Info on Making Blackmatch

[j***@mac.com]

I know this is day one beginner stuff, but until today, I've never made
blackmatch, I've used visco for all rockets, fountains, shells... I'd
love to hear any tips or tricks on the subject.
My questions are;
· What size cotton twine is best? I used "cabled" cotton rope, about
3mm thick. ( still wet so don't know how it will work).
· What percentage dextrin is best for a durable fuse and should
alchohol be added to help absorption into the fiber?
· Are there any ways to coat the finished fues to make it water
resistant? Maybe a silicon spray?

Anyway, any thoughts or advise will help. I'm finally making some
because I've been told my core burners will function better with
blackmatch and quickmatch near the nozzle.

[LadyKate]

I've always been surprised at the number of ways to make black match.
Here is my way (some of which was lifted straight out of Perigrin and
some of which I do because I'm lazy):

For the following, be safe - don't do this indoors or when others are
around (except for the assistant part explained below). The equipment
and general safety rules are a subset of those specified for making BP
using the CIA method. A spilled boiling solution of KNO3 could ruin
your whole day so please be careful.

Boil 200 or 300 ml of water (or a bit more). Saturate it with KNO3
(same as for CIA). Soak three or four balls of string in it (all cotton
- crochet string available in Walmart) and set them out to dry (or
dehydrate in your cabinet/whatever). Keep soaking string until you run
out of liquid. You now have enough string to do a zillion feet of
blackmatch and you probably did it in less than 10 minutes. In
addition, you won't have to do this step for the next few years of
matchmaking. Bonus spin-offs from this (besides making more reliable
burning blackmatch) are that your blackmatch slurry lasts longer and
the KNO3 doesn't leech out of it into the string - thus the last string
to come through the slurry will be similar in properties to the first
pieces that went through it.

The string will be stiff and have KNO3 crystals on it so store the
string like you would any flammable (keep it in its balled state,
though). Don't worry about bending it or twisting it - you will re-wet
it when it comes to blackmatch making time. I have a simple tub that I
make blackmatch with and the KNO3 string still threads through it and
works fine.

Get some reasonably hot BP (any BP will work - I likes it hot). Make a
warm solution of the BP and some hot water. The solution should be a
thick gravy or perhaps a bit thinner. Start with 175 ml of hot water
and 500 grams of BP. If that seems thick, then add a bit more water.
Add about 5% dextrin (I have forgotten this on occasion - it still
works but it is much better with the dextrin).

Put the mixture in the bottom of a small cooler (really small one - the
throwaway type).

Now here is where you can get complicated or get easy. I like to make
it easy. Put on some rubber gloves. Take the cooler to your front
sidewalk (assuming you live in a friendly neighborhood). Have your
significant other stand 100 feet down the street. Take a ball of string
and run a string trail down to him/her and back again until you have
five trails. Grab the hank of five threads and, keeping the together as
best you can, run them between your fingers while your hand is buried
in the muck - using your hand to strip off the excess as the string
plays through. Do it slowly. Hand off the black match to your
significant other (make sure they have gloves on, too). Done? Walk the
100' hank of match over to a fence and drape it on it. Keep doing this
until you get tired. Let the whole mess dry. You have now made premium
black match that will not hangfire and will pass through small openings
with ease. In addition, the cotton thread will burn completely - there
will be little residue. You have also tested your significant other's
patience - they will have ruined whatever they are wearing because they
will undoubtably get hot BP on themselves. In addition, if you have a
white picket fence, it is now a dalmation picket fence. But sacrifices
are necessary when the cause is just... right?

Post by j***@mac.com
I know this is day one beginner stuff, but until today, I've never made
blackmatch, I've used visco for all rockets, fountains, shells... I'd
love to hear any tips or tricks on the subject.
My questions are;
· What size cotton twine is best? I used "cabled" cotton rope, about
3mm thick. ( still wet so don't know how it will work).
· What percentage dextrin is best for a durable fuse and should
alchohol be added to help absorption into the fiber?
· Are there any ways to coat the finished fues to make it water
resistant? Maybe a silicon spray?
Anyway, any thoughts or advise will help. I'm finally making some
because I've been told my core burners will function better with
blackmatch and quickmatch near the nozzle.

[j***@mac.com]

Thanks! Just what I was looking for. I tried my Blackmatch and the
string remained after the powder burnt. Maybe it's not yet dry enough,
but I think a saturation in KNO3 will be a good idea for my next
batches.
I made mine by having a small container with the slurry and a hloe
punched in the lid about the same diameter as the twine. I took 3'
sections, let them soak a minute and pulled them throught the hole.
Looks good, even coverage, but I'll give the KNO3 presoak a try.

