Put on your gloves and get ready to experiment with a pull-tab pyrotechnic. We will be making a fuse igniter from a book of matches so that you can start a fuse with a simple flick of the wrist.

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MATCHBOOK FUSE IGNITER

SAFETY KEY:

+ Fire

SKILL LEVEL:

EASY

INTERMEDIATE

ADVANCED

APPROXIMATE TIME:

15 minutes

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

+ Book of paper matches

+ Electrical tape

+ Fuse

 

LET’S BEGIN

SETUP

1.  Open up your book of matches to reveal the four layers of matches inside. When you grab onto the base and pull on the cardboard, the paper box should detach from the matches.

2.  When you look at your matches, you will see a staple holding them together. You can use your fingernails, teeth, or perhaps pliers to remove that staple.

3.  Next, lay the cardboard the matches were in down on a table so the outside packaging and striker strip are facing upward.

4.  Next, take the outside edges and fold them toward the center until they meet in the middle.

5.  To hold them together, take a piece of electrical tape and wrap it around where the striker strip would be on the inside. This should create a funnel shape, closing off near the striker strip.

6.  Now, take your matches, fold the bundle into thirds, and secure it with a piece of tape about a quarter inch down from the match heads.

7.  Next put the matches in the cardboard matchbook funnel you made earlier. You want to push it down so the match heads are just above the striker strip, and the bottom of the matches should stick out slightly.

LIGHTING OFF

1.  Next you are going to want to make a pull tab. To do this you are going to fold the top part of the cardboard matchbook over so it’s sitting over the tape. Then use another piece of tape to hold it in place. Now you have a pyrotechnic whistle!

2.  To ignite your matches, place your finger in the ring you created, hold the bottom of the matches sticking out, and pull. Just like a grenade!

IT’S GETTING HOT! When you pull the two apart, the friction from the striker strip on the inside ignites all the matches at once.

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PRO TIP: It may take a lot of force to pull the matches if you wrapped the casing too tight, but if it’s too loose the matches will not light at all.

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ADDING A FUSE (OPTIONAL)

1.  Now to create the fuse. You can use a kind of fuse called visco, which is a safety firework fuse you can get from a firework supply company.

2.  It takes about a second to start it off. The only thing you have to do to start the fuse is to knot the end of your fuse and place it in the center of your matches as you roll them.

PYRO ART! As you roll it up you will form a nice little pyrotechnic bouquet of match heads.

3. Make your striker casing like you did before, but this time take your fuse and push it through first.

4. Wrap the loop into position and your pull-string fuse igniter is complete!

 

Put on your cool safety goggles and experiment. See what happens when you pull the loop fast or slow. Either way, you’ll get a bright fire and a shower of sparks!