and roll your new string in the cigarette paper wetting the edge of the paper 1`st with your soln.

leave them to dry and store in an air tight jar with a pack of siica gell (desicant) untill your ready to use them.

it`s always worked for me for fireworks usage, it`s a different method if you want to use for det-caps! but for everyday messing about, i`ve never had a failure with this type over 20+ years

EDIT: burn rate approx : 16 secs per 10 Cms

be happy, stay safe! :)

A very good improvised fuse I use for small crackers/devices is made using kitchen roll soaked in a saturated solution of NaClO3/NaCl weedkiller. Just add water to the weedkiller till it's all absorbed, and then place a sheet of kitchen roll onto a plate. Pour a small amount of the weedkiller solution onto the plate, and the solution will be absorbed throughout the kitchen roll. Then, just dry however you like, I prefer to lay many sheets on a cut open black bin liner - you can throw it away at the end so no mess. When it is dry to the touch, cut into whatever length/width strips you like, and then roll them up into a fuse.

They work very well, and don't absorb too much moisture from the atmosphere. If they do get damp, all it does is increase the amount of smoke produced and decreases the burn time. These fuses are obviously incredibly cheap to make, and very flexible. Combined with KClO3/Sugar crackers you've got very cheap, easy to make fun :)

blindreeper another idea I came up with to reduce the burn rate is to lightly nitrate the fuse. Maybe just use a solution of 30%HNO3 and 30% H2SO4.

Another easy fuse to make is some LE wrapped in Alfoil. I use this when I don't have nitrates, and have to use KMnO4 which doesn't work well with water, I can't soak a string in solution of it, with out getting a brown mess. I simply cut of a strip of alfoil 30cm across andfold it in half and pour the KMnO4 and S comp down the 'valley' and roll it up till it is very thin. It looks very nice when it burns and hasn't failed me yet. Has anyone employed sparklers in their homemade fuse? Used as is or modified. I have tried making fuses with two peices cotton painted with sparkler powder (KNO3 Fe/Al and Starch I think) wrapped around each other and coated in NC Lacquer, they burn hot but sputter out very quickly I think I could incorporate a length of copper wire in it toimprove the thermal conductivity.

In the past I had used sparklers as fuses before. I don't like them because they are expensive, and brittle. Although the burning rate is constent and slow it is too big. Experiments with salutes, the holes have to be drilled large, when the pyrotechnic compostion is ignited with the sparkler there is too much room for the gas to escape therefore reducing confinment. Many of my homade blackpowder salutes failed to explode due to that reason.Instead it shot out sparks through the opening of the hole where the sparkler is inserted.

SWIM recently experimented with a variation of his standard "2mm-diameter-drinking-straw-filled-with-BP" fuses, which burn at a very constant rate (even under water), and are pretty reliable.
The only problem with them, sometimes, the burning BP propels itself out. Especially shocks are a bad thing for this type of fuse. Combine that with water and you'll see the problems arise ...

The variation consists of using a different casing. Shrink tubing !!
The smallest diameter one could get was about 3mm OD / 2.5mm ID, which, when heated empty, shrinks to 2mm OD / 0.75mm ID.

These where filled by blocking the end, shoving the other end in BP and tapping the side of the container with the tubing so the BP falls inside. Repeating this handling about a dozen times fills the straw about 10cm, depending on skills, type of composition, particle size, gravity:p, ...

When the straw is full, simply start shrinking the tube from the open ends. If you filled it badly, you shall see the difference in diameter very well, allowing you to pick the most uniform piece of tube as your fuse.

This type is fuse is very bendable (it burned trough a knot I tied) very reliable, with the only exception of stretching, as this will create gaps in the BP trail.
Burntime is about 1 second/cm.

I bet you guys already heard of this fuse but those who haven't it's called the silicone fuse go to this web site to see the pics of it and the instructionshttp://angry_jack.tripod.com/fuse.html
It's a good fuse because it is waterproff and has a consistent burn rate but it is big in diamater so it would not make a good fuse for LE's.
BTW that isn't my site full credit should be given to Angry_jack at TotSE.

Trinitrotoluene,
I used spaklers for my BP salutes... I haven't had anything but success with them :p ....

What I do is:
I make the salute, poke the smallest fuse hole possilble (the exact size of the spakler), and put the spakler in....
I then seal the hole with hot glue...
by the way....
The ends of the fuse are sealed with hot glue as well... and there is a small layer of tissue paper before the glue end.

When I tried other methods of sealing the ends and didn't put the tissue paper, also shot off sparks...

