Many of you have requested that I add a page on making igniters.  If you've read about making your own electrical firing system, you know that electrical igniters are necessary to make an electric current ignite a fuse.  This page will show you how.

These reliable igniters can be made in just a couple of minutes and for only a few cents apiece!

Method 1: Match Heads

MATERIALS

- drinking straw
- book of safety matches
- hot melt glue gun and glue
- 4" strip of visco fuse
- Morning Glory-type sparkler (optional)
- Soldering equipment (iron, solder, and flux)
- Tinned coppel or nichrome ignition wire (see below)
- 2-conductor, 22 gauge wire (see below)
- Tape (electrical/duct/masking)

Notes on Materials

Nichrome (nickel-chromium) is metallic alloy that is made into thin wires and used to make electrical igniters in pyrotechnics.  Very thin copper wire also works for this purpose.  Both of these (an sometimes a copper-nickel alloy called coppel) can be bought from pyrotechnic suppliers such as Firefox.  Personally, I find nichrome wire to be incredibly difficult to solder, so I suggest using the Firefox 31 gauge "copel" wire.  Also, check out this page which gives a list of different resistance wires you can use.

The 22 gauge wire can be bought from a local hardware store.  Make sure that it has two separate wires, each with its own insulation.  Such wire can also be bought from Skylighter in large rolls, which can also be used as shooting wire for your electrical control panel.

Procedure

1.  Cut one foot sections from the 22 gauge wire.  You will need one section for each igniter you wish to make.  Use a knife or wire strippers to strip the insulation off of the last quarter inch of the individual wires.  Spread the bared ends about a quarter-inch apart. 2.  Cut a one inch piece of nichrome or coppel wire.  Wrap a quarter of an inch around each lead of the 22 gauge wire, leaving a quarter inch section to bridge the gap.

3.  Apply a bit of flux to the wires.  Solder the nichrome/coppel wire to the bared leads of the 22 gauge wire to secure the connection. 4.  Use a knife to cut a tiny chunk out of the end of a match head.

5.  Slip the nichrome/copper wire into the gap in the match head that you just carved out.  Bend the leads of the 22 gauge wire down around the head of the match and down the stick, making sure they don't touch (5a).  Secure it with a piece of tape (5b).

6. Cut a 1" piece from the drinking straw.  Insert the wire/match head assembly into the straw so that the match head is approximately 1/3 of the way through.  Take your hot melt glue gun and fill in the gap between the wire and straw (6a-shown in blue) with glue.  Squirt a little bit around the outside to make sure the wire won't come loose.

7.  Take 2 or 3 matches (either 'safety' or 'strike anywhere') and cut off the heads.  Put the heads into the opposite end of the straw.  *optional* break open a Morning Glory sparkler and pour just enough of the powder into the straw to cover up the match heads (shown in tan). Do not use black powder. 8.  Cut one end of the visco fuse at an angle to expose the black powder core.  Stick this end into the straw and down into the match heads (and sparkler powder, if you chose to put it in). Like you did earlier, fill the gap between the fuse and straw with hot glue, squirting some along the outside to secure the fuse into the straw.

The finished product:

All you have to do now is strip the opposite end of the wire.  Before you store these, be sure to twist together the exposed wire leads - this ensures that there's no way an electrical source could set off one of these igniters.

How to Use

To use these igniters, simply connect the piece of visco to whatever it is you wish to ignite - be it another visco fuse, black match, or quick match.  See this page for tips of how to connect fuse.

How it Works

When an electrical current (about 200 milliamps) flows through the nichrome/copperl wire at the end, it heats up - much like the filament of a light bulb.  This ignites the match head.  The straw directs the flame forward, where it ignites the other match heads and the temperature increases.  This, in turn, will ignite the visco fuse.  All of this happens within less than a second.

more methods coming soon!