Making Quickmatch Leader Tubes

[xBangergoosEx]

For a long time i have bought Quick Paper Fuse and the Quickmatch Leader Pipes from Pyrodirect, Nighthawkinlight knows what im talking about. But i want to learn how to make my own Leader Pipes, either from kraft paper or gummed tape. Does anyone have any methods that work for them?

[davis050594]

I don't know how hard you have searched, but if you ask area pyros you could probably find commercial 1.4 quick match. I know that you live in a less populated area, which means less of a drive to build stuff, but harder to find supplies. Still, I'm sure you could find some. You would probably end up spending less time searching for the real stuff than making your own.

[xBangergoosEx]

Would i be able to buy it without a license?

[Peret]

I take a strip of kraft (or brown bag) about an inch and a quarter wide, fold it longways in three, run a glue stick down the flap and press it down. It only takes a moment and costs practically nothing. The piece below is about a foot long, ten inches piped.

Edited February 21, 2011 by Peret

[Algenco]

quickmatch is 1.1 and requires a permit

 

I use 30# kraft that came as packing material.

1" x 12" pieces rolled on a 1/4" dowel, a little white glue along the edge, works great!!

[dagabu]

quickmatch is 1.1 and requires a permit

 

I use 30# kraft that came as packing material.

1" x 12" pieces rolled on a 1/4" dowel, a little white glue along the edge, works great!!

 

It's actually 1.3G and requires a permit to purchase but you can make it at home, you must keep it in a magazine like all fireworks.

 

I use kraft tape to make pipe and roll it around a 5/16" aluminum rod. The two wraps allow for the outside to have a 1/4" edge whetted to glue it all together.

[Algenco]

Hmm, I heard last year it had been changed to 1.1 glad to hear I'm wrong on that

[dagabu]

Gosh, then I have to get an updated Orange Book? Mine is 2009 so you may indeed be correct, I concede.

[Megabusa]

I Take my blackmatch cut to the lengths I use (usually around 15 inches) & lay a length of brown sticky parcel tape on the bench, sticky side up. The tape is just shorter than the BM

 

Then I lay the BM onto the edge of the tape (lengthways) & roll the BM so it rolls up into the tape. So the rolling direction is across the width of the tape. This leaves a roll of parcel tape 'tube' with about an inch of BM sticking out each end.

 

I use a board on top of the tape once it has started to roll & apply firm pressure & push the board to complete the rolling, this makes it tight.

 

I find 2 wraps of the tape gives me a flexible, reliable QM, that's fast & goes with a good crack ! It's quick & easy with a bit of practice. Since the BM is quite stiff it rolls up into the tape easily, but when it's wrapped into QM I can fold it tight & I still works fine.

 

I don't make big lengths of QM, I make it to the size I need since the shorter it is, the easier it is to roll, no need to make life difficuilt

[Algenco]

Gosh, then I have to get an updated Orange Book? Mine is 2009 so you may indeed be correct, I concede.

 

 

no, let's check, my hearing is bad and memory isn't much better

 

might have been Ematch

Edited February 21, 2011 by Algenco

[Blackthumb]

I buy the 3" wide gummed paper tape for paint masking at H Depot....slice it on a paper cutter or with scissors to the 1 1/2 width, wrap it around a 3/16 dowel. The self adhesive will hold for a bit until you moisten with white glue/water mix...works for me.

[NightHawkInLight]

Gosh, then I have to get an updated Orange Book? Mine is 2009 so you may indeed be correct, I concede.

All I can find is the 2007 orange book, is there a downloadable copy of the 2009 or later?

[Mumbles]

It depends what kind of quick match I need. Normally I use commercial quickmatch for most things. Typically I roll strips of paper up at an angle around a dowel. Rolling at an angle allows you to pull the stick further out, and essentially make unlimited lengths, just like spiral wound tubes. Normally I use white glue or a glue stick. I've also laid a strip of clear packing tape down on the edge of the paper strip and used that as the sole adhesive. This makes the QM more or less waterproof, but makes some slightly more non-envionmentally friendly debris. Inserting aluminum foil helps to prevent any stray sparks from lighting it. This is good for girandolas.

[Bonny]

Typically I roll strips of paper up at an angle around a dowel. Rolling at an angle allows you to pull the stick further out, and essentially make unlimited lengths, just like spiral wound tubes.

 

Great idea! Never thought of pulling the dowel out as you go... I used to just attach the lengths together.