I don't really understand why the ends are what matter so much here as it seems like the problem is with the fuse hole... but I've seen it make all the difference...
so I'm: :confused:

so just use hot glue... it makes life much easier.... and don't worry it doesn't ignite the BP (at least mine didn't....test yours so you won't have any accidents...)

Nitro cellulose doesnt even really burn. it is so fast that it almost undergoes DDT. smokeless gunpowder like in shotgun shells contains very very little NC. it is mostly a mixture of low explosives that burn very simalar to black powder but have no noticable smoke or visable gases. notice that the shotgun shell powder is black, NC is white/creamy.

Also, water proof visco fuse cost 5$ for 15 feet and is widely available in almost every country. so instead of killing yourself with your homemade fuse, do yourself a favor and dont be another faitality to stupidity..... go buy some real fuse.

PS: when i said faitality to stupidity, i wasnt refering to the moderators that run this great forum nor was i refering to the the very knowledgable people that have helped me alot through my strugles and chalenges. I was refering to the people that blow their arms off because they tried out their new det cord with their "kool" homemade fuse. then it gets posted on the news and its one more step towards not being able to continue our wonderful and respesctful hobbies.

is widely available in almost every country

Not where I live, it isn't. Just how many countries have you actually tried to source visco in? Care to enlighten us with a list of suppliers?

Here in NZ you need a license to import fireworks etc. You can only buy consumer fireworks for 1 week each year, and its only small stuff - no rockets, no crackers. Now do you understand why some of us have no choice but to make our own pyro devices and fuse?

http://www.pyrodex.com/products/hpcfuse.htm

this companies website is under construction curently but they are a very large company and are in many countries. shooting cannons is a hobby all around the world, i myself take part in this exciting hobby. I am sure they can send you 15 50 or 100 feet of visco cannon fuse for a good deal. I only searched for about 4 minutes and found this site. im am sure there are many more.
also...try ebay. remember.....noone has to know what is in a package when its shiped :) maybe you could have relatives in another country send you your "new pair of tennis shoes for your b-day" a little early.

just be creative and trade that 15-20 dollars you have saved up for insurence that youll keep limbs.

I know there are plenty of overseas sources for fuse. I'm not stupid. The trick is getting the stuff through Customs, without all the red tape, or anyone knowing who you are. Especially with the current level of terrorist paranoia.

Customs:"Well, perhaps you could tell me why you want 20 metres of fuse, when you don't have a gun license, or explosives license, or fireworks license? I'll just make a note of your name in my little book, shall I?"
Hobby in pyro promptly terminated by men in blue uniforms, with search warrants.

many people send things to realatives in normal brown boxes, dealers do the same. they dont use big red boxes with warning symbals on it that say explosives, they use lil brown boxes as well.
and the post office cant even begin to search or scan the 100000000000000 packages that come into your country each and every day. for even betetr chances, order it during a holiday. post office gets overloaded and dont even scan packages.
there are many many many companies that will send you fuse over seas. or order from a near by country so it is ground shiped.

goodluck and lucky hunting :)

there are many many many companies that will send you fuse over seas

Please name one?

Pyrotek, Skylighter etc WON'T.

think outside your pyro box. there are many civilian uses for fuse. not just to blow stuff up. i dont want to take the time to find you a company. but im sure there is a way for you and anyone else to get alot of fuse for a cheap price. im not giving this info to insult you or prove you wrong, im doing it so you arent just another statistic on the news. so instead of arguing with me why dont you just research. look online, call reallatives, look at cannon shooting clubs, buy some off ebay,

if the sons-of-bitches iraqi wanna be soldiers can get fuse and blow up ammonium nitrate backpack bombs and kill Americas brilliant and brave soldiers than i should hope you can.

... and kill Americas brilliant and brave soldiers

Shit man, I just thought you were a KeWl, turns out you were actually a master of sarcasm!

Customs don't have to sniff out your package if you're ordering fuse from a foreign company. Pyro suppliers etc will ship the fuse with the appropriate paperwork and/or the box plastered in warning labels.

They have no reason not to conform to regulations and it's their arse if they don't.

Some things are easier to source in certain countries. America seems to be good for fuse, many otehr countries aren't so good. With a license being required for pyro in NZ, I don't think poor Tuatara stands much chance.

In which case homemade fuse is a good alternative. It can be made just as safe and reliable as commercial fuse, often cheaper to boot.

Also being able to make your own fuse means you're that step closer to total improvisation, which is half the fun of things.

