21 replies to this topic

[aquarius]

I have used scissors, side snippers, regular cutters and knives in different shapes and forms.

I am not against scissors, I am only trying to be as safe as possible, since accidents could be severe.

 

Every once in a while I og back and look at my routines, trying to eliminate possible flaws or downright dangerous ways of doing things.

One of my trainers once said regarding accidents in pyro "it is not what you expect will happen that will kill you. It is the things you never thought could go wrong that will".

 

I have found a few garden anvil cutters that I will try out, thanks for the input.

[Mumbles]

I've worked on many shoots where the shooters use scissors.  It makes me uneasy, and I try to distance myself from them when they're doing it.  Quickmatch makes me even more nervous actually.  I'm more worried about friction igniting things than sparks from the tool.  I'm familiar with one manufacturing facility where a material coated with a pyrotechnic composition was cut with scissors.  This was known to ignite every so often. 

 

Scissors have their place in the field for some things, but I prefer a knife or avil cutters for anything involving compositions.  There are several available in the US at least, but below is my favorite.  I don't know if this exact item or something similar is availabe in the the UK however.

 

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B00A1W8RPC

 

It has a smaller profile than some other cutters.  The grip is also comfortable.  It also uses cheap and readily available utility cutter blades instead of anything specific to the brand.  The screw used to secure the blade also makes it easy to convert into a semi-precise timefuse cutter. 

 

 

Edited by Mumbles, 08 April 2013 - 07:12 AM.

[dave]

  I'm familiar with one manufacturing facility where a material coated with a pyrotechnic composition was cut with scissors.  This was known to ignite every so often. 

 

  I don't know if this exact item or something similar is availabe in the the UK however.

 

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B00A1W8RPC

 

It has a smaller profile than some other cutters.  The grip is also comfortable.  It also uses cheap and readily available utility cutter blades instead of anything specific to the brand.  The screw used to secure the blade also makes it easy to convert into a semi-precise timefuse cutter. 

do you know what the composition was that occassionally ignited when cut ?

pm if necessary

 

nice tool by the way, with easy blade change

 

dave

 

 

Edited by dave, 08 April 2013 - 05:49 PM.

[TritonPyro]

Draper anvil cutters G804 from Amazon. Coated blade, hard plastic anvil and cut visco, time fuse ( up to 10 mm ) cleanly and with no effort. Using a sawing motion with scissors or a razor blade is asking for trouble.

[Mumbles]

I don't have the details anymore, but the composition was certainly more sensitive than BP.  It did contain non-nitrate oxidizers, fine and abrasive metals, as well as some other components known to sensitize mixtures.  I'm not stating that cutting visco or quickmatch with scissors will have the same issues.  Just that the friction from scissors is capable of causing igntion of some compositions, and this causes me to be uneasy with scissors cutting through all compositions.

[PyroPractic]

It's my Time-fuse cutting machine but I use also for cutting visco fuse.