Blackmatch

[Mr. Yuck]

http://community.webshots.com/album/69396145NJpQUh

The picture in the link above is of my Blackmatch Maker and +50ft. of blackmatch. Unlike other blackmatch, mine in extremely flexible. It burns like visco unconfined but when wrapped in tape it burns very fast. I used improperly mixed(not ball milled or precipitated) blackpowder with 4% dextrin. It is very simple to use. I coil yarn(100% cotton) around a spool. The string was $.88 for a large roll. You fill the cup with your slurry, and pull string through. I plan on making a spinning platform which the wet BM can coil around to dry. It would be crank operated. The process is very efficient too, I made that roll with under 20g. of BP.

[Bert]

Thanks for giving the topic of black match it's own thread- If others are manufacturing match, It would be interesting to hear of their methods and results.

I asked you about your match after viewing your pictures after I found your link to them on another thread. What first struck me about the picture is that you've coiled the black match quite tightly around a spool- It appears your match is nearly as flexible as the string it was made from. Is this so? What is the finished diameter of your match?

I've got a few other questions that relate to the utility of black match for the many purposes it is employed. I certainly believe your product will transfer fire in the open for "product testing", and I see another picture of it used in a quick match shell leader so I expect it functions properly as quick match when piped. However: Did significant amounts of composition fall off the dried match when you coiled it up? If you cut your match cleanly with a sharp razor, do you see the black powder impregnated all the way to the core, or just on the surface of the string? If you took a piece of the match and embedded it in the center of a hard rammed clay plug, would it dependably transfer fire from one side of the plug to the other? If you have a single strand of your match in a pipe for use as quick match, would it kill the fire transfer if you pulled a very tight clove hitch knot around the piped match? If you wished to use your match for cross matching an internal burning time fuse such as 1/4" or 3/8" shell timer fuse, would it be easy to thread through a hole punched in the fuse with a leather punch or similar tool, or would it be so limp as to make this difficult? How hard would it be to feed a 3' or 4' length of your fuse through a pre-rolled paper tube for making a shell leader, quick matching a set piece or other such use?

If there is sufficient interest, I could post some pictures of the operations I'm talking about with explanations of why they are of utility.

[blindreeper]

You mentioned comercial black match in the other thread Bert, I have to agree with the layers on them. I have found some comercial fireworks and fuse that fell off the back of a truck ;) and the black match ahs a cotton string in it which is about 1mm. The coating is about 1mm thick aswell. But the thing that shocked me was that people always say soak the string in BP mix but this comercial stuff has a perfectly white string inside! The BP just peels off!

Mr. Yuk is it just me or is your BP grey? Or is it jsut the camera? It could be due to the improper mixing like you said.

[SpiffyVision]

Its quite common for one's BP to have a grayish colour to it. Mine does if you look at it under the sunlight or a bright light, it darkens when you spray it with water. Im guessing his blackmatch is flexible because he's using less dextrin then the average 10% which would stiffen the string. Im going to try this out sometime.

EDIT: Hey Yuk, mind making a video of a sample burning so we see how well it burns?

[blindreeper]

They don't call it black powder because its grey SpiffyVision. The lack of dextrin won't make much of a difference when it comes to flexability. You can make rock hard cakes of BP without dextrin. BP when dry (after being wet) drys really stiff and hard. Thus the lack of dextrine is no reason for flexability, well at least in my reaoning.

[xyz]

Fine particles of black on a white string will look grey.

The other reason for BP being grey is that it isn't properly mixed and the KNO3 hasn't been absorbed into the charcoal, hence some white is still visible and it looks grey instead of black.

[SpiffyVision]

Just a question, is anyone under the impression that when you ball mill all three components of BP together that the KNO3 and sulfur is pounded into the charcoal? According to this book I got "BP manufacturing, techniques, and optimizing" (I dont think its in that order), it says that this is a common misconception, and it seems right, I can get charcoal to be much finer then KNO3 so why would KNO3 be able to go into a tiny pore of a tiny grain of airfloat? Just trying to clear this up thats all.

