Match rockets?

[inferno]

No, not the single-match stick rockets, i mean full size model rockets using match head material as the fuel. Has anyone here tried this? A search of Yahoo and the archives showed only single-match stick rockets.

I find this interesting as it (for me anyway) is much cheaper to make rockets from matches as compared to KNO3/Sugar/sulfur. I think there's a lot of potential for them, as match heads burn at a perfect speed for a rocket. I was wondering if anyone here has tried anything with them, or had any success with them?

Just before I cut up about 70 matches (~pack and a half of 45 matches) and placed the material in a ~2 inch thin metal pen tube that for a nozzle, was just crinkled with pliers so it had a small (.75mm) hole in the middle. I filled it with the matches and totally closed the other end with pliers. I stuck a small piece of red P in the nozzle, and with a tiny piece of blu-tack attached a match head to the nozzle. With a small match trail i lit the match trail/rocket, with my back turned to it in case it misfired or whatever. I heard the phosphorus go "pop" then heard a loud ROAR as the fuel ignited. The rocket made a 90 degree turn and shot off my patio, and nearly hit me in the leg. I was standing a bit more than a metre away and it took off pretty damn fast and hit the fence next to me pretty hard.

This was a very simple test to see if the rocket could propel itself, which it did pretty well. I thought the casing had exploded for a second with the loud roaring popping sound it made. Ill buy some clay or water putty in the next few days and try and make a small 2 inch rocket using matches instead of caramel candy (as described in the 5 cent rocket).

BTW the matches are just shaved off with a knife on each of the 4 sides of the match, so there is no/very little wood.

So, has anyone got any experience with matches as rockets?

<small>[ July 02, 2002, 05:21 AM: Message edited by: inferno ]</small>

[EP]

These were discussed here: <a href="http://www.totse.com/bbs/Forum19/HTML/001229.html" target="_blank">http://www.totse.com/bbs/Forum19/HTML/001229.html</a>

There might be some useful info, I haven't actually read the whole thread.

[kingspaz]

please, please, please don't link to totse....but by the looks of that thread it is going up in the world. there was some useful info on that page though.

[EP]

You're kind of contradicting yourself there. Yes, totse has sucked in the past, and yes it's still not that great, but it is improving, as you just said. I felt it was relevant to link to the topic.

[inferno]

It had some info...

If i can find a metal cone (from the writing end of a pen) that will fit the 2 inch piece of tube left, or just a whole metal pen, ill try it with a proper nozzle and stick stabilisation. The way i cut the matches is just hold them nar vertical, and with a knife "shave" off the match material on all four sides, i have to turn the match as i do it.

And matches aren't very friction sensitive, however when confined and suddenly compressed they can make a *very* loud bang, much like a strong hunting rifle.

My dad used to do this when he was a kid and showed me, in a steel rod or bar (he had a 20cm x 4cm solid steel rod, hes a carpenter) drill a hole about 2 inches down, and the same width as any nail you have. Cut the pointed end off the nail so its blunt. Shave a few match heads (about 10-15) off and stick it all down the hole, and put the nail in, and push them down as much as you can before you think its gonna go off as youre pressing.

Then just hit it nail end first against a hard surface, eg brick/concrete wall, gutter, pavement, whatever. It makes an extremely loud bang, louder than most firecrackers. Another way is to have 2 large bolts and a nut, screw the nut halfway on one bolt and put about the same amount of match material in, then screw the other bolt in as tight as you can, then throw it at the ground. Be careful though, it fires off the bolts very far and fast, and a heavy bolt at speed is not something you want to hit you in the face/groin.

[inferno]

Ok ive made 2 more test runs with a piece of wire as a stabiliser.

The second one went a lot better (had more compressed fuel) it went around 10 metres and about 3 metres high. Its not a huge flight path but theyre only tests with a very basic rocket design, and hey they work!

