Anybody know how to make reliable fuses?

[Howard]

For setting off fireworks tomorrow from a distance.

 

[Mill]

Detonator cord.

 

[TitanDiddly]

1. Get 2- conductor speaker wire
2. Get old toaster
3. Take 1 inch piece of element from toaster (model rocket ignitors work, but are generally single use)
4a. Attach one end of element section to one conductor of the wire, ditto the other
4b. Make it a physical connection. Tape leaves a mess when it melts, wire nuts melt, solder may melt.
5. Tie fuse of firework around element section loosely
6. Get back safe distance
7. Connect briefly the wires on your end to a 12v+ power source, car battery or cordless tool battery works great, I haven't tried and wouldn't trust a 9v battery.
8. Drop cord, on the off chance it flys away with the firework.

Element heats, fuse lights, firework discharges/flys away/kills innocent bystanders/etc.

Disclaimer: At your own risk. YMMV.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
1. Get 2- conductor speaker wire
2. Get old toaster
3. Take 1 inch piece of element from toaster
4a. Attach one end of element section to one conductor of the wire, ditto the other
4b. Make it a physical connection. Tape leaves a mess when it melts, wire nuts melt, solder may melt.
5. Tie fuse of firework around element section loosely
6. Get back safe distance
7. Connect briefly the wires on your end to a 12v+ power source, car battery or cordless tool battery works great, I haven't tried and wouldn't trust a 9v battery.

Element heats, fuse lights, firework discharges/flys away/kills innocent bystanders/etc.

Disclaimer: At your own risk. YMMV.

I would just use model rocket ignitors. Same principle, but much less effort.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
1. Get 2- conductor speaker wire
2. Get old toaster
3. Take 1 inch piece of element from toaster (model rocket ignitors work, but are generally single use)
4a. Attach one end of element section to one conductor of the wire, ditto the other
4b. Make it a physical connection. Tape leaves a mess when it melts, wire nuts melt, solder may melt.
5. Tie fuse of firework around element section loosely
6. Get back safe distance
7. Connect briefly the wires on your end to a 12v+ power source, car battery or cordless tool battery works great, I haven't tried and wouldn't trust a 9v battery.
8. Drop cord, on the off chance it flys away with the firework.

Element heats, fuse lights, firework discharges/flys away/kills innocent bystanders/etc.

Disclaimer: At your own risk. YMMV.

Thanks, this sounds usable.

 

[CrazyHelloDeli]

Im sending this thread to Ashcroft.

 

[Platypus]

i'm fused just in case i blow out

 

[MacBaine]

LASER!!!!11

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
1. Get 2- conductor speaker wire
2. Get old toaster
3. Take 1 inch piece of element from toaster (model rocket ignitors work, but are generally single use)
4a. Attach one end of element section to one conductor of the wire, ditto the other
4b. Make it a physical connection. Tape leaves a mess when it melts, wire nuts melt, solder may melt.
5. Tie fuse of firework around element section loosely
6. Get back safe distance
7. Connect briefly the wires on your end to a 12v+ power source, car battery or cordless tool battery works great, I haven't tried and wouldn't trust a 9v battery.
8. Drop cord, on the off chance it flys away with the firework.

Element heats, fuse lights, firework discharges/flys away/kills innocent bystanders/etc.

Disclaimer: At your own risk. YMMV.

Hey! Not bad!
With the toaster element idea tossed in, I don't think it'd be too difficult to use a few relays and some simple electrical engineering to manage to hook up the whole display to your computer's USB and operate it from there. Truly a geek 4th of July!

 

[LordMaul]

Just put a lit cigarette on the end of the fuse. About 10 minutes and it lights...works every time.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
1. Get 2- conductor speaker wire
2. Get old toaster
3. Take 1 inch piece of element from toaster (model rocket ignitors work, but are generally single use)
4a. Attach one end of element section to one conductor of the wire, ditto the other
4b. Make it a physical connection. Tape leaves a mess when it melts, wire nuts melt, solder may melt.
5. Tie fuse of firework around element section loosely
6. Get back safe distance
7. Connect briefly the wires on your end to a 12v+ power source, car battery or cordless tool battery works great, I haven't tried and wouldn't trust a 9v battery.
8. Drop cord, on the off chance it flys away with the firework.

Element heats, fuse lights, firework discharges/flys away/kills innocent bystanders/etc.

Disclaimer: At your own risk. YMMV.

Erm, I don't have an old toaster. Would the tungsten element out of a lightbulb work?

 

[Howard]

^

 

[Howard]

&

 

[Howard]

^

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
1. Get 2- conductor speaker wire
2. Get old toaster
3. Take 1 inch piece of element from toaster (model rocket ignitors work, but are generally single use)
4a. Attach one end of element section to one conductor of the wire, ditto the other
4b. Make it a physical connection. Tape leaves a mess when it melts, wire nuts melt, solder may melt.
5. Tie fuse of firework around element section loosely
6. Get back safe distance
7. Connect briefly the wires on your end to a 12v+ power source, car battery or cordless tool battery works great, I haven't tried and wouldn't trust a 9v battery.
8. Drop cord, on the off chance it flys away with the firework.

Element heats, fuse lights, firework discharges/flys away/kills innocent bystanders/etc.

Disclaimer: At your own risk. YMMV.

Erm, I don't have an old toaster. Would the tungsten element out of a lightbulb work?

It would, but it's too fragile...

Bet you can pick one up for a couple of dollars at goodwill.