I think making it yourself is more than half the fun! The fire display at the end is just the icing on the cake. I've been messing with BP since I was 10. I have never, in 25 years, had an accident with my pyro - not so much as a singed eyebrow. Because I am very, very careful. I have always made my own fuse or ignition system (glycerine + permanganate is one of my favourites).

I just don't want a visit from the cops when some kewl down the road blows up his neighbours letterbox witha pipe bomb.

zaibatsu, what do you mean sarcasm? i love America, and will probably one day die for it. but i wish the English would have won the revolutionary war.(for my own reasons) Semfer Fi


are you not patriotic? would you die for England?

and as for making homemade fuse...ok go ahead. im sorry i said anything about just buying comercial fuse. i just hear alot on the news about people killing themselves with it.

once again sorry

Dude...grammer!

:rolleyes:

Use punctuation marks at the end of a sentence, like . or ! or ?, understand?

Capitalize the beginning of a sentence.

Use "I" when referring to yourself, not "i", which shows you're too lazy to even hit the shift key. :mad:

Show that you "love America" (at least you capitalized that!) by using proper grammer, so the rest of the world doesn't think we're a bunch of illiterate 'tards who can't even use our own language properly. ;)

It's hard to take someone seriously when their posts look like a 3rd grader typed it. :p

I wouldn't die for America, but I'd be more than happy to kill for it! :D

I'm very sorry. I am tired right now from swimming for three hours after school. Then, doing two hours of homework.

I will die for America, but many more will be killed by me. America isn't without its problems though!

User Name, i certainly would not die for england.

why would you die for the USA? so the chimpanzee who lives at the white house looks good?

but speaking of fuse, for shorter fuses i find the standard blackmatch to be very reliable so long as you mix dextrin with the BP you're using. up to lengths of about 12cm it will hold its shape well but i find length past this tend to suffer breaks and become less reliable, although still often work. it also depends on the thickness of the string. i've found thicker string seems to be alot more resilient to damage.

Do electrical fuses count in this thread? ive made an electric fuse out of three wires, two 16ga, one very very very small like one strand of steel from a twisted steel wire. tyhe small, almost unseeable, wire goes in between the other two and the are all hooked up. mix acetone with smokeless powder and dab some on the little wire. after it hardens it is pretty much ready for use. just hook it up the same way yopu would an estes modle rocket ignigter and use a motorcycle battery (6v)

I beleive that no man can give a sound reason why he should not have to fight for his country.
just an opinion.

Not really this thread is about pyrotechnical fuses, not electrical ones. There are as usual other threads for those.

When talkning about improvised fuses I find Microteks KMnO4 fuse the best. Easy, cheap and reliable.

Does anyone know the mixture visco fuses have in them? And that coating around the fuse?
The only homemade fuses I've ever used was for packs of firecrackers that didnt have long enough fuses. I just took a small length of twine (like 12 inches) and soaked it in acetone, and rubbed it in smokeless powder. The entire 12 inches burned in like 4-5 seconds so that wasnt too bad.

I've just banned you, but I'll reply anyway.

No, I wouldn't die for England. I'd die protecting my family, but not other people's, what do I owe them? A piece of land is a piece of land, it's the people that change that. I can understand why you like America, it has positive points, but sometimes this over-patriotic shit makes me sick, whether American, English etc etc.

Visco fuse uses a version of BP with higher Sulfur content than normal
propellant grade BP, usually. It is coated with a low nitration NC lacquer.

It CAN be made at home, if you are sufficiently mechanically inclined
to make your own fuse spinning machinery, but it is far easier to
make good black match. Good thick black match can be coated
with plastic "tool handle dip" to render it waterproof and somewhat
immune to handling damage. You can even just wind it with a tight layer
of Vinyl electricians's tape.

BTW, it is much better to run several thin "darning cotton" strings
together through your BP slurry than one thicker string. The BP
inside the finished strand will then continue to burn past areas where
the exterior BP has flaked off... Adding a bit of laundry starch and
boiled gelatin solution to your slurry in place of some of the
dextrin will produce a VERY stiff match, good for cross matching
time fuse.

A procedure for thermolite type fuse is found here...
Thermolite Equivalent Fuse (http://www.wecreate4u.net/dwilliams/thermalite/thermalite.html)

Tuatara,
Visco fuse is very easy to get in NZ aerospace education (http://www.rockets.co.nz) sells it for very cheap only $2NZD per M , it is thick waterproof 3mm type, they also have KN03 and zinc dust.

matt