Home made Visco/Time Fuse burns much quicker after 2yrs

[stix]

Yeah, probably a silly question but worth asking anyway.

 

I made some home made fuse about 2yrs ago and recently tested it and realized it burns much quicker than it ever did - probably twice the burn rate.

 

The method I used was butchers twine (or similar thick cotton) in a twisted pair - very thick (2-3mm) saturated in a standard bp mix except the charcoal I used was slow burning. After it dried I coated it with 2 layers of NC lacquer (home made ping pong ball variety).

 

The burn rate (no actual data) was around 1/4" per second (nice) and now 1/2" plus. It's been stored in a dry place in a thick paper bag.

 

So I think the reason for the increased burn rate could be either:

• It was never dried properly in the first place and coated with the NC far too early (and finally dried out properly after 2yrs)
• The inferior ping pong ball NC lacquer has caused a chemical reaction
• Something else

What do you guys reckon?

 

And fair enough, expecting it to remain the same after 2yrs is pure folly - ie. best to make and use asap.

Edited December 30, 2017 by stix

[PeteyPyro]

I'd guess that it never fully dried and finally is now, or else the handling has fractured or fluffed the bp up.

[stix]

Thanks Petey.

 

More likely now dry than fractured - the nc lacquer has made it quite inflexible and I didn't bend it. I was certainly surprised by the speed - luckily I wasn't doing anything critical.

 

Something to keep in mind for the future is to make a slower bp mix and leave it dry for a couple of weeks (or more?) before coating.

[stix]

I really should have done a test first, but of course in the back of my mind I thought I knew what the burn rate was.

 

The thing is, it could have been quite dangerous.

 

Having not done much pyro for a while, I thought I would make a simple cracker (salute) for my sons 12th birthday - a bit of fun and I showed him how I made it - a learning experience.

 

My simple small salute is using a empty toilet roll, squashed, glued and folded at each end at opposing 90deg angles, you end up with something that resembles a pyramid type shape. 5gms of bp and spiked with glass tape, approx. 1" fuse and the result is a reasonable bang!.

 

So when I lit the fuse (with both my kids in proximity) I threw it and it went off about one second later - before it hit the ground - a nice bang, but I was surprised how quick the fuse burned.

 

Evaluating that scenario then it's not inconceivable that it could have went off in my hand. Probably no damage to my hand but I reckon it would have hurt. The worse thing is that a piece could have flown out and hit one of my kids in the eye!

 

I honestly admit my stupidity and will in future test my home made time fuse before using (especially if it's been sitting around for a while).

 

[EDIT] And test anything else I've still got in storage from a few years ago before I use it - or just trash it.

Edited January 1, 2018 by stix

[PeteyPyro]

Hi Stix, (& a very Happy New Year to you).

 

I guess that surprised you, as to how much faster the older fuse burned. I'm guessing that you'd now probably do a few things differently too, such as placing the device on the ground to light it's fuse, or even raised off of the ground a few inches to reduce the chance of gravel, rocks, and other things being kicked out at high speed.

 

Perhaps it would be better to demonstrate safer lighting procedures (such as not holding it in your hands) to the impressionable kids, since you'd want them to learn and utilize safer practices as they grow up. I'm really not trying to read the riot act to you, as I believe that you now realize and remember the safer techniques for lighting salutes.

 

Kids like to copy us older pyros, and my 17 year old grandson keeps me on my toes as to showing him how to do things safer. When I was a teenager, almost half a century ago, macho-me would hand hold salutes, light them, and toss them. Not a safe thing to do, but back then I was immortal (for a limited time).

 

I now follow safer practices such as place them on an inverted paper cup, light the longer fuse with a long BBQ lighter, and then 'retire' to a safe distance. Hey, we were all young once, and I'm thankful that I was lucky enough to keep all of my fingers.

 

I think that it is really great that your kids want to enjoy fireworks, and I am glad that you'll be showing them the safer way to responsibly enjoy them.

 

 

Thanks for reading my lengthy novel on safer fireworks use, and recognizing the need to show them the safer use of fireworks. Again, have a great and safe 2018, Stix.

Edited January 4, 2018 by PeteyPyro

[stix]

Thanks Petey.

 

May I suggest that in your text you insert a few paragraph returns - it would make it easier to read. I did read it all, but others may not. I guess no big deal anyway considering the context of this conversation.

 

It's been 2+ yrs since I've done anything in "real" pyro - I've been mucking about with software etc. (but pyro related).

 

The thing is that "complacency" has crept in. Somehow thinking that compositions that were created 2yrs ago (doesn't seem that long ago to me) should/would behave the same now... well, what was I thinking? My bad, and I was lucky that it wasn't real bad.

 

I have since gone through all my old stored comps and have disabled most of them by quenching in water.

 

Cheers.

Edited January 3, 2018 by stix