Jarguess Posted January 7 Posted January 7 I'm making some strike anywhere matches. I tried a mix of 47% antimony 47% chlorate with 6% dextrin. Mixed it all up with 20% ipa in distilled water, then just dipped the matchhead and set them out to dry. I only used ipa to speed up the drying. They work but only ok. I plan to re-coat the matches again with the addition some very fine crushed glass to increase the friction. I was also considering adding some sulfer to the mix to increase the sensitivity, but I'm not sure at what point will the sulfer make them too sensitive. Seems to me maybe 8% sulfer would work? Anybody out there give me some advice on the addition of sulfer and at what percentage if any? 1
cmjlab Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Both Antimony Trisulfide and Sulfur increase the sensitivity, especially friction sensitivity. Adding glass will make it super friction sensitive, which I know from personal experience and 2nd degree burns on my hands from a small 50g batch. I wrote a thread in the safety section, but BLUF I was making ematch with the same composition, and towards the end when some was dried and crusted on the side of the cup, my wire scraped it and ignites the cup. I had skin slough off from the burns, and there was only a little left. The fault was mine as I took off my welder gloves towards the end to better handle the ematch wires, and I was complacent. Don't let it get you, work in very small batches, wear welders gloves, eye (pref face) protection and long sleeve cotton clothes. Now for a suggestion: you prob don't need more sulfur, the ground glass will significantly increase the friction sensitivity you are looking for. 1
Jarguess Posted January 8 Author Posted January 8 Thank you cmjlab, that's exactly what I needed. I really don't want to have the same experience so I'll leave the sulfur out of the mix. Honestly I was only considering the sulfur because I really don't want to hand dip 300 matches a third time. lol Actually I've had a similar experience with a barium flash powder I was experimenting with about twenty years ago. I had 10 grams on an open plate and it exploded burning my hand and blinding me for nearly a minute. My hands were so numb I couldn't even tell if they were both still there. Scary stuff, but I learned my lesson! The attached picture of my hand is after being treated a few days with some kind of silver burn cream that worked miracles.
Zumber Posted January 8 Posted January 8 3 hours ago, Jarguess said: Thank you cmjlab, that's exactly what I needed. I really don't want to have the same experience so I'll leave the sulfur out of the mix. Honestly I was only considering the sulfur because I really don't want to hand dip 300 matches a third time. lol Actually I've had a similar experience with a barium flash powder I was experimenting with about twenty years ago. I had 10 grams on an open plate and it exploded burning my hand and blinding me for nearly a minute. My hands were so numb I couldn't even tell if they were both still there. Scary stuff, but I learned my lesson! The attached picture of my hand is after being treated a few days with some kind of silver burn cream that worked miracles. I am glad to see your hand is cured well. Stay safe.
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