[Mr. Yuck]

It is very flexible, slightly more stiff than the string. It is approx. 1-2mm in dia. No BP fell off when I coiled it, or any other time. No crust fell off. The core of the string is white. The BP absorbed only though the surface, but did not form a hard coating on the exterior. Yes it would work if inserted into a clay pulg/nozzle. I tied several types of knots and even joined segmants of the stuff together, and the flame propangates over the knot with no problem. It can be used for crossmatching but you may have to push it though with a needle. I already used it as a shell leader (although I doubled it) and it feeds though tight spaces rather well also.

http://www.angelfire.com/pro/mr.yuck/Blackmatch2.wmv

[xyz]

Spiffyvision, the issue isn't the fineness of the charcoal, it's that the charcoal is porous and lightweight and the KNO3 can soak into the little spaces iside the charcoal. That is how I thought it worked anyway.

[Crazy Swede]

SpiffyVision, you've already asked this elsewhere, in the "BP (meal) problem" thread, and I gave you an answer!

Don't you read or don't you trust me or do you simply not understand?

[RedDragon]

I havent been here long, but it feels like home already!! I thank you for the Black match thread, and all the other threads here, I will be sure to contribute my own onfomation soon!!

[SpiffyVision]

Originally posted by Crazy Swede
SpiffyVision, you've already asked this elsewhere, in the "BP (meal) problem" thread, and I gave you an answer!

Don't you read or don't you trust me or do you simply not understand?


Whoa, sorry about that! I completely forgot that I posted that there.

[warren]

That fuse looks very nice. I am going to try and make that "invention" you have there but I have a few questions. In those pics of it, it looks like it is just water, if I am wrong how much BP to water do you put in it and what is the drying time?

[blindreeper]

There is nothing in the tub, thats why it looks like water! Accually look at the pics! Drying time will be effected by the outside temperature humidity and such. So there is no set drying time. I know right now outside is is 43*C so my stars dry in about a half hour :p One good plus to the heat!

[Bert]

In my experience, it is beneficial to damp the string with alcohol before impregnating it. Also it is usual to pull the coated string through a die to assure a uniform diameter- The loading of powder is normally much higher than that described by Mr. Yuck. You would not be able to see the string. And any black match I've used has a faster uncontained burn rate, usually around 1 second/inch burned in a horizontal position. Such match does not need to be doubled in the pipe for use as quick match. I'm going to try to put together a little photo presentation to post here-

[quest]

I'm using sulfurless BP in my black matches.
the burn slightly slow but do the job:
http://planet.nana.co.il/needfuck/black_match.WMV

If I use so little BP like Mr. Yuck the black match don't work........

so Mr. Yuck, can you explain how you make your black match?

[Mr. Yuck]

First I string the yarn through the device. The I fill the cup with a very wet BP slurry. The wetter the comp, the faster it can be made. You'll notice a small peice that keeps the string under the slurry the hole time. It is a peice of wood which the yarn is strung under. The hole in the bottom of the cup (I don't know if you can see it) is the dye the BM is extruded from. If the hole wa bigger, obviosly a thicker coating would be produced. I don't need the coating any thicker than it is, it works perfect without it. Remember, I did not ball mill this BP, it was weighed and shaken in a jar. That will greatly determine the burn rate.

[blindreeper]

Ok this is going to be a long post but I think it is very, very relavent to the topic of black match. I found this on www.passfire.com you need to sign up for a week trial or some bull and you can only access a tiny amount (anyone feel the need for some hacking for the Fourm ;))
Taken from passfire

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Introduction:
Cross match is a thin diameter type of fuse used to pass fire into a piece of time fuse. The time fuse is punched through with a small diameter hole into which a short segment of cross match is inserted. Black match is most frequently used for cross match because it takes fire easier than other types of small diameter fuses such as visco or thermolite. Black match can also take fire at any point instead of just at the ends such as with visco. This side-ignite characteristic helps reduce the time required to pass fire to the main time fuse.
Because the reliability of the cross match is detrimental to insuring quick and effective ignition in shells and inserts, it is important to be able to make good cross match. Thin match that only contains a shell of powder around the outside tends to bend easily when inserted, resulting in the outer powder layer cracking off and creating a void in the powder train. This little inch of fuse can make the difference between a lot of effort working properly vs. smashing to the ground.

