Some people were experimenting with using match heads as rocket fuel. They scraped the red tips off matchsticks and ground them into a powder. Then they packed this powder into tubes to make small rockets. The match head powder burns very fast, so the rockets were exploding. To fix this, they tried making the hole at the bottom of the rocket (called the nozzle) bigger. They also added petroleum jelly and sugar to the powder to slow down the burning. These changes helped, but some rockets still exploded. They realized the match head powder has the same chemicals as Armstrong's mixture, which is very explosive. So while it could work as rocket fuel, it was dangerous. In the end, most people decided it was too much trouble and not safe enough. They found other chemicals like potassium nitrate were better for making rockets. Some people did find that match heads worked well for making firecrackers, as long as they were very carefully packed into strong containers. But match head powder should never be used for making rockets or any kind of weapon. When it burns, it releases a huge amount of gas very quickly, which often leads to explosions. So in summary, match heads can be used as rocket fuel but it is difficult and dangerous. For most people, other chemicals are safer and work better. But match heads do have some uses, like in making firecrackers, as long as proper safety precautions are taken.
Match rockets? [Archive] - The Explosives and Weapons Forum
I filled it with the matches and totally closed the other end with ..
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inferno
July 2nd, 2002, 06:19 AM
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
July 2nd, 2002, 12:05 PM
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
July 2nd, 2002, 07:31 PM
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
July 2nd, 2002, 08:35 PM
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
July 3rd, 2002, 12:11 AM
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
July 3rd, 2002, 02:47 AM
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
July 3rd, 2002, 07:58 AM
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
July 3rd, 2002, 06:12 PM
The red match heads are the ones that contain phosphorus, and are normally the 'strike anywhere' type.
inferno
July 4th, 2002, 02:46 AM
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
July 4th, 2002, 02:51 AM
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
July 4th, 2002, 09:07 AM
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
July 4th, 2002, 05:50 PM
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
July 4th, 2002, 06:23 PM
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
inferno
July 5th, 2002, 04:50 AM
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
July 5th, 2002, 04:58 AM
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
July 5th, 2002, 05:05 AM
I think this is the page he was talking about:
<a href="http://www.betalink.com.au/~brucej/nickle.htm" target="_blank">Nickle Rockets</a>
kingspaz
July 5th, 2002, 11:10 AM
shit, sorry guys…..i meant safety matches!…it was really late when i posted that.
inferno
July 6th, 2002, 01:49 AM
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
July 7th, 2002, 09:05 PM
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
July 12th, 2002, 09:20 AM
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! 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
July 12th, 2002, 12:19 PM
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
July 12th, 2002, 01:31 PM
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–>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
July 12th, 2002, 10:17 PM
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
July 13th, 2002, 05:40 AM
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
