Wiley Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 The last paper-wrapped fast fuse I bought contained two strands of thin black match and one strand of paper fuse. The match worked nicely for crossmatching time fuse, since it was thin and fairly durable. I just went and bought a bunch more of it thinking that it would be the same stuff (packaging says it's from Big Fireworks), but what I got was two strands of larger black match wrapped in paper. No problem with that, other than that the black match is really cheesy and the powder coating flakes off easily. I've heard of folks using thin visco fuse to crossmatch their time fuse, so would it be possible to use the whole fuse, tissue paper wrap and all, to crossmatch my fuses? My only concern is that the paper will somehow retard the burn of the fuse, but then again, most of us us put tissue paper barriers in ball shells. I guess wherever a bottom shot is involved, I'm always a little worried about getting it lit.
pyrokid Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 Standard Visco is designed to resist side ignition to varying degrees depending on the quality of the fuse. Personally, I would have qualms about using full pieces of the 3mm quick fuse to crossmatch, With appropriate priming I'm sure you'd have no trouble, but homemade black match is cheap and the old standard.
nater Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 I agree with pyrokid. Visco is not appropriate for cross matching anything, in fact some people cross match larger diameters or prime visco to aid in ignition. A while back, I split a case of the Bigs quick fuse with someone and the match inside is not worth harvesting for anything. However, the paper match as a whole takes fire easily and burns very fast. I use it to pass fire from rocket motors to headers and I don't think you will have much difficulty using it to cross match time fuse. It might be more of a pain to work with compared to good black match since it is not stiff, but I think it would work.
ddewees Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 I've cross matched hundreds of shells using that paper fuse from Bigs called "Quick Fuse" and it works fine, even great. That stuff takes fire so easily, it's almost dangerous. A club member had a whole roll go up in his hand once (not at an event), and he doesn't even know where the spark came from. Keep it in the paper, less messy that way... or split the ends with a razor blade after you have tied it into the time fuse.
Wiley Posted March 16, 2014 Author Posted March 16, 2014 ddewes, what did yours look like? Did it have three strands? Two?
ddewees Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 (edited) Two strands of gray perchlorate fuse. Edited March 16, 2014 by ddewees
Wiley Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 No paper fuse at all in there? It sounds like you're describing what I got this time around.
nater Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 Mine is similar, 2 strands of grey fuse wrapped in paper. I am not positive of the comp inside, never bothered to test it. It burns fast and serves the purpose that I bought it for quite well.
Recommended Posts