While the method for making black match described here can be used to make smaller diameter cross match, the method described in this article produces a more consistent diameter fuse with good powder saturation. While this technique requires more effort in fabricating the initial tooling, it is generally faster and less messy at producing match than other methods.

Making the Spool Rack:
The basic idea here is to feed four individual strands of cotton thread down into a bucket of black powder slurry, where they then merge as one strand up through a diameter regulating hole and onto a rotating frame. This way each strand is coated before merging into one strand, insuring that there is powder on the inside of the fuse as well as on the outside.

The first component you will need to make is a bucket around which four spools of string are situated. The actual dimensions will depend on whatever bucket you can find, so Figures 1 through 5 show the basic design. The bucket should be at least six inches in diameter, but no larger than 8" or you will wind up wasting a lot of slurry per fuse batch. The depth of the bucket should also be at least 6".
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch9.gif 1
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch10.gif 2
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch11.gif 3
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch12.gif 4
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch13.gif 5

You will need to make four brackets that look similar to the one shown in Figure 1. The hole near the top is used to hold a rod around which the spool can spin. The bracket should be made so that the hole is about 2" above the lip of the bucket when placed next to it. The wood block at the bottom of the L shaped bracket helps hold the pieces together and gives you something to screw into when fastening the brackets to the base board. The width of each bracket face should be about 2", while the height will be determined by your bucket.

The brackets should be spaced around the bucket as shown in Figure 2. The spacing between each bracket pair should be equal to the diameter of your bucket. Use wood glue and screws to secure each bracket to the base board, screwing from the bottom side of the base board up into the brackets.

The four spools are made using brass tubing and chip board end disks for 3" shells. The length of the brass tubes, which can be found in the K&S Metal centers of some hardware stores, will need to be equal to the diameter of your bucket, minus about 1/4". I use 1/4" rod as the axle, so the brass tubes are 3/8" O.D. and easily slide over the axle. Drill a center hole in a set of end disks such that they make a tight fit onto the brass tube, as seen in Figure 2. The disks can be secured with hot glue if they are not a tight fit. Be sure to leave at least 1" of brass tube sticking out on both sides of the disk, which you will need for fitting into a drill chuck when loading them with string.

You will need four axle rods for the spools to spin on, which are cut 2-1/2" longer than the length of the brass tubes. This can be something like 1/4" threaded rod or 1/4" aluminum tubing with threads cut onto each end so that a nut can be threaded on. Figure 4 shows all four spools in place. The nuts at the end of each axle need only be hand tight so that the spools can be removed without the need for any tools.

Next you will need a segment of 2" diameter of PVC that is about 2 feet long. An end cap with a 1/8" hole drilled in the center is placed on one end (not glued). The bottom end is notched with four equally spaced channels for the string to pass through. This is easily done with a thin kerf pull saw or hacksaw blade.

Figure 5 shows a cutaway of all components being used to feed string down into the slurry bucket, into the bottom of the pipe and up through the hole in the top. The pipe is stirred in actual use, which further helps coat the string with slurry. Excess slurry scraped off the string at the sizing cap falls back down the pipe into the slurry bucket, making the operation quite clean.