The piece of phosphorus goes "pop" then the matches ignite and the rocket shoots up with a decent amount of speed. The "nozzle" gets opened up a fair bit too, if i can get to a hardware shop in the next couple of days ill try making a proper nozzle with water putty and paper tubing (just like the 5 cent sugar rocket).

I think there's a lot of potential for these rockets, my specific interest in them arises from the high cost of oxidisers here in Australia. (Cheapest ive found is KNO3 US$15 for 1 pound, thats $30 Australian for 500g)

[vulture]

I would be interested to know what's exactly in your matches, I assume KCLO3/S, which makes it pretty sensitive I guess. I do wonder why most matchheads are red, while they should be yellow of the sulfur. Or is it KCLO3/Sb2S3?

[VX]

The red match heads are the ones that contain phosphorus, and are normally the 'strike anywhere' type.

[kingspaz]

i think the way matches work is that they have a small amount of KClO3 in the tip under the surface. the rest of the oxidiser is NaClO3. once the tip is scraped off the fuel (S and P) is exposed to the KClO3 + some friction resulting in ignition. if that doesn't make sense its because i'm tired....sorry.

[inferno]

The matches im using are the Paradise brand, made in Indonesia, the heads are a brown colour almost exactly the same as the striking strip.

And no red matches aren't the strike anywhere type, the cheapest (and really crappy, they light fine but the sticks are always snapped and weak and stuff) Homebrand matches are red but theyre safety matches. I dont understand the colour either.

I can assure you the matches im using contain Sulfur as yesterday when i lit one, it was shooting out little blue burning particles which were identical to sulfur flour burning, and also when you light them they stink of burning sulfur. Maybe they have a colouring agent in them? Just because they contain sulfur doesnt mean they have to be yellow, look at black powder, its got sulfur in it but it has no yellow particles.

Ive just filled the bottom of a threaded tube with liquid nails (kinda like water putty) and its drying on top of the heater (its winter here). Ill drill a hole through the bottom when its dry and try a proper nozzle, as the other tube is just crimped with pliers and keeps blowing out.

[0EZ0]

Something I came across:

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">
Typical composition of a "strike-anywhere" match today:

Reactants: KClO3 (20%), P4S3 (9%); Fillers/moderators: Ground glass (14%), Fe2O3 (11%) and ZnO (7%). Adhesives: Glue (10%) and water (29%). This formulation replaces the original "strike-anywhere" match, whose primary ingredient was toxic white phosphorus.

Safety Matches:

Safety Matches use a match head that is predominantly KClO3, struck against the match box surface, which is composed of non-toxic red phosphorus (49.5%), Sb2S3 (27.6%), Fe2O3 (1.2%) and gum Arabic (21.7%).
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">Hope that clears some things up. Information was taken from <a href="http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/osullivan/m_composition.htm" target="_blank">here</a> .

<small>[ July 04, 2002, 01:54 AM: Message edited by: 0EZ0 ]</small>

[VX]

I’m sure that all of the red matches I’ve seen are the strike anywhere type. These include ‘Swan’, and ‘Cooks’ matches. Possibly this is just something specific to the UK? Most safety matches that I have seen are brown. Although I have seen green and white, the white was from a hotel., and the green was being given away in a night club advertising the drink ‘Absenth’.

I read somewhere that safety matches work because as the head rubs against the striker, the friction produces heat, which turns some red p from the striker into white P, which spontaneously burns and lights the match.

[kingspaz]

from 0EZ0's info what i thought appears to be correct. the KClO3 in the strike anywhere matches is rubbed against the red P on the striker thus forming armstrongs mix and the friction of the rubbing then lights it.

[VX]

On the strike anywhere matches, I didn't think that their was any red P on the striker.... Its normaly a peice of sandpaper isn't it?

That could be how it works on safety matches though :confused:

[inferno]

Kingspaz - that still doesn't explain why the matches light from heat or flame.

(If im getting you right) Your're saying the KClO3 match head is struck against the P on the box making armstrongs which then lights from the friction. But the matches light from any source of heat or flame, i think the match head is a mix of KClO3 and P (mainly) which isnt as homogenous or something as commercial armstrongs mix, so isnt as sensitive.

