Ralph Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Powder in a wound fuse, like Visco or Bickford, is tightly confined, and only the small exposed end surface can burn. Powder in a knitted tube like a shoelace would not be confined, and the moment it ignited it would inflate the tube and flash down the now-loose powder train like quickmatch. if a slurry is injected down it actually work I used some hollow ribbon I managed to get my hands on back before I could get visco and that worked quite well fairly consitent slow burn rate much more reliable than bm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbo Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've actually made what I call bootlace fuse before as well with the slurry and syringe technique and I can tell you it didn't quickmatch,though I didn't use willow b.p or anything fast I might have some still lying around somewhere,it was slower than timefuse,there was a tut online somewhere about it,I should make some more and do a video to show,it dries really stiff and the kno3 leaches out a bit plus it stinks worse than blackmatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megabusa Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 In the past when I haven't been able to get visco, I have used home made black match, that I have sprayed with a light coating of cellulose spray paint. This makes it, not exactly waterproof, but it will withstand light rain. It is also less resistant to accidental ignition from stray sparks than BM. There are loads of guides around on how to make BM, I use a BP slurry with 3% dextrin & 2% CMC to give it more flexibility. I soak regular string in this & pull it through a nozzle that is just bigger than the thickness of the string & leave to dry naturally. I now have a source for visco but still make the BM as above to use in my quickmatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMax Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 The so called visco replacement fuse described here isn't all that great. First the sugar adds more hygroscopicity then is necessary. Also one thing that sets visco apart from black match is a flame traveling along side it won't ignite it as it is encased in side woven string. Another thing is the powder stays relatively compacted within the core lending to it's consistent burn rate while still being flexible enough to twist and bend. There really is no beating good old fashion visco especially given the price. Your best bet is to just buy it online dude. If you can't for some reason then that's probably gonna hinder your career in pyrotechnics. I will share a way to improvise a fuse based on the concept for use in a pinch but it's not nearly as good as the real deal. Take one of those 1/8" plastic coffee stirring straws you can get at mcdonalds or any coffee house. Now get a funnel that will fit over the straw tightly. If it's too big for the straw to fit tight wrap tape around the straw or something til it fits. then put your bp in the funnel and take a 1/8" shishkabob stick that fits losely in the straw and begin pumping it up and down pushing in a little powder each time and packing it at the bottom. It should be packed tight not to allow any air gaps. When done detach and cut off the ends at 45 deg angles. To seal the ends paint them with a little NC lacquer. Immediately wipe off any excess and sprinkle meal over it to prime. This retains some of it's flexibility but for the most part its just a stick fuse. I suppose it could be used as a spolette if it's then wrapped with a couple layers of tape. Again not a visco replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechewy Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 i use the 75/15/10 meal powder with an extra 5-10% extra dextrin .mix it with just enough water to where it has a tomato sauce thikness,mash around some cotton string in it,run it between my fingers to take off excess bp slurry,lay it out on newspaper for a day r two till completely dry. Cut my lenghts out and do test for its burn rate:) not visco but it does the trick ! I even used tiny lenghts of it in a star mine with a decent effect:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 this is plane bm (black match) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegogogadget Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 apparently a little paper mache' helps with something... i don't know what.... i haven't tried it, but i heard it from a friend of a friend of mine when discussing a deal about a dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonhalo Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 I tried the injector method but found the BP slurry went non-newtonian on me.... It would suck into a syringe, but not press out of it. **newbie considerably hampered by lack of access to visco** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts