did you fire your shell using direct e-match or fuse ?

[jaysgoh]

Title said ,

I'm thinking of using full electronic ignition , this would give me abit confident on firing . ( Probability )- I don't want my burning fuse stop at the middle and you will never want to near the mortar tube .

is there any pros and cons ?

Please dont throw me harsh words , i'm asking for opinions .

thank you .

 

Edited September 8, 2014 by gohjiejing

[pyrokid]

For clandestine shooting, Visco to quickmatch is king.

 

It's good to be confident about your quickmatch

[BurritoBandito]

Depends on the application.

[dagabu]

Visco to quickmatch or e-match to quickmatch.

[nater]

I always build quickmatch into my shells. I am not a fan of building an ematch into anything or direct matching. Many accidents on commercial display sites have been attributed to prematched product or installing ematch on a shell before it is properly loaded. The safest place to match a shell is when it is loaded and properly seated in the mortar.

 

This way, should an accidental ignition occur, the shell is most likely going to perform as it was intended. The loader might have a minor burn from the muzzle blast, some ringing ears from the noise and need a new pair of pants, but he or she probably be able to finish out the day with a story to tell.

 

Some hobiest shells with large bottom shots might be best with a quickmatch leader and a suitable length of visco. It may be counter intuitive to some, but handlighting in this case with a long enough delay to retreat behind a bunker would be the safest for the shooter. These shells have a higher chance of failing in the mortar and could kill someone who was only a foot away.

[Arthur]

WHich is a good reason to be 100+ metres away at the end of a wire.

[nater]

WHich is a good reason to be 100+ metres away at the end of a wire.

 

Unless the shell fires as soon as the e-match is inserted. Remember, they are friction and static sensitive. I have never seen one ignite first hand while being inserted into a device, I have treated a burn injury when an e-match ignited a device while it was being removed. I have heard, second hand from someone I trust, about an incident where an e-match lit a shell as soon as it was pinned into a cold slat. This happened in the South on a humid day with storms brewing and was presumed to be due to static. In this case, the shell was properly loaded into the mortar and performed as expected, just prematurely. No harm done.

[jaysgoh]

Not sure , last time my homemade black match just coated outside the cotton which is does not soak up the bp , so when you bend the quick match , the pieces start fall out .

between , i mean homemade non sensitive e-match , i can't access any commercial e-match which is fast and sensitive .

 

Fire ur shells by lighting the visco and run away is the most easy stuff to made if you able to do everything perfect which is everyone does .

In my case , i bought the same component and gonna build a electronic firing just like this . http://www.instructables.com/id/Fireworks-Controller/step1/Parts/

and i also bought 3kg of willow charcoal from china ( 30USD ) and one 2LB Ball mill , some 1.5kg rice hulls ( hope it sufficient )

 

seems like almost everyone voting for Visco to Quickmatch which is tradisional ways

[AzoMittle]

Not sure , last time my homemade black match just coated outside the cotton which is does not soak up the bp , so when you bend the quick match , the pieces start fall out .

between

 

seems like almost everyone voting for Visco to Quickmatch which is tradisional ways

 

 

I'm not! But I'm special apparently.

 

I use all black match and rammed spollettes. I do not feel comfortable storing any finished composition, including visco and very much including quick match; this is a due to my specific work area and should you have a safe storage location then I would advise to use visco, it seems to be more reliable.

 

I do not fuse until I intent to fire, much like putting your finger on the trigger of a gun. What's the old advice? "Don't point a gun at anything you aren't okay with putting a bullet in" IIRC

 

As far as the black match not soaking in/flaking off I have found that it is much like painting, you want several thin coats not a single thick, globular mess. By using a very thinned BP slurry (I'm talking +30% alcohol with soup-like consistency) and really let the first coat soak in, and break open the fibers, retwisting the line as necessary. I then dry the 'black match' (can hardly call it that at this point) overnight. I add several slightly thicker coats as needed. This has given me only a few issues so far with not burning completely.

I have also experimented with using white glue as a binder in the black match slurry however this severely retards the burning rate, sometimes to the point of not igniting or extinguishing part way. It is a very effective binder though, zero loss of powder.

 

Also, not all thread is equal. Some, even when marked as the same products but different manufacturers, will burn much better or much worse. I would suggest going to a fabric store or somewhere that sells many different types of string and buy a few meters of as many different types of string as possible. Do a comparison of them and then stock up on the best burning one.

[FlaMtnBkr]

Try running black match (cotton) string through a saturated solution of KNO3 and water before the BP slurry. Or a thin BP slurry but you just want to pre wet the string so when it goes thru the final BP slurry it doesn't leach all the nitrate out in the beginning.

 

To your BP add 4% dextrin and 1% CMC as a binder. The CMC keeps the BP in suspension and allows it to bend without flaking.

 

Then work the BP into the string with your fingers or pull it thru a die to force the BP into the string and put an even coat on the string.

 

You can dust with dry BP powder while match is wet to give it a dusty finish that burns quickly but not needed.

 

And I use BM and visco.

[OblivionFall]

Just one line of Visco. They reason is because I only make small shells. I may switch to larger ones soon, but I think I'm happy where I'm at and bigger ones are expensive.

