Article Seven How To Make Reliable, Safe Fuses The following was taken from the file SHURMAN.TXT. Here, The TazIranian Devil attempts to tell you how to make a fuse. Check it out: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fuses Supplies Required: Potassium Nitrate White Sugar Soft cotton string Soap 1. In a small bowl, fill it up with soapy hot water and let the cotton soak into this solution for about 10 minutes. 2. In a second glass, fill it was two parts hot soap water and mix one part Potassium nitrate with one part sugar. 3. Let it soak for about 1 hour and take out the string and let it dry and its done. 4. These fuses ain't as good as you will probably think but they will work. If you want to get a good fuse and don't want to make these type, just go to the grocery store and get sparklers for birthday parties. These are cheap and much safer and reliable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, at least he admits that these fuses don't work well! In truth, I have tried this method and it was a big disappointment. Here is my recipe for a very reliable and safe fuse... and it's much easier to make then the one above! Materials Needed: - A cup or jar - Potassium Nitrate - Soft Cotton String 1. Put some Potassium Nitrate into the cup. 2. Add a little hot water to the cup and then dissolve the Potassium Nitrate. 3. Try not to add too much hot water to the cup, since we want the concentration of Potassium Nitrate in the cup to be as high as possible. 4. When all of the Potassium Nitrate is dissolved (or there is just a few crystals left on the bottom) submerse your soft cotton string in the solution. Leave it submersed for an hour or so. 5. After an hour or so, take the string out and let it HANG DRY! Don't put it on anything, have it hang from something. 6. When dry, cut a piece off with scissors and light it. It will take a couple seconds for it to catch, but once it catces it will burn continuously. 7. The best thing about this fuse is that it burns slowly, allowing you to get away from the stuff you are igniting. But it doesn't burn too slow that it goes out. If you really want to make a superb fuse, add some finely ground charcoal to the Potassium Nitrate solution. Not too much, just enough. It won't mix too well, but try to get some of it into the solution and then add your string. Or you can sprinkle some charcoal dust on the string after you take it out of the solution just before you hang dry it. Either way, the added Charcoal will provie extra feul for the Potassium Nitrate to oxidize (burn up). If you add the charcoal, I have found that the fuse burns better, and it doesn't go out very easily when the wind blows on it (more reliable then a match!).