[A.K.A : Dan The Crazed Aussie]

Inferno, i would greatly appreciate it if you could send me your 5 cent rocket manual thing, because i am kinda interested in it eh.

My email is ichnoo@hotmail.com

Thanks mate

Danx0r

[randomquestion]

I think this is the page he was talking about:

<a href="http://www.alphalink.com.au/~brucej/nickle.htm" target="_blank">Nickle Rockets</a>

[kingspaz]

shit, sorry guys.....i meant safety matches!...it was really late when i posted that.

[inferno]

Random question - Yep, thats the site i was talking about.

Oh and if you dont have any BP to fill the core of the rockets at that site, DONT use armstrongs. For the match rockets ive been testing ive been using one piece of P about O big gently pressed into the nozzle, when it ignites it makes a very loud POP like a large balloon popping, and its louder than all the matches lighting.

If you fill a core with it youll blow the rocket apart.

[Arkangel]

Just a thought on something to speed up the collection of the matcheads - assuming they are reasonable quality and therefore a pretty uniform size, get a metal plate with a square cut into one side, the same size as the match shaft. That way, rather than using a knife 4 or 5 times, you can just pull the match through the slot a couple of times and it pulls it all off. (taking into account possible ignition by friction

[0EZ0]

Well today i got bored and decided to have a shot at some Match Composition rockets.

First i bought some safety matches from a local store. They were 69 cents for 10 packs of 45 matches. The Match head Composition was a maroon colour (dark browny red). And had visible glass particles in them.
I took to crunching off the composition of 4 boxes worth of matches with a pait of needle-nose pliers. I then put them into a small ceramic dipping bowl and proceeded to crush them a little more.

My choice of casing was a brass pen that screwed together in the middle. I unscrewed the bottom half with the opening for the pen's ink tube and writing ball, which resembled a nozzle. I then used a modified bamboo barbeque skewer for the spindle, and a piece of tubing with a small piece of plastic stuck to the end for the ram.

I inserted the skewer spindle into the pen tube then filled and rammed the composition in repeatedly until i had used up all the crushed matches. I then filled the rest of the tube with torn tissue, then a quick setting wood glue. After that i attatched another skewer to the side of the rocket tube with adhesive tape to stabilise it's flight.

To launch this rocket i used an excess piece of tubing with an inner diametre larger than the skewer's diametre, so that on take off the skewer attached to the rocket body would slide out of the tube freely.
Attached to the launch tube under the place where the rocket nozzle hung, was a tiny pot filled with an incendary mix, so that once ignited would in turn ignite the rocket motor for lift off.
I chose to do that since i did not have any prime composition for the core, and no fuse small enough to enter the nozzle.

Well launch hour came :D ....
I stuck the launch tube in the ground, loaded the guidance skewer attached to the rocket, then lit the fuse to the incendary pot.
I hurried my arse back behind some cover.
20 seconds later the incendary ignited, in turn lighting the rocket propellant.

SCHWOOOOM...BLAMM!!! The barstard had CATO'd! :mad:

It got all of 2 feet off the ground before the nozzle blocked and then the rocket exploded.

What an anti-climax :( Well not really. The concussion wave i felt from 20 metres away!! :D :D It was quite a blast (pun intended). Smoke was everywhere! Nighbours were wondering what in the hell the BLAMM! was. But for the time consumed crushing up those match heads, it was hardly worth all the effort :( .

I don't think i'd have the patience to crush enough match heads to fill a paper tube full of them with a clay nozzle <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> .

I only recovered the launch tube and incendary pot(both badly busted and scorched), a scorched piece of the bamboo skewer guidance stick and one sliver of the brass pen rocket casing.

Well that was my experience, hope i didn't ramble too much <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Anyone else got any ideas on the matter of Match Rockets??