A piece of hair dryer element will work, too.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
1. Get 2- conductor speaker wire
2. Get old toaster
3. Take 1 inch piece of element from toaster (model rocket ignitors work, but are generally single use)
4a. Attach one end of element section to one conductor of the wire, ditto the other
4b. Make it a physical connection. Tape leaves a mess when it melts, wire nuts melt, solder may melt.
5. Tie fuse of firework around element section loosely
6. Get back safe distance
7. Connect briefly the wires on your end to a 12v+ power source, car battery or cordless tool battery works great, I haven't tried and wouldn't trust a 9v battery.
8. Drop cord, on the off chance it flys away with the firework.

Element heats, fuse lights, firework discharges/flys away/kills innocent bystanders/etc.

Disclaimer: At your own risk. YMMV.

Erm, I don't have an old toaster. Would the tungsten element out of a lightbulb work?

It would, but it's too fragile...

Bet you can pick one up for a couple of dollars at goodwill.

A piece of hair dryer element will work, too.

I'll break 2 lightbulbs instead of 1, then.

EDIT: By fragile do you mean physically fragile? In that case, I'll just be careful.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: Howard
Erm, I don't have an old toaster. Would the tungsten element out of a lightbulb work?

You don't need either a toaster or a light bulb. Just get some really fine wire and put enough current through it.

I did this as a kid playing with model rockets. Model rocket ignitors cost a lot (for a kid), so I took apart multi-strand electrical wiring and made my own. I'd wrap about two-inches of wire around a match head leaving enough for alligator clips.

It took me a few tries to find out how many batteries it took to heat the wire enough, but it worked pretty reliably. The wire was so fine that it burnt to nothingness and never took off with the alligator clips. Not as reliable as store-bought ignitors, but it was a lot cheaper and cooler since I made them myself.

Rockets were fun. :moon:


You don't need an ignitor for fireworks, though. You've got two hands. Use a Zippo. :thumbsup:

 

[TonyG]

Another option would be to get a roll of clear packaging tape and a can of gun powder, or black powder. If using gun powder, try to find either a red dot or blue dot powder, as it should burn a little faster, pyrodex will also work. Take a peice of tape the same length as you want the fuse to be and run a line of gun powder down the center of it, on the stick side, then lay another peice of tape over the top of it to hold the powder in place. Works great to lengthen a fuse, or to fuse several things together with, just tape each of the individual fuses onto the center of the line of powder running down the tape.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: TonyG
Another option would be to get a roll of clear packaging tape and a can of gun powder, or black powder. If using gun powder, try to find either a red dot or blue dot powder, as it should burn a little faster, pyrodex will also work. Take a peice of tape the same length as you want the fuse to be and run a line of gun powder down the center of it, on the stick side, then lay another peice of tape over the top of it to hold the powder in place. Works great to lengthen a fuse, or to fuse several things together with, just tape each of the individual fuses onto the center of the line of powder running down the tape.

This is Canada!

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: TonyG
Another option would be to get a roll of clear packaging tape and a can of gun powder, or black powder. If using gun powder, try to find either a red dot or blue dot powder, as it should burn a little faster, pyrodex will also work. Take a peice of tape the same length as you want the fuse to be and run a line of gun powder down the center of it, on the stick side, then lay another peice of tape over the top of it to hold the powder in place. Works great to lengthen a fuse, or to fuse several things together with, just tape each of the individual fuses onto the center of the line of powder running down the tape.

This is Canada!

I don't get it. You can't buy gun powder in Canada? How do people hunt moose and stuff ('cause Canada is FULL of moose, large trees, and tundra)?

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Rumpltzer

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: TonyG
Another option would be to get a roll of clear packaging tape and a can of gun powder, or black powder. If using gun powder, try to find either a red dot or blue dot powder, as it should burn a little faster, pyrodex will also work. Take a peice of tape the same length as you want the fuse to be and run a line of gun powder down the center of it, on the stick side, then lay another peice of tape over the top of it to hold the powder in place. Works great to lengthen a fuse, or to fuse several things together with, just tape each of the individual fuses onto the center of the line of powder running down the tape.

This is Canada!

I don't get it. You can't buy gun powder in Canada? How do people hunt moose and stuff ('cause Canada is FULL of moose, large trees, and tundra)?

Actually, the closest gun shop must be in the next town.

 

[sillymofo]

What I did was carefully unwrap the fuse, and shake the powder off, then twist it up again, then light with an insense.

 

[Howard]

I used Phasmatis' method, but I used a tungsten filament instead of a heating element. 4V doesn't heat up the filament noticeably. I'll have to try a higher voltage later...

EDIT: Missed the part where he said to use a 12V+ source. I'll have to put a few 9V batteries in series, then.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Originally posted by: Howard
I used Phasmatis' method, but I used a tungsten filament instead of a heating element. 4V doesn't heat up the filament noticeably. I'll have to try a higher voltage later...

EDIT: Missed the part where he said to use a 12V+ source. I'll have to put a few 9V batteries in series, then.

That should work. I would reccomend finding a toaster if you can- the trick is that the wire is very high resistance (plain iron, IIRC), so it heats up. Using very thin wire may work, but like he said above- it'd be unreliable. You could use anything that would heat up like that, hair dryer parts, etc. Also- if you're going to be able to use a car battery or maybe a portable tool battery, use a paper clip. It's much thicker than toaster wire and lower resistance(probably) so it'll take more current to heat up enough. Alkaline's won't do it.

Good luck!