36 replies to this topic

[a_bab]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against making your own tools/devices.
I currently working on a tube rolling machine able to roll both glue/whatever paper I need AND to roll polyethylene coated paper to very constant dimensions/quality by using a hot counterpress.

To me buying quick match is plainly ill since it can be made so easy. Same goes with some chems I'm making myself (barium and strontium nitrate for instance).

I just don't like the idea of having a plastic coated fuse or anything coated in plastic. I don't like the new plastic coated quickmatch, but being proffesional in a rainy day it means a whole new world of difference which I also understand.

[pyrotechnist]

You can also get bio-degradable plastics that do not cause harm to the enviroment though the price may go higher in return.

[a_bab]

There's simple isn't such a "plastic". The markets are invaded by bags stamped with "biodegradable plastics", or "oxo-bio-degradable", but in reality these are all the good old polyethylene full of cobalt salts that would make it disintegrate in time.

Plastics do disintegrate down to molecular level in theory as they loose the plastifiants (this is the plastic aging). They crack, become brittle, they powder but they stay the same no matter what.

There are some "real" biodegradable plastics, that would completely turn to compost but these are made of starch and are expensive. Besides I don't see how you'd use these in fireworks.


Let's turn off the "enviromentalist mode" and get back to your matters.

[Potassium chlorate]

Monetti is the most superior timefuse, even superior to "old-fashion" BP blasting fuse. Very durable and high quality.

[crystal palace fireworks]

Looks like a very nicely made fuse! how quickly does hot polyethylene dry once out of the molten solution? Them fuses sure do have a thick coating, by the way does the entire fuse burn away?

I think one the keys to drying the plastic coating quickly is down to a initial cold blown air and then perhaps a feed through to a refrigerated tube for rapid cooling before being wound.

[a_bab]

As in the visco manufacturing they could well afford to dry the fuse by running it for long lenghts, maybe in cooling tunnels/tubs as said.

I never saw a Monetti timefuse acticg before but I'm absolutely sure the plastic cover does not burn. How could it burn with such a small amount of BP core? It really is a matter of good sense. Besides since it's designed to be very water proof it shouldn't burn.

Edited by a_bab, 30 November 2010 - 04:37 PM.

[Potassium chlorate]

The plastic doesn't burn. That's kind of the point. It might however melt a bit.

[vaslop2005]

I don't know if this is any use for production on a 'large scale,' but i have tried injecting a 50:50 mix of epoxy and AP (with 15% ethylene glycol di-nitrate as a plasticiser and 2% CuO, but these can be excluded) into a sleeve from a electrical wire, and it produced a lovely flexible, slow burning bluish fuse, and was fully waterproof.

but id love to see some of this pro plastic fuse actually burn.

[crystal palace fireworks]

could you not make the visco as normal then coat with a plastic (would this not be far easier than trying to get powder in a plastic

like how they add nc to make visco waterproof

I wonder if `Plastisol` paints would work for hobbyist use?

[dr thrust]

ive seen this stuff at frost restorations liquid tape
maybe drag it through a the tin?

[pyrotechnist]

Now could a thermalite type mixture but manipulated so much to be wound around a core and keep its shape without flaking or breaking? I guess if the right plastic binder is used it should be pretty rigid and flexible. Once the initial thermalite is made it could then be put at the top of a rack supporting the liquid plastic mixture and then fed through the plastic bath and out of a sizing whole, like with black match, and then fed over a series of pulley's to help either A cool it down if a hot mixture or B let the solvents evaporate enough to make it so the dam thing can be rolled up ready for its final curing. The actual application of the thermalite mixture onto a copper wire is the easy part and wouldnt require anything advanced its just the drying.

[BrightStar]

Now could a thermalite type mixture but manipulated so much to be wound around a core and keep its shape without flaking or breaking? I guess if the right plastic binder is used it should be pretty rigid and flexible.

Dan Creagan suggests the following:

vinyl resin............................... 47 parts
nitrocellulose lacquer(10%)...... 25 parts
dibutyl phthalate(plasticizer).... 10 parts
acetone................................. 18 parts

http://www.fogoforum.us/thermalite.php

[a_bab]

BrightStar, this is Dan Williams and not Dan Creagan. Moreover that particular compo comes from a booklet sold by Firefox as Dan clearly states in the page. I wish I could get my hands on that book since it contains many fuse formulas. Anyone?


I'm currently trying to reproduce this thermalite fuse, but since I can't order anything from Firefox I did my homework a bit. Vinyl resin is actually a solution of PVB (polyvinyl butyral, same stuff laminated between the windshield glass panels). Firefox also sells PVB granules and they recomend to dissolve 40% in toluene or MEK. Toluene unfortunately DOES NOT dissolve this stuff period. I noticed it in the product sheet from one of the manufacturers where it's trade name is Mowital after waiting more then a week with no signs of dissolving. However adding some 15% of alcohol solves the problem. But toluene is toxic and a human carcinogen so I dissolved my harvested stuff from a broken windshield in iso propanol, but anything over 10% gells up. The ideal concentration is 8%, where it looks like honey, only transparent. The beauty is that the windshield PVB sheet is already full of plasticizers, so no more dibutyl phthalate is needed. That turns the formula into a trully OTC one.

The homemade thermolite could be made to burn in different colors and it's very energetic, just like visco: pieces of it once ignited tend to rocket away. So this is homemade flying fish, only better (bright with large flame). To whatever thickness you want. Magnalium can replace magnesium. Easy to make. With a hefty coating I bet it'll burn in a very precise manner with (probably) easily reproductible results.


A tutorial is on the way in any case for this thermolite along with several recipes. It'll be done by January the latest.

Edited by a_bab, 01 December 2010 - 07:32 AM.

[Potassium chlorate]

It would be wonderful to make everything from scratch, though very time-consuming and in many cases even not economical or practically possible on a small scale, like the discussion we had about making your own potassium nitrate.