Mark Linan's QUICK MATCH

Document and pictures © copyright 2004 by Mark Linan.

I stumbled on this idea of making fuse when I bought my first can of FFFFg. I saw many different types of fuse other people make, and was honestly pretty intimidated by some of it. Some of these methods seemed pretty elaborate and complicated. Since I have never made anything like this before, I figured it would be impossible for me to make. However, I went ahead and bought some Goex FFFFg Powder and decided that Sticky match would be a good place to start.

My first attempt was with Scotch tape. I made a few inches of it then stuck it to a board and lit it (with a 3 inch visco) I was pretty impressed with the fact that only with the powder that stuck to the tape, the flame moved pretty fast and was a decent size. Then I saw the aftermath. Thankfully I was using some scrap wood and was away from my house. The scotch tape had melted onto the board and was still burning with a nice blackish smoke.

I thought to myself “I need to find a different tape” So I got some masking tape (about a half inch wide). After making a few inches of this, I was dismayed to see that it wouldn’t stick to the board I had. I figured that I would have to fold the tape width ways, then use some more tape to hold it onto the board. Well, this still didn’t work since the tape wouldn’t stick to itself. I then laid it over another length of masking tape and stuck it all together. The result was a slightly unnerving but incredibly satisfying thud! I had just made my own self-discovery of making quick match…. Quickly!

	Dip one length of tape in the powder. Make sure you only use enough powder to do the job! I have been tempted to just use the whole can in a bucket, but I can’t imagine the devastation if it were to ignite. TRUST ME just a few grains of this stuff is enough to ruin your day!
	Fold the tape across its width.
	Place this folded tape over the other piece of tape you cut earlier. Right about now, the tape with the powder on it is probably trying to unstuck, don’t worry about that, you are about to fix it
	Next fold the tape over the open end of the powdered tape.
	Then gently squeeze the tape to make it form the tube.
	At the end, cut a decent length of Visco fuse, and insert it into the fuse you just made, then press the tape firmly over the visco.
	The following is 3 frames from my digital camera of the fuse going off (yes it moved this fast in just 3 frames). You can see in the first frame where the fuse has ignited and the visco (dark line) hasn’t reached the tape yet. It makes good education on the dangers of this stuff. A spark from the visco jumped onto the tape and set off the tape early. I had only just got my hand out of the way when it happened. Make sure you use a long enough length of visco (or an E-match) or you could seriously put a crimp on your day
	This picture shows why the tube is so important, it forces the flame to shoot forward at an incredible speed. You shouldn’t have to worry about the fuse flailing around and pulling away from other fuses. The flame is moving far ahead of the main flash.
	The third frame shows the main flash, note you can still see the flame jetting downward out of the tube. The biggest downside to this fuse is that you can only make what your hands can handle. I don’t (yet) have a machine that can do this automatically, but I am working on it. The plus side is that you can chain many small lengths together to make as much as you need. Also, when you insert your fuses into this tube, cut a slit into the tube, insert your fuse, then gently press the slit closed

Other good ideas:

- Be a PRIME-adonna (Pre-Madonna…Get it?): Priming your fuse is easy, just cut your visco at an angle to expose some of the powder core.
- Pointy end forward: It is a good idea to have your fuse pointing towards where the flame is coming from.
- Don’t forget to Floss!: To prevent the fuse from ejecting itself from any pressure, Dental floss is an excellent way of tying the fuse to the tube.
- Tape the tape: Of course with something moving this fast, it is going to want to move, just tape it down so it can stay still. If only that worked with the kids…

PyroUniverse.com and all of its contents are © 2001-2004 by Colin Bradley.  Individual pages can be printed out for your own personal use, but may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author.