Matchlock cord not igniting powder?

[trettie]

What we’ve been making and using since GOEX closed up shop is a simple recipe that works great. (We do 16 demonstrations per day, 363 days a year at 2-3 rounds each plus more for special events.)

Thanks Jay! I’ve got a pile of red oak and a coil of hemp rope ready to go.

 

[Jay Templin]

Thanks Jay! I’ve got a pile of red oak and a coil of hemp rope ready to go.

If I can be of any further assistance, you know how to find me!
Jay

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Jay,
With what sounds like a pretty soupy recipe, hanging to dry might be fine, but with a thin mix, drying is best flat so we don't get a concentration of solution at both ends.
All the best,
Rich.

 

[Sidney Smith]

Be careful about stump remover. Some of it, including the Spectracide, no longer contain potassium nitrate. I made some powder a while back and it wouldn't burn at all, even using a propane torch. Lucky it was only a 4 ounce batch. Do be sure to blow on the match and get that red hot coal on the end.

I just bought some Spectracide and the only ingredient it lists is potassium nitrate. Where are you seeing other ingrdients?

 

[russellshaffer]

I just bought some Spectracide and the only ingredient it lists is potassium nitrate. Where are you seeing other ingrdients?

You got some of the old, good stuff. My label didn't list potassium nitrate but has some other chemicals. I mixed up some homebrew with it and it would not light even with a propane torch. I got it hot enough to get melted sulfur granules and it still wouldn't burn. Not good for our purposes but it did kill a rosebush I wanted to get gone.

 

[Erwan]

You got some of the old, good stuff. My label didn't list potassium nitrate but has some other chemicals. I mixed up some homebrew with it and it would not light even with a propane torch. I got it hot enough to get melted sulfur granules and it still wouldn't burn. Not good for our purposes but it did kill a rosebush I wanted to get gone.

You only need to find ashes of hardwood and saltpeter.
Wash the cord with the ash to eliminate the lignin, impregnate it with a solution of saltpeter and let it dry in a flat position: never hang your cord. So it will be good. You can also use a bit of lead acetate, but it becomes very difficult to find and not imperative...
Saltpeter: https://www.amazon.com/PCSLLC-Potassium-Nitrate-1-lb/dp/B073W3XT1Y

A very simple example of realization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGlCFCHy25M

 

[Janissary]

What we’ve been making and using since GOEX closed up shop is a simple recipe that works great. (We do 16 demonstrations per day, 363 days a year at 2-3 rounds each plus more for special events.)
1. Line a container (we use a 2 gallon iron kettle) with cloth and fill it with hardwood ash.
2. Now fill it with water- you’ll be amazed how much it will take.
3. Let it steep anywhere from 4 hours to all day, depending on whether or not you remember that it’s there. When you remember, lift out the cloth and squeeze as much of the water back into the container as you can.
4. Throw in a coil of 12-15 fathom of natural fibre rope. We use 3/8” hemp, but cotton would probably work.
5. Let it steep anywhere from 4 hours to overnight, then hang it to dry. You can get 2 batches of matches from one container of ash tea. Three is pushing it- best to stick to 2.
Jay

Jay. Usually when this method is described, one is told to keep the solution simmering, and also that it doesn't need to take so many hours. Is there an advantage or disadvantage to doing it cold? Does it make the process take longer?

 

[Jay Templin]

Jay. Usually when this method is described, one is told to keep the solution simmering, and also that it doesn't need to take so many hours. Is there an advantage or disadvantage to doing it cold? Does it make the process take longer?

The advantage to doing it cold is not having to tend a fire in Tidewater Virginia in the summer. It seems to work as well as when I cook it, so why go to the hassle? Also, when it gets busy, I lose track of stuff. So when it sits for hours or overnight, it’s because I forget to pull it sooner.
Jay

 

[TobJohn]

The advantage to doing it cold is not having to tend a fire in Tidewater Virginia in the summer.

given the heat and humidity we have had the past month, that would be literal hell to stand around a fire.

 

[Canute Rex]

Bucking in ash liquor works best if you rinse and wring the match afterward. I generally to two boilings/soakings with some aggressive wringing and rinsing after each. The rinse water will be really brown the first time and weak tea the second. Then I give it a soak in dilute vinegar solution to neutralize the alkaline potash. You can use it like that or soak it in potassium nitrate.

Experiment with the concentration of the nitrate and use as little as you can get away with. If you use a saturated solution (as much as the water will dissolve) then you tend to get crystals of it on the surface of the match. That gives you a dangerous snap crackle pop. Once you dry the match, wipe the surface with a damp rag to get any crystals off.

 

[Jay Templin]

Bucking in ash liquor works best if you rinse and wring the match afterward. I generally to two boilings/soakings with some aggressive wringing and rinsing after each. The rinse water will be really brown the first time and weak tea the second. Then I give it a soak in dilute vinegar solution to neutralize the alkaline potash. You can use it like that or soak it in potassium nitrate.