(Edit-Spelling)

<small>[ July 12, 2002, 08:22 AM: Message edited by: 0EZ0 ]</small>

[Harry]

Dampen matches before scraping. If paper matches (free!) wrp entire book in cloth, dip in water. Try to simulate the conditions in your pocket when you get caught in the rain. COmposition comes right off, no worry about ignition, comp is "pre-crushed." You do have to wait for the comp to dry, but hey, you get the stuf collected and crushed a lot faster. Besides, you might find a few "offshoot" applications for this method, like soaking matchheads in a bit of water, then absorb water into a piece of paper. Dry & light.

[A_W]

I have some experience with match-head propellant, but mostly firecrackers (works fine). The safety-match composition (KClO3, S or antimony sulfide, glass powder and red coloring) is somewhat friction sensitive (I discovered that when I was grinding it with a mortar/pestle--&gt;WOOOSH).

It is fast burning, and I've had some good working rockets. It is very good for firecrackers too (and for making homemade fuzes).

The BIG drawback is that it is VERY time-consuming (and boring!) to scrape the composition of the matches. Cutting the heads of, will not make a very good fuel, since most of it will be pieces of wood (I've tried that too).

Harry- Dampening the match-heads sounds like a good idea. I should have thought of that before.

"...like soaking matchheads in a bit of water, then absorb water into a piece of paper"

Are you sure that no KClO3 will dissolve in the water, and get absorbed into the paper? I wouldn't use the paper, just let it dry.

[0EZ0]

Harry, i did try to soak a match head in some MEK for about 5 mins (didn't have that much time to fully test it's ability to soften and absorb the solvent).
In about that time, the match head didn't seem to soften at all. It may have been because i didn't so soak it for long enough, or i used the wrong solvent, so i'll try again with some more matches later.
I don't like the idea of using water, as it takes a VERY long time to dry. I thought that using a powerful solvent like MEK would cut the drying time in half at least!
I'll try separately using MEK, water and maybe Ethanol to soak the match heads. I'll compare performance when i get a chance.

I'll post again when i have some more results.
(could be a little while, i'm quite busy today and for the next couple of days.)

(Edit-Hit 'post' halfway through writing this :o )

<small>[ July 12, 2002, 09:27 PM: Message edited by: 0EZ0 ]</small>

[inferno]

Ok i just made another test rocket with pretty bad (but amusing) results.

I made a clay nozzle in a 2inch metal tube, which was then filled with 2 packs worth of match material. It was tamped in nice and tight, then i put a piece of paper, then a thin layer of blu-tack (to seal the edges, so the matches didnt contact glue, it wrecks them) and finally some clay powder and rubber cement (model airplane) glue as the endcap.

I put a piece of red phosphorus in the nozzle, then blu-tacked a matchhead on underneath it. The stabiliser was a small length of a skewer. To launch it, the stabiliser was just stuck in the ground, and a match trail made as a "fuse".

i lit the match trail, stepped back a few metres, saw the bottom match head ignite, then heard BOOM. i went up to see what happened (i had guessed already, it made a rather loud boom) and found the rocket blown in half, the bottom half blown deep into the ground, the top half nowhere to be seen, its gone to god i think, as i cant find it anywhere.

So, this was definately not a success...i found the top end cap a few metres away, and the nozzle was completely smashed...i dont think the hole was big enough somehow :(. Its ripped apart reasonably jaggedly, lucky i didnt get hit by a fragment of it :S.

So anyway, i think the nozzle hole has to be bigger...it was quite small (about 1mm-1.5mm in a 10mm tube. Thats all i can think went wrong...matches definately have more power than i thought!

[E7]

yesterday, me and fallout85 took a bunch of books of paper matches, cut all the heads off, and put them in a 20ga. shell. we then took another shell with the primer removed to make a pseudo-nozzle and pressed it on around the other shell. stuck a fuze in it, lit it and instead of it acting like a rocket, it blew the second shell (the one with the hole) off at a considerable speed. sometime next week i'm gonna try it again but i'm gonna see if the match heads would disolve off the sticks/paper with acetone or the like and try casting it into a sort of core burner

[inferno]

I think safety matches would use dextrin as the binder...so does anyone know a good solvent for dextrin? That should work.