[l***@yahoo.com]

This works for me and may not work for you or anyone else.
1. 'Cream and Spice' pure cotton (not mercerized sp?) crochet yarn
2. A 2 gallon lidded container. I use a cat box whaterever with a
hinged portion in the lid.
3. 2-3 bottles of 70% alcohol
4. Homemade dextrin
5. Ball milled BP powder.
6. Trees or other tying off points roughly 40 yards apart.
7. Cordless drill
8. 'Eye Hook or Screw'
9. Several small squares of duct tape.
On a sunny day:
Pour your BP into the jug, add alcohol & dextrin and shake till you
have slurry. Your experience will tell the proper consistency. Pay out
3 feet of the yarn, place the yarn ball in the jug, thread the 3' yarn
strand through the hinged lid (a hole drilled into a lid will work).
Close lid and shake again. Slurry must cover the ball of yarn. Tie off
the yarn to a tree branch and walk backwards paying out coated yarn,
shaking jug as needed to keep coating the yarn, till you reach the
other tie off point. A weighted down wheelbarrow works nice. Tie off
the farthest wheelbarrow handle so later you can tie off to the nearest
handle. Don't worry, you'll figure this out. Do this till you run out
of yarn. When this match is just at the tacky stage of drying, take
your cordless drill, chuck up the eye hook, tie three strands of the
match together using a hoop knot ( adjust the tension on each strand so
they 'hang' at the same tension, then tie the knot), place this hoop
knot on the eye hook and using the drill twist the three strands into
one match. I find that 20-yard long match shrinks about 1 foot when
twisted so tie this off on the other wheelbarrow handle. Continue till
the entire match is three twisted strands. When this three-strand match
is tacky, take the duct tape and make a tight cone surrounding the
match with the open end of the cone pointing away from the wheelbarrow
and pull this cone down the match, forcing slurry into the twists of
the match. When dry, use a Childs plastic sled pulled along the match
to catch cut lengths of match and store for final drying. I've found
42" is the longest q-match piping I can comfortably roll so I cut the
black match to 43".
Using this method, I can make 100's of yards of match in a few minutes
by myself and not make a mess. Any slurry that falls on the grass in
now fertilizer!
Save the unused slurry for next time!
As they say, your mileage may vary and this may never work for anyone
but this humble fool.

[John Reilly]

This post might be inappropriate. Click to display it.

[John Reilly]

Post by John Reilly

Post by l***@yahoo.com
This works for me and may not work for you or anyone else.
1. 'Cream and Spice' pure cotton (not mercerized sp?) crochet yarn
2. A 2 gallon lidded container. I use a cat box whaterever with a
hinged portion in the lid.
3. 2-3 bottles of 70% alcohol
4. Homemade dextrin
5. Ball milled BP powder.
6. Trees or other tying off points roughly 40 yards apart.
7. Cordless drill
8. 'Eye Hook or Screw'
9. Several small squares of duct tape.
Pour your BP into the jug, add alcohol & dextrin and shake till you
have slurry. Your experience will tell the proper consistency. Pay out
3 feet of the yarn, place the yarn ball in the jug, thread the 3' yarn
strand through the hinged lid (a hole drilled into a lid will work).
Close lid and shake again. Slurry must cover the ball of yarn. Tie off
the yarn to a tree branch and walk backwards paying out coated yarn,
shaking jug as needed to keep coating the yarn, till you reach the
other tie off point. A weighted down wheelbarrow works nice. Tie off
the farthest wheelbarrow handle so later you can tie off to the nearest
handle. Don't worry, you'll figure this out. Do this till you run out
of yarn. When this match is just at the tacky stage of drying, take
your cordless drill, chuck up the eye hook, tie three strands of the
match together using a hoop knot ( adjust the tension on each strand so
they 'hang' at the same tension, then tie the knot), place this hoop
knot on the eye hook and using the drill twist the three strands into
one match. I find that 20-yard long match shrinks about 1 foot when
twisted so tie this off on the other wheelbarrow handle. Continue till
the entire match is three twisted strands. When this three-strand match
is tacky, take the duct tape and make a tight cone surrounding the
match with the open end of the cone pointing away from the wheelbarrow
and pull this cone down the match, forcing slurry into the twists of
the match. When dry, use a Childs plastic sled pulled along the match
to catch cut lengths of match and store for final drying. I've found
42" is the longest q-match piping I can comfortably roll so I cut the
black match to 43".
Using this method, I can make 100's of yards of match in a few minutes
by myself and not make a mess. Any slurry that falls on the grass in
now fertilizer!
Save the unused slurry for next time!
As they say, your mileage may vary and this may never work for anyone
but this humble fool.