Experiment with the concentration of the nitrate and use as little as you can get away with. If you use a saturated solution (as much as the water will dissolve) then you tend to get crystals of it on the surface of the match. That gives you a dangerous snap crackle pop. Once you dry the match, wipe the surface with a damp rag to get any crystals off.

My first few batches I rinsed and acidified, but we’re generally using the match within a week or two of manufacturing it, so I haven’t noticed any issues with leaving it alkaline. When we were making match with powder, we’d smack it against the wall to get the crystals off it. I still smack the bucked match, but at this point it’s just force of habit.
Jay

 

[Rudyard]

Does the match form a good 'head' on it whilst burning? Can you post a picture?

Do you blow on the head PRIOR to loading the match? And after loading the match into the serpentine, do you (with the pan cover CLOSED!) blow ACROSS the breech again to put a good head on the burning cord before firing?

TIP - Without a loaded arm or burning cord, figure out best placement where the cord needs to be positioned to hit the center of the pan bottom. Now, close the pan cover ... and SLOWLY lower the cord to just barely touch the top of the pan cover. I bet you dollars to donuts that is NOT the center of the pan cover, as whereas the pan cover is higher than the bottom of the pan, it is likely a little more forward of the center of the pan bottom (due to the arc of the serpentine). Make note of that position ... and for matchlock newbies, I suggest putting a dot of Sharpie marker in that spot as a learning tool.

Now go load your arm, prime your arm, and light your cord. You know to BLOW OFF any stray priming powder away from the pan I hope, after you close the pan? When you go to load the matchcord, then lower it to the pan cover (that is CLOSED!) and ensure the glowing tip hits your marker spot. With time and shots down range, you'll position it best without any marker to identify the best cord position, it'll become 2nd nature ... provided you shoot often.

Otherwise, I betcha that cord you have is 'old' and has lost its ooommmmpphhhhh ... note use of the period correct technical term there .

'Period technical term hey? ' I do know the feeling Ime pushing 79 and loosing my UMMMMPH too.! Regards Rudyard

 

[Rudyard]

Bucking in ash liquor works best if you rinse and wring the match afterward. I generally to two boilings/soakings with some aggressive wringing and rinsing after each. The rinse water will be really brown the first time and weak tea the second. Then I give it a soak in dilute vinegar solution to neutralize the alkaline potash. You can use it like that or soak it in potassium nitrate.

Experiment with the concentration of the nitrate and use as little as you can get away with. If you use a saturated solution (as much as the water will dissolve) then you tend to get crystals of it on the surface of the match. That gives you a dangerous snap crackle pop. Once you dry the match, wipe the surface with a damp rag to get any crystals off.

Very good advise couldn't have put it better .I think its all a bit of a witches brew but we get there .We 'brotherhood of the burning rope '/ string .
Regards Rudyard

 

[Janissary]

I tried bucking it without a fire - just let it sit in my rather hot summertime Los Angeles garage. I haven't tried igniting powder with the product, but the results are quite poor judging by how much ash gets left behind by the burning cord. I'm not even sure it's significantly better than before it was bucked.

Where I live, the tap water is very hard, so perhaps the high mineral content makes it difficult to dissolve anything else, thus requiring heating to compensate.

 

[Canute Rex]

I tried bucking it without a fire - just let it sit in my rather hot summertime Los Angeles garage. I haven't tried igniting powder with the product, but the results are quite poor judging by how much ash gets left behind by the burning cord. I'm not even sure it's significantly better than before it was bucked.

Where I live, the tap water is very hard, so perhaps the high mineral content makes it difficult to dissolve anything else, thus requiring heating to compensate.

Put it on your kitchen stove and simmer it for an hour. That is, in a solution of wood ash or potassium carbonate. Maybe use distilled water. You can get potassium carbonate on eBay. Don't use regular lye (potassium hydroxide) because it is too susceptible to absorbing moisture from the air. Rinse and wring and rinse and wring. (use rubber gloves) The lignin won't come out unless you force it.

 

[Janissary]

Put it on your kitchen stove and simmer it for an hour. That is, in a solution of wood ash or potassium carbonate. Maybe use distilled water. You can get potassium carbonate on eBay. Don't use regular lye (potassium hydroxide) because it is too susceptible to absorbing moisture from the air. Rinse and wring and rinse and wring. (use rubber gloves) The lignin won't come out unless you force it.

Yeah I normally make match on the stove. But: when you say wring, you mean wring the match itself? Interesting. I'll try that next time.

 

[Canute Rex]

Yeah I normally make match on the stove. But: when you say wring, you mean wring the match itself? Interesting. I'll try that next time.

Yes, twist it and get another grip and twist again (like we did last summer). You need to get the lignin containing water out of it or else some lignin remains. Boil and rinse and wring until the water is fairly clear.