[schroedinger]

Do you have acces to passfire? They describe a method for making black match by using a defined wound circle of string and work the slurry into the match or use the pummel of a hank method

[jaysgoh]

Do you have acces to passfire? They describe a method for making black match by using a defined wound circle of string and work the slurry into the match or use the pummel of a hank method

nope , not at this moment . Maybe next year i will join .

[Mumbles]

You may want to rethink your priorities. Not being capable of making blackmatch does not bode well for successfully completing more complicated items like electric matches, firing systems, and shells.

[dagabu]

There was a very curious section of the Passfire Movie trailer that showed the making of black match in a hank of cut lengths, stuffed in a stainless steel bowl of BP slurry and kneaded into it, shook, kneaded, shook, twisted, stuffed, kneaded, shook and then untied, straightened out, dropped on a piece of kraft paper, mill dust is thrown on it, , strings separated, more mill powder is thrown on, it is then rolled back and forth in the kraft paper, picked up and draped over an elevated, inverted stainless steel bowl with all the strings hanging over it making it look a lot like a black string light shade.

 

I will definitely try this the next time I need to make black match, so much easier than the machines, dies, etc. I asked the Veverka Bros. about it and they said it went down just like that, 10 minutes and he had 500 lengths of black match. No frame so the entire length was usable and was stiff enough to push down a 5' pipe.

[jaysgoh]

Try running black match (cotton) string through a saturated solution of KNO3 and water before the BP slurry. Or a thin BP slurry but you just want to pre wet the string so when it goes thru the final BP slurry it doesn't leach all the nitrate out in the beginning.

 

To your BP add 4% dextrin and 1% CMC as a binder. The CMC keeps the BP in suspension and allows it to bend without flaking.

 

Then work the BP into the string with your fingers or pull it thru a die to force the BP into the string and put an even coat on the string.

 

You can dust with dry BP powder while match is wet to give it a dusty finish that burns quickly but not needed.

 

And I use BM and visco

 

Is the CMC i saw at the bakery shop are the same ? It's also label as CMC too .. just not too sure what is it . Any use for stars except for blackmatch ?

Edited September 10, 2014 by gohjiejing

[jaysgoh]

You may want to rethink your priorities. Not being capable of making blackmatch does not bode well for successfully completing more complicated items like electric matches, firing systems, and shells.

Yes you're right , that's why i am here to asking for people opinion about what they using for their shells .

 

I stopped making shells right now , i try to improve my skills first then only proceed to shells .

I do make stars too just because whenever I'm ready i can just build some shells .

Do you still remember that last time you actually told me that my blackmatch is bad and you actually told me that my blackmatch is just coated and the inner is still white in colour .

All thanks to you only i able to figure out what is the problem with my blackmatch .

Thanks

[jaysgoh]

Which size of string is standard and everybody use it ?

 

There are all cotton twine which is 100%cotton , i believe there is no problem for using them right ?

Edited September 10, 2014 by gohjiejing

[dagabu]

I use Sugar'n cream yarn from WalMart. 100% cotton and has an open structure to hold massive amounts of BP. (peaches'n Cream is no longer carried at WalMart)

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sugar-n-Cream-Yarn-Cones/24629135

Edited September 10, 2014 by dagabu

[schroedinger]

Well from what you tell about your BM it sounds like the BP doesn't get worked enough into the string. This is best achieved by kneading the slurry into the string by using your hands.

[dagabu]

+1, and use an open string, 8 ply cotton is really dense, nothing really soaks in.

[FlaMtnBkr]

CMC is carboxymethyl cellulose sometimes called cellulose gum and is likely what is in your grocery.

 

Without seeing the string in person I would probably use the thinnest. But I also do it a little different. I get very thin single ply string (not sewing thread thin) and I tie it to a tree or pole. I then unwind about 100 feet of it, wrap around something else, go back, wrap around, and go back. I then have 3 strings together. I use this to saturate with BP slurry and wrap on a frame to dry. The frame ids about 3 feet apart or whatever length you want your match so when dry you can cut into pieces and have a straight length that doesn't have to be bent so the BP doesn't flake.

 

With 3 strands together the BP can get intertwined and holds plenty and you don't have to worry as much if the BP gets all the way into the center.

 

Edit: corrected "auto correct"

Edited September 11, 2014 by FlaMtnBkr

[schroedinger]

For binder you need to find which is the best for you.

I would vouch for gum arabic. Make up a hot solution of about 7% by weight and use it to make the mat h while still warm, it helps with incorparating the bp.

[Adamdragon6]

I've done mostly commercial and done Ematch to quick match with no issues so far. Squibed and matched in shop and then plugged into the boards on location. It allows instantaneous ignition and if the squib is bad it leaves enough length to add in a back hit or hand lighting fuse using some extra time fuse.

[AzoMittle]

Has anyone ever tried the archaic Japanese method of 'Quick Firing' mentioned in Shimizu FAST? I have to imagine that would be a fun (read: adrenaline-saturated) way of firing.

 

For those not familiar you basically take a metal pig from a fire pit and drop it into the bottom of the mortar, the shell is then dropped in on top of this.