Making the Frame:
The frame used for this process is a little smaller than the ceiling mounted frame described here. Because the operator sits in front of the frame when making the match, a large frame would get in the way and be too difficult to manage.
The first step in making the frame piece is to cut the threaded rods and aluminum tubing to the following sizes:

(2) 29-1/4" long 1/2" O.D. aluminum tubing
(1) 30-3/4" long 1/2" O.D. aluminum tubing
(2) 31-1/2" long 3/8" dia threaded rod
(1) 36" long 3/8" dia threaded rod


You will also need the following components for assembly:

(4) 3/8" washers
(4) 3/8" hex nuts
(6) 3/8" lock nuts
(2) 38" long 1x2 lumber
(2) 39" long 2x4 lumber
(1) 40" long 2x4 lumber
(4) 3" long 1/4" lag screws
(4) 1/4" washers


A 3/8" hole is drilled on center one inch from each end of the 38" long 1x2s, which is easiest to do by clamping them together and drilling through both of them at once. A 1/2" hole is drilled on center at the midpoint of the boards, which will be the pivot point.

The frame is assembled by putting a lock nut onto one end of the two shorter pieces of threaded rod and feeding them both through the top and bottom of one frame board. A washer is now slipped onto each threaded rod, followed by the shorter 1/2" tubes, another washer, the other frame board and finally another lock nut. After the lock nuts are tightened snugly, both ends of the frame should look like Figure 8.

Before placing the second frame board onto the threaded rods as mentioned above, it is a good idea to insert the longer 1/2" tube into the center hole of one board so that it will fall into place when the two halves are put together. Otherwise the center tube will have to be slid into the side of the frame once it is assembled.

Next you will need to take the two 39" long 2x4s and drill a 3/8" dia hole on center at two inches from the end of each one. Lay the frame flat on the ground and run the remaining threaded rod through the center tube, then spin two hex nuts onto each end such that they do not actually contact the frame. There should be enough threaded rod remaining that each 2x4 post can be fitted on each side and secured with a lock nut as shown in Figure 7. The two nuts on the other side are tightened against each other and are only there as spacers.

The remaining 2x4 is used to connect the support posts at the bottom using the lag screws as shown in Figure 6. The frame may be fitted with feet to keep it upright, but I prefer to leave these off so that the frame can be stored flat up against the wall. I attach bar clamps to the bottom board to act as temporary support when I use the frame. Some hinged pieces that fold out could be used for a similar space saving purpose.

Making the Dolly:
The last component you will need is the dolly shown in Figure 9, which is simply a 33" x 16" piece of 3/4" thick particle board with some 1x4 support planks on each edge so that it will not bend. Four fixed position casters are attached so that the dolly can only move side to side. The purpose of this platform is to allow the operator and the slurry bucket to easily move sideways as the frame is loaded with match.

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch14.gif 6
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch15.gif 7
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch16.gif 8
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch17.jpg 9

Match Making Procedure:
The first step in preparing to make a batch of cross match is to load your spools up with string. The type of string I use is a thin mercerized cotton that is sold for crochet in arts and craft stores. You can sometimes find it in large balls, but typically it comes wound on smaller 3" dia. cardboard tubes in various colors. Each spool will require one of these smaller balls.
The thin cotton twine used to make commercial match will not work for this process because it is too weak. You should not be able to easily break the string with your hands if it is to survive the tension of being pulled under the PVC and up onto the rotating frame.

The spools are easily loaded if you have a drill press. Simply chuck up a spool as shown in Figure 10, put your ball of string in a bucket on the floor, tie off the string to the spool and run the drill at a low speed while guiding the string with your hand. Make sure you wear a glove or you will get some serious rope burn!

Figure 11 shows all the spools ready to go. A fully charged spool will do more than one frame but not quite two frames. So next time around you will have to tie on to the existing string when you recharge the spool. The knots will not cause any problems getting through the 1/8" sizing hole.

Prepare a few pounds of meal powder with 5% dextrin and add boiling water until it is a thick, muddy consistency. The bucket needs to be at least half full with the slurry so that the strings will be exposed to more of it during their passage through the tube.

