Black Match Production

[schroedinger]

Thank you mumbles

[BrainDamage]

Thanks guys lots of info

[kpknd]

Do you simply mix the BP or mill it first?

[Mumbles]

You really have to mill it to get a reliable product. The string can leave some residue on it's own. You don't want to add to it with a slaggy burning mixture. You might be able to get away with it for multi-strand quickmatch, but you want something that burns cleanly and vigorously for crossmatching, priming, work with spolettes, and fusing applications.

 

 

I mentioned this in another thread, so I figured I'd post the actual details here since it's actually on topic. It has to do with different binders for blackmatch. These are two quotes I saved from posts of Bill Kimbrough's on Passfire several years ago.

 

10-15 years ago I did a series of tests, not really totally scientific, but
practical for my purposes to see which binder made the best black
match.
I made up several different batches, and tried to be consistent in
the application on the string.
Dextrin
Boiled laundry starch
Hydroxyethylcellulose
Starpohl
Gum arabic
maybe others, I can't remember now.
Then the tests. I was trying to find out which had the lowest
moisture reabsorbtion after dried, and the best burn rate.
To get the moisture test I laid a foot long piece of the match
on a table on the porch of my lab with 6" hanging off the edge
for 12 hours including he humidity of the night.
I called this the limp d--k test. The least sagging were the
boiled laundry starch, and the Gum arabic. Pretty much a tie,
maybe the starch a little better.
The worst was the Dextrin, really limp, pretty much the same
as the Starpohl.
To test the burn rate I put the butt end of 1' long pieces together
into the center of a piece of cardboard, and just lit the center.
Whoever gets to the edge first wins.
Pretty much a tie again with Gum arabic and boiled laundry
starch the winners. Starpohl dead last. Hec a little better
than Dextrin.
The boiled laundry starch was Jack Fielders favorite, and
still worth doing, but the gum arabic is much easier.
Now that you guys are introducing multiple binding agents,
I guess it is time to do a whole new series of tests.
Maybe scientific this time.

 

 

 

 

Several years ago I wondered about this problem myself, so I did a pair of tests.
The binders I tried were;
HEC Hydroxy ethyl cellulose
Dextrin
Laundry starch (hot)
Gum Arabic
Starpohl
I did not try any mixtures.
Once a batch of each type of match was made and dried I tried the absorbtion test, and the burn rate test.
I cut a foot of each match, hung 9" off of a table here in the Texas heat and humidity, and then measured
which had the most and least sag in a 12 hour period. I called this the limp d--k test.
Laundry starch and gum arabic tied.
Then for the next test, I took a foot of each match and arranged them radially from a center, and watched
which reached the edge of the circle first. Gum arabic was first, but not by much. The laundry starch was
a very close second.
All of the rest preformed poorly in both the limp test, really a measure of moisture reabsorbtion, and the
burn rate test.
Since the boiled laundry starch is more trouble, I normally use gum arabic for all of the match I make.
Houston humidity is just a killer.
wak

[WonderBoy]

IMHO, you can use screen mixed BP for quickmatch, but as Mum alluded to, you'll want to use atleast 2 strands per pipe.

I agree on the need for milled BP or harvested match for fusing applications, you want the fire to flash right to your spolette/fuse.

 

 

WB

[psyco_1322]

Mumbles, does it list what percent binder was used in the tests?

[Mumbles]

Nope, that's all the info given. I'd assume "normal" amounts. A slurry made from boiled starch or 4% GA solution for those two. About 5% of the rest.

[Nessalco]

I've come to like 4% dextrin + 1% CMC for blackmatch. The BP stays well suspended in the slurry, and the finished blackmatch sheds no BP at all.

 

Kevin

[abby]

SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME PEOPLE but i am really new to this....i come from trinidad in the caribbean and i havent met a single amateur pyro tech here...nor do i know if we have any professionals....and i am new to this and green at it too..............now from what i have read the black match is really gun powder on string....the slurry is made from mixing milled powder with isopropyl alcohl......but how useful is black match to the overall creation of a fire work shell (my mission in pyrotechnics and i have now started.)

[Mumbles]

That's basically correct, except for the isopropyl alcohol part. Water is almost always used as the solvent to activate whatever binder you choose. You can see several choices for binders in my post above. There is another kind of blackmatch available commercially that appears to use a non-aqueous binder, but most people don't really have a good idea of the formula or process used to make that.

 

To me, blackmatch plays a very important, but seemingly small role in construction of aerial shells. It is used as a way to transfer fire from the fuse you light down to the lift charge. It is also used to prime and ensure the delay takes fire from the lift, as well as efficiently gives fire to the inside of the shell to initiate the burst. It can also be used to provide a delay between lighting the shell, and it lifting if you don't have things like electric matches or visco fuse available to you.