6 replies to this topic

[GreenFire]

Hi - I'm trying a simple thing, and I can't even get this to work - I'm trying to ignite a fire sculpture: paper rope soaked in paraffin: from the top downwards using a fuse. Don't ask why, that's just what I'm doing!! I know folks who used to do this with fast PIC, but I gather this is now unobtainable. It works OK with Mantitor, which I gather is a replacement for old slow PIC, but it's too slow for a large scale. Have been trying fast Visco which is fast enough, but it doesn't burn hot enough to reliably light the paraffin. I've seen someone recommend dipping the fuse in nitrocellulose varnish, but I thought visco was already dipped in NC varnish? I also saw someone recommend dipping in titanium, no idea what effect that would have, does titanium burn hot as well as sparkle lots? Any ideas welcome ...

[T-sec]

The old yellow PIC fuse had a copper wire as a core, ment to make the flame hotter when burning.
Maybe try to ad a thin copper wire on to the visco fuse, like wrapping it around or somehting?
If the copper wire used is burning/melting completely, then it's not to thick and will make the flame hotter.

[whoof]

Don't ask why, that's just what I'm doing!!

You may get helpful replies if you explain more.

[dr thrust]

i dont know if visco would be hot enough to ignite titanium , but it would ignite dark pyro aluminum , dip your visco in nc, then into the pyro ali , make up five or six of these primed visco's two inches long and wire them around the main fuse? worth a try

[SussexPyroBoy]

I've had a bit of experience with fusing for paraffin based pieces over the years, though generally I've used slower fuses due to the timing needed for them.

I used Wassag slow fuse, which never failed to ignite the 'fin. You can get Wassag fast fuse, 8 - 12 seconds per metre if that's fast enough for what you need?

Take a look here
http://www.hfmgroup....lies/fuses.html

[Mortartube]

The old yellow PIC fuse had a copper wire as a core, ment to make the flame hotter when burning.
Maybe try to ad a thin copper wire on to the visco fuse, like wrapping it around or somehting?
If the copper wire used is burning/melting completely, then it's not to thick and will make the flame hotter.

The copper wire wasn't meant to make the flame hotter, it conducted heat away from the flame front to slow down the burn rate. Copper wire will do the same wrapped around a fuse and take heat away from the flame front.

[GreenFire]

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge: Snert: it's just for aesthetic reasons - paraffin pieces normally fire upwards, thought it would make a nice a change to fire one downwards. SussexPyroBoy: I'll try some of the Wassag, looks like a workable solution. Wrapping PIC and Visco together has worked, but that's twice the cost of a single fuse! Dr Thrust: Hmmm ... a lot of preparation time needed, but worth a go ...