Figure 12 shows the full setup ready to go. The small stool is where the operator sits during the process. A five gallon bucket with some padding on top works just as well for a seat.

Remove the cap from the PVC pipe and feed the four strands of string from the side spools up through the bottom and out the other end. Bring the ends together and run them through the hole in the cap, then secure the cap back onto the pipe. The group of four strings is tied off on one end of the frame and the sliding platform is moved to that side. At this point you can submerge the pipe and string into the slurry, as shown in Figure 13.

Assuming you start at the left end of the frame, use your left hand to spin the frame while stirring the slurry with the pipe in your right hand. Slowly spin the frame and guide each strand of black match so that there is about 1/2" space from the previous strand. If you start to see white spots on the strings, slow the pace down or stir the pipe more so the string is worked into the slurry longer.

It is usually necessary to periodically add more water to the slurry, since the string takes on slightly more water than it does powder. When the slurry starts gloping up around the edges without flowing back to the center when stirring the pipe, that's when it is time to add more water. Be careful not to add too much water, because it doesn't take much to get the consistency back to where it should be.

After about a half our of this, when your arm is ready to fall off from stirring the pipe so long, you should have a nice frame full of cross match as seen in Figure 14. The first few feet of the first strand will be uncoated, but you will simply discard that later. Allow the match to air dry for several days until fully dry, then remove by cutting along the bottom and pulling the loops off at the top.

I usually leave the top loop connected and just lift all the match off and store it in a cardboard mailing tube. Pieces of capped PVC also makes good black match storage.

If you find that the match has problems bending when being inserted through tight time fuse holes, you can make it stronger by substituting the 5% dextrin with 2.5% soluble glutinous rice starch (SGRS) in the slurry. The use of SGRS will increase the drying time substantially, but the finished match will be very stiff and less prone to cracking. It is recommended that SGRS match be removed from the frame after a few days and hung in a drying box of the type described here in order to speed up the drying time from weeks to days.

A single frame of this thin black match should last at least a year, since it can hold about 170 feet of match and you typically only use small segments of it per shell. This thin match will also work fine for piped shell leaders, but it is recommended that two strands be used instead of one. A different method for making larger quantities of thicker black match, ideally suited for shell leaders

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch18.jpg 10
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch19.jpg 11
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch20.jpg 12
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch21.jpg 13
http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/v29/blindreeper/xmatch22.jpg 14

__________________________________________________

Sorry for the massive post but I can't link the page as you would all have to sign up. If the pictures are unreasonable delete them mods. I just think this is another great way to make blackmatch. Four strands has to be reliable :)

EDIT: Ok I can't include that many pics so you will have to click the links, doh!

[Bert]

anyone feel the need for some hacking for the Fourm )
Hey, be nice. I know Kyle, he busts his ass for that site. $25.00 is cheap for the ammount and quality of information available there. Back when he started, you had access to the whole site for your free 1 week trial. Is it limited now?

[xyz]

Well, if a one week trial is available, all the stuff accessible during that week could be downloaded, compiled into a nice pdf, and then put onto the FTP. This would save people having to sign up for the trial to access the information.

[blindreeper]

Yes the 1 week trial is limited :( so the pdf option is not going to happen. You can only access about 6 of the articles one being this blackmatch. Today I got some stuff and will start construction today hopefully.

Bert if you could ask him to make the 1 week trial unlimited it would be nice :p

[Bert]

I'll ask Kyle about it. Seriously though, if you've got the $25.00 his site is worth it. There's a formulary and "scratch pad" that's very good, and he has a program that will model a fireworks show in real time for choreography. Kyle doesn't publish any how to that he hasn't personaly done, and he does a lot of good quality work. It's cheaper than a copy of Shimizu.... And more useful.

[SpiffyVision]

It actually costs $40 at the beginning and THEN it costs $25 (yearly) after that to renew, but from what I hear on rec.pyro its very much worth it. Someday when I got more moneys I'll subscribe...

[blindreeper]

Back to blackmatch...