My experience in many years of "matchmaking" has left me with a few
simple rules. First, the best match is made of 6 or 8 very thin stands
of 100% cotton yarn instead of a purchased multi stranded twine.
Second, use a good quality standard meal powder with 5% dextrine or
starch. Passfire and leader match for shell "heads" or bundled piped
match for lancework should burn hot and fast with the greatest amount
of flame and hot gas to ensure flawless ignition. Whether one uses the
"French", "English" or the system that Papa Weingart claimed
as"original" in his book "Pyrotechnics", multiple pure cotton strands
which are separate until run through the powder slurry is key. Thinner
match for "rubber wick" crossmatching or for the fire catching
"fingers" one ties onto spolettes on shell inserts can use 4 strands
for a smaller diameter product.

Sorry I must have been asleep at the switch. Make that 7% to 8%
dextrine or starch for your match. Plain hand screened meal can be used
to make match but ball milled meal components or commercial meal-D will
give you the heat and speed necessary to get the priming on all your
lances/.gerbes lit before the match pipes blow apart.
(I only used "sticky match" once as an experiment on a show I made
for grand opening display for a local company). It worked fine and
takes less time but as a traditionalist, I felt like I needed to find a
church and go to confession!)

[LadyKate]

One more thing -

You mentioned using 3mm string. That is really thick. Try using thin
all cotton string - 1/2 to 1mm stuff. The white all-cotton crochet
string available in zillion yard rolls at Walmart is the easiest to get
and it is about the right size. Five strands when stuck together with
BP (see my previous post) will easily fit down a 1/4" paper tube - thus
making quickmatch. Five strands insures consistent and steady burning
with little residue (if pre-soaked). You can also peel it apart to make
nice 2 or 3 segment match for smaller fusing requirements.

Refrain from bending it into a tight radius. Store it in a long tube or
shipping container. The USPS has a long triangular shipping container
that is ideal.

LK

Post by j***@mac.com
Thanks! Just what I was looking for. I tried my Blackmatch and the
string remained after the powder burnt. Maybe it's not yet dry enough,
but I think a saturation in KNO3 will be a good idea for my next
batches.
I made mine by having a small container with the slurry and a hloe
punched in the lid about the same diameter as the twine. I took 3'
sections, let them soak a minute and pulled them throught the hole.
Looks good, even coverage, but I'll give the KNO3 presoak a try.

[r***@bestweb.net]

Post by LadyKate
You mentioned using 3mm string. That is really thick. Try using thin
all cotton string - 1/2 to 1mm stuff.

That must be bakery string. Makes the (still thin) string I use look
like cable!

Post by LadyKate
The white all-cotton crochet
string available in zillion yard rolls at Walmart is the easiest to get
and it is about the right size.

They crochet with string now?

Post by LadyKate
Five strands when stuck together with
BP (see my previous post) will easily fit

Yeah, must be the bakery string. With a coating of BP, I'd fit only 2
strands, maybe 3...

Post by LadyKate
down a 1/4" paper tube

As I mentioned recently, I fold piping instead of rolling it. Lot of
overlap at the glued edge, but very flat, hardly takes up mortar
windage. No need to fit the match down the tube, just fold pre-creased
paper around it & glue. Doesn't give strength, but you shouldn't be
holding a shell up via the match anyway.

Robert

[LadyKate]

Post by r***@bestweb.net

Post by LadyKate
You mentioned using 3mm string. That is really thick. Try using thin
all cotton string - 1/2 to 1mm stuff.

That must be bakery string. Makes the (still thin) string I use look
like cable!

Nope.. It is crochet string/yarn/thread/pick a synonym (ebay lists
crochet supplies under all three). Go to Walmart (if you are near one
of them) and go to the crochet section. Check out the all cotton, white
crochet balls. The yarn/thread/string is MUCH thicker than sewing
thread - 1/2 to 1 mm. It looks a little like very thin kite string.
Makes great match.

Your idea of folding the paper to make quck match has to be the easiest
way to make it. When I first tried to make quick match, I rolled 1/4"
tubes and glued them - they came out like rocket tubes .. they worked
but they were sure heavy duty. ;-}

[John Reilly]

Post by LadyKate

Post by r***@bestweb.net

Post by LadyKate
You mentioned using 3mm string. That is really thick. Try using thin
all cotton string - 1/2 to 1mm stuff.

That must be bakery string. Makes the (still thin) string I use look
like cable!