[dagabu]

It depends what kind of quick match I need. Normally I use commercial quickmatch for most things. Typically I roll strips of paper up at an angle around a dowel. Rolling at an angle allows you to pull the stick further out, and essentially make unlimited lengths, just like spiral wound tubes. Normally I use white glue or a glue stick. I've also laid a strip of clear packing tape down on the edge of the paper strip and used that as the sole adhesive. This makes the QM more or less waterproof, but makes some slightly more non-envionmentally friendly debris. Inserting aluminum foil helps to prevent any stray sparks from lighting it. This is good for girandolas.

 

I would like to see a video of you doing that Mum, I cant get the spiral to lay flat and not wrinkle as I take up the "extra" paper that comes from essentially making a long cone.

[NightHawkInLight]

I would like to see a video of you doing that Mum, I cant get the spiral to lay flat and not wrinkle as I take up the "extra" paper that comes from essentially making a long cone.

You're not starting the roll quite right if you're ending up with a cone. Start rolling it flat on the dowel at various angles until you find one that the strip comes slightly over itself on the way back around.

[dagabu]

Not possible, the paper will create a cone if the paper is not stretched at the cross over or compressed at the lay off flat points.

 

Again, lets see some video of the creation of these tubes so i can see how the paper is dealt with to keep the tube from coning.

[NightHawkInLight]

I think this is playing a little bit of a mind game with you. It's quite simple:

[Algenco]

hmm, I don't have a problem with that method

[Mumbles]

I do use a very shallow angle, maybe 10 degrees if that. On longer lengths, it does tend to get a bit out of control and make a cone. I always thought it was because of imperfect cuts in the paper, and being a bit sloppy. The packing tape really helps with this as you can kind of force it to obey as the tape holds it in whatever final state, whether perfectly smooth, or wrinkled and ugly.

 

I'll see about trying to find something around the lab to demonstrate at least the rolling with. With 3ft tubes, it's not hard to control, or at least stays within reasonable tolerances. I've often thought about just using multiple shorter lengths of paper, overlapped a bit on the ends. This way you could reorient the paper every 12" or so to try to counteract the cone formation. Like I said for 3ft tubes, or at least 3ft paper strips (the final tube is probably 32-34"), it is fairly controllable. This is enough for most applications, and if not you can stick two together.

[dagabu]

I think this is playing a little bit of a mind game with you. It's quite simple:

 

I used to use a 5/16" aluminum rod three feet long, 2" kraft packing tape with the glue facing outward to make tubes. The rod is chucked into an AC powdered drill plugged into a Variac and a foot switch. Following your example, the paper is started at a steep angle and wound around the rod slowly. My helper has a dampened sponge at the receiving end and steadily pulls the finished tube from the rod.

 

Here is the problem: As with any ramp, you have to pay at some point for adding paper, you will either decreases the angle of the paper in relation to the rod or the cone will grow.

 

I can get a 4 foot tube with no real growth (3/16") but not any longer due to growth.

 

I had a conversation with Jim Douglas of New England Paper Tubes in 2009 regarding spiral and convolute wound tubes where we spoke of the phenomenon for about a half hour, Jim explained carefully and with concise detail that they use water, heat and pressure to cheat the phenomenon for one turn but then have to allow a space between wraps on the next layer. this way, the overlap could lay flat and the tube would not grow.

 

There is no mind game, this is science and ignoring such does not make you correct, it just makes cones over distance. I too can make a tube on a 24mm rod with a paper 400mm long, the question is can you make an infinite length tube on a 6mm rod?

 

Thats the video I want to see.

 

The best way to make pipes, the way they are made commercially, by Precocious Pyrotechnics and many others that are the heroes is to make it in a convolute tube. In fact, I do not believe that a single commercial pipe is made spirally.

[NightHawkInLight]

There is no mind game, this is science and ignoring such does not make you correct

Cool down, I meant no offense. In fact I took time out of my day to make a video demonstrating what I thought you did not understand. You were not clear about what the problem. Don't come back at me saying I'm ignoring science.

 

Edit: Also, the trick to rolling straight tubes is to use two strips of paper, so the same strip is not overlapping itself.

Edited February 24, 2011 by NightHawkInLight

[dagabu]

LOL! You do know that telling someone to cool down followed immediately by "Don't came back at me with..." is not all that effective, right?

 

It's all good, a little debate never hurt anything and who doesn't like a little resistance to make the day go faster?

[NightHawkInLight]

Alright I don't want and hard feelings here. I replied in a way to defend myself, not to calm the conversation. I apologize.

[Algenco]

why would you need a tube longer than 4'?

 

stick them together and have one as long as you want.

Storing tubes over 3' are a pain IMO