[xoo1246]

Remove

<small>[ December 11, 2002, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: xoo1246 ]</small>

[kingspaz]

what about water? its cheaper...and not so flammable :)

[Anthony]

IIRC, a roundabout nozzle diameter/motor ID ratio is 1:3 in *area*, not diameter.

Might be worth trying that sort of size to start off with and then tweak to give optimium results with your particular fuel and motor construction.

[Spudkilla]

Inferno, you have a copier on a kewl board turned somewhat less kewl, since they now have mods. He made a post almost exactly like yours, 'cept abusing the English language, and he uses your name. I thought it humorous, and just wanted to tell you. And, no, I don't go to kewl boards reguarly. I just pop in once in a while to make fun of them all :D

[inferno]

Speaking of raping the English language, it's "regularly" not reguarly. And no that's me at xinventions...raping the English language? I don't see how.

Ok well just made another one, 2 inches long, 2 packs of powdered match heads (90 matches worth) in a rolled paper tube with clay end plug and nozzle. The nozzle was larger, probably about a third of the diameter.

It ignited but didn't seem to fly, i heard it burning though for sure, then CRACK it exploded on me again :rolleyes: . I think the nozzle must still be too small, either that or the powder is too fine and burning too fast....im pretty sure that nozzle didn't blow out (even though it didn't take off) as i doubt it would explode without that confinement...I think tomorrow I'll make one with a 1/2 diameter nozzle, see if that explodes too.

I can't do any more tonight, after the last one several neighbour's doors opened hehe.

(EDIT: A few typos)

<small>[ July 16, 2002, 07:12 AM: Message edited by: inferno ]</small>

[Spudkilla]

Whoops. Well the Xinventions inferno just didn't seem like you, with no caps and stuff.

[xoo1246]

Remove

<small>[ December 11, 2002, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: xoo1246 ]</small>

[kingspaz]

try 5% vaseline by weight with the match head powder.

[inferno]

Thanks kingspaz, I'll try that.

Spud, it's not so bad there if you ignore half of them lol...theres a few there (Nika, fl4pp4, dan, JJ, ruffryder come to mind) who do actually know their stuff, unlike those "Can i use BP in M-80's" kind of posters.

<small>[ July 17, 2002, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: inferno ]</small>

[Harry]

A_W,

As for the KClO3 being absorbed into the paper, that's the idea! Burns very nicely, too.

&lt;I'm an old pyro, and it doesn't have to be useful to be fun&gt;

Harry

[xoo1246]

Remove

<small>[ December 11, 2002, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: xoo1246 ]</small>

[None]

xoo1246, i have actually tried that. i tried about a film canisters worth and used two commercial blasting caps (#8 or #12 can't remember) to detonate it. It didn't work, the composition was scattered around the place, some might have detonated. There was a 6-8" crater in the ground. Although I think it may not have worked because i didn't wait for all the alcohol i had added to evapourate.

[A_W]

I have also found that pure matchhead powder is too fast burning for rockets. Many of my small, experimental models have CATO'd (exploded at/after "takeoff") with pure match-head comp.

To slow down the burn-rate, I mixed it 1 part sucrose and 2 parts matchhead composition. The ratios were by volume. This worked well, and the composition burned slower.

However, there's a risk that melted sucrose may harden, and "plug" the nozzle, and the rocket will explode. I therefore like the idea of using petroleum jelly as a binder.

[Anthony Privratsky]

If you dont have a decent fuel for a small rocket matchheads will work very well:
scrape of the heads of a crap load of matches
soak with household isopropyl alcohol (70%)and grind into a paste
the alcohol will act as a binder and will keep the match heads from igniting in your face. ram it into a tube to make a simple, cheap rocket. I did a few experiments with this, and found it works well if you ram it right to eliminate any air pockets. I havent had any problems with explosions either. I used 1 part sucrose to 3 parts match heads and that also worked well but just didnt have the power of the first.

