15 replies to this topic

[Prodigy]

Has anyone had any experience with this fuse?

It sounds very promising. Silicone + KMnO4 + sulpher. This is mixed and rolled thin, then cut into strips. Wrap it in insulating tape and bob's your uncle.

Apparently it's waterproof and very flexibile + it's supposed to burn very hot.

I don't fancy paying the steep prices for KMnO4 at GD though so I want to know if anyone else has any comments on it before I take the plunge.

[Pazza]

OR, you could stick to black match!!!

Anyone in here will tell you that KMnO4 is a VERY dangerous oxidiser, it will react with many substances to spontaneously ignite and using it for a fuse would be completely stupid.

Basically, if you want to continue being a member here, dont play around with dangerous chemicals like KMnO4. If you use it you are putting your own as well as other people's lives at risk!

*sits and waits for the other people to do a bit of yelling*

[Phoenix]

I'll yell too, but don't take this as a flame - I know the person who documented it on rec.pyrotechnics, which I guess is where you found it, said it is safe, so you can be forgiven. I have not made it, but I doubt very much that it is safe at all. Potassium permanganate is really NOT nice stuff. It seems to be much more sensitive to accidental ignition than chlorates, and oxidises just about everything, including you, on contact. Also, it has the added bonus of being rather toxic, and manganese poisoning is not a very nice way to go. Plus it is very unstable so will break down and become useless after a while. If you managed to make this fuse without getting burns all over your hands and manganese poisoning, you'd then have to consider the fact that it had a good chance of igniting for no particular reason, and probably wouldn't work anyway after a couple of months. With regards to it being waterproof, it would need to be very waterproof, as potassium permanganate and many things will ignite if dampened. In short, stick to black match, paper firecracker fuse and touchpaper

Edited by Phoenix, 07 March 2004 - 11:17 AM.

[invision]

Couldnt you just replace the permangate with another oxidiser, like potassium perchlorate or potassium nitrate. On a related note does anyone know a supplier of potassium perchlorate in the UK for the production of Flash Powder. The only place I could find it was ebay at ?9.00 for 100grms which is way too much of a rip off for me to buy it.

[Prodigy]

Ok guys, thanks for the advice.

Would KNO3 be a suitable replacement, would this work at all?

As for the potassium perchlorate - it's been asked many times before, even I know the answer to this on

Basically it has no use except in pyro and as such you're not going to be able to get hold of it unless you've got some decent contacts. You can synthesise it yourself but I wouldn't bother.

[Pazza]

Prodigy's right about the perchlorate, if you search you will find many threads of people asking where to get perc, and some about manufacturing it. Basically, it's very difficult to find a supplier, and even then, you have to have a reason for buying it, and it is not like kno3 where you can say 'im growing some strawberries' and walk away with a bag. Some lab supply places sell it but it is very high quality and therefore very expensive.

[invision]

Yeah I know its expensive, you can sometimes get it on ebay but its ?9.00 for 100grams which is too much for me to buy a lot, although Im gonna buy some soon along with some 200mesh aluminium powder also on ebay ?5 for 500grams to make Flash Powder. Is 200 mesh ok for flashpowder or should I buy/make a ballmill.

[Stuart]

200 mesh wont be good enough for flash, you can buy finer mesh from sculptors although that still isn't fine enough. You want at least 400 mesh for flash although this will be low power.

Stuart

[The_Djinn]

?9.00 for 100gm's... boy I could retire

[BigG]

Please stick to the subject of this thread.

[bogsulphur]

KNO3 + sugar makes a pretty good fuse, in that it is easy as hell to make and get the ingredients, all you do is melt the ingredients and pour them out onto something flat, then cut strips off it and tape it up (to prevent sidespit). Trouble is, it sets rock solid and has no flexibility at all, but if you just want a fuse for some test or experiment, or need one in a hurry and can't be bothered making blackmatch, then it is pretty reliable, and if you cut it good, the burn rate is quite constant (about 2-3 seconds per inch).

[paul]

In this fuse composition "KMnO4 + silicone + sulphur" a oxidizing agent like KNO3 just wouldn?t work! It has a way too high decompression point...

Silicone is not of any real use if you want to make fuse. At most it could help you to finish the fuse against water.

Just use blackmatch. Even cottonstrings dipped into 65/35 KNO3/Sugar with a medium nc-paste and 1% Fe3O4 works quite good.

I still prefer "real" blackmatch anyway...

Edited by paul, 14 October 2004 - 06:54 PM.

[adamw]

Please please think very carefully about home made fuse. Reliable and safe fuse is VERY important.

Just imagine it this way... Think of fuse as the Human-Firework interface just like your mouse or keyboard and Windowz is your Human-Machine interface. Suppose your keyboard was defective and it accidentally formatted your hard drive!

The same applies to fireworks and fuse, but on a more serious level. If you can't trust your fuse, then you are creating a danger for yourself. It could burn too fast, jump, flash through or burn intermittently.

Sometimes people can get fuse but say "gee this is way too expensive... I'll make my own". Nothing is too expensive to be safe.

If you cannot get fuse, then persivere. Try remote electical ignition instead.

Remember - if you aren't confident in the safety of your fuse then you could be GAMBLING WITH YOUR LIFE.

[defective]

Has anyone had any experience with this fuse?

It sounds very promising. Silicone + KMnO4 + sulpher. This is mixed and rolled thin, then cut into strips. Wrap it in insulating tape and bob's your uncle.

Apparently it's waterproof and very flexibile + it's supposed to burn very hot.

I don't fancy paying the steep prices for KMnO4 at GD though so I want to know if anyone else has any comments on it before I take the plunge.

kmno4 isnt that expensive mind, its about 10 quid for 500g at some aquatics shops

[defective]

Couldnt you just replace the permangate with another oxidiser, like potassium perchlorate or potassium nitrate. On a related note does anyone know a supplier of potassium perchlorate in the UK for the production of Flash Powder. The only place I could find it was ebay at ?9.00 for 100grms which is way too much of a rip off for me to buy it.

im not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet because i havent read the whole thread
but you can get perc for a mere £18. sumthing from inoxia.co.uk

hope this helps