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Linking fuses together?


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Posted (edited)

Hey there,

What's the most reliable way to link fuses together? I was thinking a little capsule or "wrapping" of BP that surrounds the ends of both fuses. I'm looking to connect visco fuse to fast visco fuse.

Edited by OblivionFall
Posted
I usually cut each end at an angle to expose more of the powder core. Overlap them an inch or two and wrap with masking tape. Most pyros will tell you to make sure you keep the end fuses to take fire in the direction the flame is burning.
  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

By quick fuse I'm assuming you mean the thin paper-wrapped triple stranded fuse and not quickmatch. Or do you mean fast Visco?

 

Assuming the first, unwrap about a half inch of the fast fuse and separate the the strands of match. Place the cut end of the Visco between them (cut at a diagonal to increase the surface area of powder core, as Nater said) and wrap the match strands around the Visco then wrap it all in masking tape to hold it together.

Edited by GMetcalf
Posted

I always joined those paper fuse directly... the tissue paper is so thin it would catch fire anyways, but to be safe try to expose the powder core. However the kind of paper fuse I came across was the one with tissue paper wrapped around a core of loose but very fine black powder...

Posted

By quick fuse I'm assuming you mean the thin paper-wrapped triple stranded fuse and not quickmatch. Or do you mean fast Visco?

 

Assuming the first, unwrap about a half inch of the fast fuse and separate the the strands of match. Place the cut end of the Visco between them (cut at a diagonal to increase the surface area of powder core, as Nater said) and wrap the match strands around the Visco then wrap it all in masking tape to hold it together.

Oh, my bad. I meant visco fuse that burns at 2 seconds/foot.

Posted

It's not complicated. Just get an inch of secure parallel contact between the fuses, and wrap them with tape.

Posted
Cutting both ends at a good diagonal to increase the surface area of the powder core also helps. But a good overlap will ensure it always ignites.
  • 1 month later...
Posted
Im fairly new in pyrotechnics but ive had really good success making roman candle cakes with fast fuse. I just use the 4 inch zip ties, two per fuse and haven't had a fuse fail to light yet.
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
I am having trouble fusing a 2" rack without them skipping to the next fuse. Any thoughts?
Posted

Hey there,

 

What's the most reliable way to link fuses together? I was thinking a little capsule or "wrapping" of BP that surrounds the ends of both fuses. I'm looking to connect visco fuse to fast visco fuse.

I like to cut both fuses at an angle, to expose more of the powder-core.

Then I bend both fuses into a V at the end, and tie them together where 4 strands meet.

http://i.imgur.com/ynbmIdQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/R8kVut5.jpg

Posted

Hey Oblivion Fall

 

Very simple. Powder touching powder, wrap in metal tape. Goes for visco, quick match, and stick match. I'm not a fan of zip ties. They can choke fire transfer, or come loose. Especially when you chain quick match. The faster the burn rate, the more force it has behind it. Metal tape is very very reliable. And you need only a little bit. If using perchlorate visco, as stated above, cut on a sharp angel and over lap the fuse. You want to maximize chance for fire transfer, not hope for reliability.

 

Have fun and be Safe!

Posted

Blunt ends touching each other, taped up with masking tape. I have shot a thousand rockets using 3" sections of Chinese visco with zero failure to transfer fire.

Posted

Well there you go!!! 2 different ways of doing it! I've a failure the zip method brown packing tape masking tape and aluiminum tape all do great. I've always heard to make sure to the beginging the connecting fuse that it faces where the fire Id coming from aka parraell works. I've cut it a angle. You could cut a angle dip in sum BP slurry then dip in sum 4f powder.

 

No go make sum Sky Art!!

Posted

I have never cut fuse heads that came with 1.4g product for the last 15+ years and never had a failure of fire transfer. I have primarily done brown tape, masking tape, duct tape, and this 2015 4th of july used primarily zip ties. The zip ties are a new trial and so cannot be used to suggest future success as much as the various tapes. I have joined up to three fuses into one 'bundle' in this 100% success rate.

 

Put stuff on fire next to things that want to be on fire and you will likely get fire transfer.

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