[static_firefly]

Hi. Im the one off totse that made that match rocket. Mine was made around the width of a pencil. For end plugs i used compressed al-foil and stickytaped it in place. Because the rocket is so small the tape will hold. The rocket went about 40feet very fast. I might have a small avi. of one soon.
laters

[carl grissom]

Yeah i attempted to make match rockets but mine exploded. i used 3 books of matches, powdered them, placed them in tube and added a fuse, then taped it to a stick and it exploded. It was freaking loud, my end plugs were Durhams Rock Hard Water Putty.The putty was bad shrapnel luckily i was 25feet away. I will keep doing tests and if they keep explodeing then i will use them as firecrackers without sticks.

"We do what we can when we can"
unknown
"And you do well"
Carl grissom

[xoo1246]

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<small>[ December 11, 2002, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: xoo1246 ]</small>

[inferno]

Xoo - i think you could be right there. I have done 100% confinement tests with metal instruments, ignited by impact, and 10 powdered matches sound close to a .22. It can burn extremely fast given the right circumstances...after all it is just a binded armstrongs mix...

[frogfot]

Maby im a bit lazy, ..but match rockets? How long time would it take to collect 10g of this propellant.. It would be a good thing to weat the match heads first, would make life easier.. :)

[carl grissom]

It has come to my conclusion that these are great firecrackers.I soon will sell these to me chums.I put my crackers in strong paper casings with good end plugs. I have to confine these quite a freakin bit but it's worth it.

"theres gold at the end of every rainbow"
unknown
"But which end"
says me

[inferno]

Xoo - sometimes it can burn that fast (flash fast) but other times it burns very slow. Some rockets just explode, yet some firecrackers made with them take 4 seconds to burn. Other times I've heard the matches burn for a second before it explodes.

Ah well, ive got 55lb of KNO3 now so I'm not bothering with match powder rockets now...Besides, i need the matches for match powder polumnas....2 packs match powder in a polumna, very nice.

[BoB-]

Trust me, matchheads make one hell of a powerful LE filler. Chlorates, and Perchlorates liberate an insane amount of gas, Chlorates have the unfortunate disadvantage of sometimes exploding and thats why most amatuer pyrotechnicians use Perchlorates in there rocket propellants. But thats not to say Chlorates are without advantages, I'm just saying that you should never trust a Chlorate based rocket as a weapon. And it certainly should never be used in a hand-launched weapon.

You can observe the effect Xoo is talking about by sticking a bunch of matchheads in a sturdy paper tube making sure that there all crammed together for flame propagation. The flame will zip through the entire tube in a flash.

Entire matchheads can be used as a rocket propellant, but they arent exactly high performance because the nozzle diameter has to be big enough to let the matches fly out. You can read about this in one of the PMJBs (you should really have all of them anyways), its in one of the books included.

Scraping the propellant off will take ages, just boil some water in a GLASS pan, open the books of matchs and dip them in, the wax binder will dissolve and so will the composition. Transfer the pan to a hotplate (a coffee maker works great) and let the water evaporate until its just about dry. Then spread it on some wax paper and let it sit in the sun until its completly dry.

Getting propellant from matchheads isnt very economical no matter how you do it though, the amount of work you have to do for a tiny amount of it is ridiculous. Better to produce the Chlorates/Perchlorates electrolytically, or through hypochlorite decomposition, and then mix with fuels and binders.

Theres info on how to do both on this website.

[vulture]

Every laboratory manual states that mixtures of KClO3 and P in greater quantities than 1g should be dealt with as highly explosive and friction sensitive and that these experiments are strongly discouraged because they can be life threatening. Guess what's in matchheads....

[Anthony]

KClO3 + P would be armstrong's mix. There definitely isn't any P in safety matches (there's a trace on the striker on the box) and there's only phosphorus sulphide (P4S3) in strike anywhere matches.

