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Black Match, Crossmatch
& Quickmatch
"Black Match" is simply a cotton
string covered with Black Powder. When a small piece
of Black Match is inserted in a length of Japanese Time
Fuse, it's then called "Crossmatch". If Black
Match is covered in a thin paper tube, it burns hundreds
of times faster than normal and is called "Quickmatch".
All in all, Crossmatch, Black Match & Quickmatch
are all essentially the same, and are made from lengths
of cotton string covered with Black Powder.
Manufacture
To make Black Match, you're going to need
3 things: A plastic container with a snap-on lid, a
1/8" drill bit, some Meal Powder (which is just
very finely powdered Black Powder), Cotton String, and
a little Dextrin. Make sure you get Cotton string, not
nylon or any other synthetic material. The string must
be Cotton and must be able to absorb water quickly.
The best you can get will be from a fabric store. They
usually sell unbleached Cotton string, which
is by far the best thing to use... although ordinary
white Cotton string will work fine.
Make sure the string is less than 1/8" diameter.
The ideal string is about 1/16" Cotton String,
although any size under 1/8" can be used.
The first thing to do is to drill a 1/8"
hole in the lid to your plastic container. Don't just
poke a hole through the lid, the hole must be a clean,
smooth 1/8" hole free of burrs.
Pour 50 grams of Meal Powder and
10 grams of Dextrin into your plastic container.
While stirring, add a little water at
a time until the mixture forms a runny paste ( about
the consistency of ordinary Ketchup ).
Cut a 3 foot length of Cotton string and
carefully coil it into the Meal Powder paste, pushing
it down into the mixture until it is completely covered.
Thread the other end of the string through
the 1/8" hole in the plastic lid. Leave about 2
" sticking out of the hole.
Snap the lid on the container, and set
the whole thing on the ground.
Slowly, pull the string through
the hole, and it will emerge perfectly coated.
Using some tape, or better yet a thumb
tack, attach the coated string to an overhang to dry.
It's very sticky & messy while wet, so be careful
not to let it touch anything until it's dry.
After a couple of days, your Black Match
will be dry and quite stiff. Cut off a small length
and test it outside. It will catch fire easily when
lit, and burn just like a fuse.
If you take a longer length of Black Match and cover
it in a thin, tight paper tube, you'll find that it
burns much faster. This is known as Quickmatch.
The faster burning is due to the pressure increase inside
the tube. As the Black Match burns, hot gasses and flame
build up in the tube and is forced down the length of
the thin paper tube at high speed. Some commercial Quickmatch
can burn at almost 500 feet per second.
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