I made that device described earlier and works like a charm! You need the slightest slits in the pipe though or it doesn't hold the string under the past. It works in quick match and burns very reliably on its own. I will try and get pics and stuff if I can borrow a camera again.

[scarletmanuka]

I attempted making some quick match with some 1mm twine, with a dubious content content. The twine itself is already three ply. To make this I added 0.5gr of green meal per foot into a small container with the twine, and then added enough boiling water to cover the string, I then stiired the string and the meal solution around, until I ended up with a tangle of stick black twine which had absorbed all the solution, which was then untangled and allowed to dry vertically on a clothes line while it was folded in half and twisted around itself to make a sort of two ply match. Curious to see how far the powder had penetrated, I cut it in half to find that it had only gone about half way into each ply of the twine. I think this is because the twine had some sort of synthetic core which could not absorb the meal.

[Bert]

Try damping the string lightly with alcohol before running it through a bath of slurry, as shown in the previous posts. Use more slurry, enough to actualy submerge the string, and pull through some kind of die (I used to use a short length of thin brass tube marketed for model aircraft fuel line) to give an even coating. I've seen commercial processes that used a pressurized tank for impregnating the string more fully. But that's not really needed for home use.

[metal dragon]

I like Andyboy’s procedure. Where the bp is coated onto several smaller strings then twisted together at the end so you will have bp in the centre as well.

[Blackhawk]

Andyboys? That idea was probably taken from passfire, Blindreeper goes into a big spiel about that production technique above, from www.passfire.com

[metal dragon]

Yeah, they are both basically the same but Andyboy’s isn’t as complicated. But yet again have made black match using a container with a hole in it the wet bp is just dumped in it then the string is just pulled out and it worked ok.

[blindreeper]

The only difference between andyboys and passfires' is that his has the spindels vertical which isn;t really good because they would be prone to come off when pulling string upward. Where the other design (which I made) has them horizontally and there is no way they will come off.

As for BM being wrapped you can do that with the other fuse maker aswell :rolleyes:

[Donutty]

Well some f**kwit has decided to hack Passfire and disrupt all the -PAYING- member's accounts. I've been a member since it started and never though of 'cheating' it. If something is worth paying for, then do so.

Dont be cheapskates, get a job, and dont f**k things up for the rest of us.

[ThaFreak]

Fock off would ya?? People are paying for his hard work and you guys trying to rip it, like its worth nothing. I am a longtime member of Passfire and I do not apriciate it that your trying to steal information.

[blindreeper]

Ermm, I didn't steal it, I got that info from the free week trial sign up. So in short FUCK OFF! Get yourt facts right dickcheeses.

BTW about the hacking, what makes you think it was anyone from here? You have no proof or anything, I just proved I got the above info from the free trial which can be accesed by anyone who has an email account, so whats wrong with putting it here?

Don't jump to conclusions. Also why bring up an old thread to have a bitch to us? Hmm, bitching about this forum and members, not a wise decision.

[Bert]

Don't jump to conclusions. Also why bring up an old thread to have a bitch to us? Hmm, bitching about this forum and members, not a wise decision.

They, like me, are pissed that they went to passfire.com and couldn't access it because some fools tried to hack it and fucked it up. You, of course, suggested that be done. Don't know if you were joking, but someone did try.

As far as the free trial giving you the right to copy the material verbatim, I'd say it goes beyond my understanding of fair use. At least you gave the source rather than taking credit for yourself-

This is a bit different than ripping a big record company by downloading an MP3. Kyle is not a faceless corporation that is stealing artists blind. He's an individual who spends a lot of his time doing this, and is trying to pay his bills. He ain't getting rich off his site, and what he's offering is a good deal compared to a LOT of print sources. Paying his price for the information will keep it coming, I'm about to pay my 3rd subscription fee next month.

[blindreeper]

I apologise for taking the info and putting it here. I am also sorry for suggesting hacking because it has obviously upset a lot of you.