[xoo1246]

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<small>[ December 11, 2002, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: xoo1246 ]</small>

[mr.evil]

maybe not very interesting but it shows the sensitivity of this stuff though...

mix a little KClO3 with S, and place a bit on the side of a matchbox( red P and glaspowder i thought). Now scrape with a knive, or whatever on the mix. It deflagrates really quickly....

Typo's :rolleyes:

[Anthony]

According to a website I read on the subject, the friction of the striker converts the red P into white P which ignites on contact with the air, and lights off the xClO3/S.

[shooter3]

One CO2 cylinder,file off neck end to open up.

Make three triangle fins from a flattened tin can. Bend edge of each to 90 degrees. Solder to neck of CO2 cartrage.

Cut the heads of enough matches to fill cylinder, DO NOT PACK IN TIGHT!!!

Put ball of wax around some visco fuse and jam into end. Use a three stick rail launcher.

Take cover! About every other one of these will explode with a lot of shrapnel moving at high speed! When it doesn't blow it will go off with a velocity that will go right through you or any innocent bystander, so be smart about where you fire these off. They go so far that I have never recovered a fired one. Have fun, but be REAL careful.

[Bert]

Ah, more CO2 cartridge rocket/bomb casualties in the making!

Sorry to resuscitate this ancient thread, but this bit I wrote in the water cooler more properly should have been posted here. Admin, if you would care to delete it from the WC?

Match heads may be the only pyrotechnic material in your reach- After you get tired of the old foil wrapped paper match rockets, try this:

Take a whole book of matches, pinch and crush the composition gently from all the tips with a long nosed pliers. Gently crush the composition on a small piece of Aluminum foil until uniformly powdered. Add a small amount of SPIT to the mix and stir with a tooth pick until you have a slurry thinner than peanut butter, but not so thin as maple syrup. Plain water does not work nearly as well as spit for some reason Gentle heat from a light bulb may be helpful to speed the procedure... This is your fuel.

Take a 3" X 5" file card and cut enough to roll around a pencil 3 times, yielding a tube 3" long and 3 ply's thick. Glue the outside edge with a thin line of white glue, you may need to hold edge until dry. Allow tube to completely dry.

Take the match head slurry fuel and the tooth pick mixing rod, paint the whole inside of the tube as evenly and completely as possible with the fuel slurry. You are trying to achieve the largest burning surface area possible to maximize thrust. Set aside in a warm dry place to completely dry. This is your engine case with "case bonded fuel grain". Handle gently when dry to prevent fuel flaking off the inside of the tube.

When the fuel is dry, cut a couple of pieces about three times as wide as the end of your engine off the unused portion of the file card for an end cap.. Take the wood end of an unsharpened pencil and place in the center of the squares while they sit on something slightly yielding such as a piece of stiff rubber, press down hard enough to make the piece somewhat concave with a round, flat indentation. Trim the piece to an "X" shape, leaving a bit of material past the indented area. Glue these end caps over the end of the tube, off setting one by 45 degrees from the other. You may find a turn or two of thin tape useful to hold these while they dry. This is your front bulkhead, the weight also serves to bring the center of gravity forward and stabilize the rocket in flight. The more neatly done this step, the better the aerodynamics. Additional forming of the caps over the end of the pencil after cutting may be helpful. Before the glue is dry so it will be easier, take a pin or thin needle and punch a hole in one side of the tube as close to the top and at 90 degrees to the bore of the tube as you can. The fuel must be lit at the TOP of the engine to maximize performance-

Take about 4 more match heads and powder them. Add a small drop of spit, not nearly as much as for the fuel, you want a consistency like modeling clay this time, not a slurry. Roll the bit of damped composition between your fingers into a thin stick, perhaps 3/8" or 1/2" long and as thin as you can make it- It must fit through the pin hole you made in the engine case. This is your fuse. After the engine and the fuse are dry, insert the fuse through the hole.

For launching, a thin rod such that the rocket slips over it easily may be fixed in an upright fashion (I have used a disposable chop stick from Chinese take out for this) and the rocket set upon it. You may also lay it in a trough, or set it upright in a small pill bottle or 35mm film can, any thing to stabilize it until it comes up to thrust. The fuse must be accessible, of course.

Using a cigarette or incense/punk stick, LIGHT THE FUSE, BOY!!! This is the RPG of match rockets...

The Russian pyro who showed us this trick had pictures of a model rocket I recall as about a meter long, perhaps 40 mm bore he made with the same methods and fuel. The engine was the whole length of the model below the nose cone, no recovery system. He took theodolite height measurements showing it achieved an altitude of near 2000 meters (he did use fins and a launch lugs/launch rod on that one). Poor soviet engineering students under USSR were very inventive, no?

Nozzle less rocket engines sacrifice some performance theoretically, but in practical use may attain very good performance and are much easier to construct.

[FUTI]

This brings up memories of the old days when I was a kid...we used same fuel but the rocket body was metal based (I'm not english speaker...how do you call the cartridge that goes into ink pencills/pens...damn...you get the picture I hope). We just ram the "fuel" into the pen to certain point we assume reasonable (if you put to much pressure obtained can spit out the part of the fuel or the "nose cone". Ignition...just lit the piece of paper under it and heat will ignite it after a while. Those thing we fired in some backyard mostly at 30 degrees elevation...it can reach up to 30 meters (based on those we did manage to find:)). Result is unpredictable and some of the "rockets" just make smoke...I guess that teach us why the government pays the guys who make the rockets and rocket fuel.

[bcc1985s12]

I have tried a few match-head rockets, the latest one using an old "ammo-smoke" tube, which was about 5 inches long and an inch and a half wide, with a clay nozzle for the smoke dispersion. I shaped the nozzle and made it a little larger, so that I could fit a complete match head in it.
USE
I use the books of matches, with the cardboard sticks, and use a large paper-cutter to simply cut off all the match heads at a time, thus speeding up the process immensly(25 match heads at once). This makes it quick enough to be practicle, and 1000 book matches are about $1 at the local grocery store.
PARAGRAPHS
Anyway, I made many lengths of match-head fuse, using scotch tape to surround the line of match heads.

Tape .................................................. .............
Match-heads 00000000000000000000000000000000000000
.................................................. ............

I then put as many of these lengths into the rocket body as possible, attatched a fuse and stick for stabilization, and set it off. It got a few feet off the ground before it exploded, maybe I should have made a larger opening in the bottom, but I was hoping it would burn slower than pure match heads, as they were coated in tape. I will try it later with a larger nozzle.

[dumbrella]

I have found a match rocket design that works rather well.

I am using 3/8 ID paper tubes, about 2 inches long. Wall thickness, 1/8th inch. I hammer in approx 1/4-inch thickness of cat litter clay, for the nozzle pressed with a tapered rammer.

For the propellant, I use Beehive brand matches, they are of the wooden variety, and I scrape off the head material, and grind in a mortar and pestle. Be VERY careful, as they are somewhat friction sensitive...

Now, press this powder, carefully, into the tube, until you have about 1/4 inch left at the top. Fill the top with epoxy.

Drill the end with a 1/16th inch drill. It helps to drill a core most of the way into the propellant.

Attach a stick to the rocket. I use 12-inch long bamboo sticks, cut for the tree. A kitchen skewer used for kebabs works well too.

I fuse these with a 3-inch piece of visco, though I have used blackmatch too. When done right, and with a light stick and tube, I estimate they fly to about 300 feet I’m not sure about the payload capacity, but it’s probably not very high. If you are interested in carrying a payload though, a black powder or sugar KNO3 rocket will definitely work better. These take forever to collect the propellant for them, too…:rolleyes: but they demonstrate that match heads can definitely be used to make a rocket in the conventional manner.:)

[Gerbil]

Take cover! About every other one of these will explode with a lot of shrapnel moving at high speed!

Actually, the shrapnel risk is minimal unless you cut grooves into the side of the cartridge. (this obviously depends on construction type/power of the propellant used)
Even so, take full precautions.