Nope.. It is crochet string/yarn/thread/pick a synonym (ebay lists
crochet supplies under all three). Go to Walmart (if you are near one
of them) and go to the crochet section. Check out the all cotton, white
crochet balls. The yarn/thread/string is MUCH thicker than sewing
thread - 1/2 to 1 mm. It looks a little like very thin kite string.
Makes great match.
Your idea of folding the paper to make quck match has to be the easiest
way to make it. When I first tried to make quick match, I rolled 1/4"
tubes and glued them - they came out like rocket tubes .. they worked
but they were sure heavy duty. ;-}

Kate, have you tried rolling the paper (30 or 40# basis kraft) parallel
(in the direction of) to the grain? It is a bit easier to roll
perpendicular to the grain as you would a rocket or gerbe casing, but
the flexibility and bendability of the finished piped match shows that
it's the only way to go. Besides, we're only talking about 4 turns or
so of lightweight edge only pasted paper. If you've made pinwheels
(the real ones) or English crackers, you know that the tubes are likely
to split on you even though being thoroughly dampened, when you make
the accordion folds for the crackers or the coil up for the pinweels
unless the tubes have been rolled this way. In parts of Mexico and
probably elsewhere, the stiff 30" pieces of stiff cut match are used as
the "former" and the paper is quickly rolled up directly on it in a
quick manipulation. The many yards of piped match needed for their
castillos and other set pieces call for an ingenious but simple
solution. Eighteen feet of piped match per minute is rolled like this.
Very interesting to watch!

John

[r***@bestweb.net]

Post by John Reilly
In parts of Mexico and
probably elsewhere, the stiff 30" pieces of stiff cut match are used as
the "former" and the paper is quickly rolled up directly on it in a
quick manipulation.

I'd've thought the result would be too closely piped in places to flash
thru.

[John Reilly]

Post by r***@bestweb.net

Post by John Reilly
In parts of Mexico and
probably elsewhere, the stiff 30" pieces of stiff cut match are used as
the "former" and the paper is quickly rolled up directly on it in a
quick manipulation.

I'd've thought the result would be too closely piped in places to flash
thru.

Rob, the trick is to make narrow fold first and then roll. Picture
your 28" or 30" long by 4" wide strip of kraft laid out on the bench in
front of you. Paste 3/4" of the long edge farthest from you by quickly
running your brush (or dipped figertip) in one sweep. Take a 30" stick
of stiff match from the pile you've previously cut and lay it on the
paper in front of you about 1/2" in from the edge. Grasp the paper
edge closest to you and bend it up over the match and with a sweep of
first the right and then the left heel edge of your hands crease the
fold down over the match and quickly roll away from you pushing down
with both hands right on past the pasted end of the paper and keep
rolling back and forth for a second or two with the palms, to round
and "set" the pasted tube edge. This whole operation is done by these
Mexican women in less than 10 seconds.
Then, when you have a few hundred feet made, simply dab an inch of one
tube end with paste and slip this end inside the next match pipe about
and inch and repeat. Next, pour yourself another Tequila and sip after
a bite of lime and salt, while watching the ladies roll some more!
<Right!>

[r***@bestweb.net]

Post by LadyKate
Boil 200 or 300 ml of water (or a bit more). Saturate it with KNO3
(same as for CIA). Soak three or four balls of string in it (all cotton
- crochet string available in Walmart) and set them out to dry (or
dehydrate in your cabinet/whatever). Keep soaking string until you run
out of liquid. You now have enough string to do a zillion feet of
blackmatch and you probably did it in less than 10 minutes. In
addition, you won't have to do this step for the next few years of
matchmaking. Bonus spin-offs from this (besides making more reliable
burning blackmatch) are that your blackmatch slurry lasts longer and
the KNO3 doesn't leech out of it into the string - thus the last string
to come through the slurry will be similar in properties to the first
pieces that went through it.
The string will be stiff and have KNO3 crystals on it so store the
string like you would any flammable (keep it in its balled state,
though). Don't worry about bending it or twisting it - you will re-wet
it when it comes to blackmatch making time.

Does the string NEED to be dried in the first place? Seems like you're
going thru the trouble of making slow match only to turn it later into
black match!

[Joe Smith]

Here's a way http://www.unitednuclear.com/quickmatch.htm

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

Post by Joe Smith
Here's a way http://www.unitednuclear.com/quickmatch.htm

Joe, that's one way to make poor match. The yarns should be separate until
after coating. Using heavy cord pretty much guarantees that powder won't
penetrate to the core. Using several thin yarns renders a better quality of
match.

When I bothered to make match, I built a simple "guide box" that ran six
strands of thin cotton yarn through the slurry, wiped them through a gauge
plate, then gathered them into a single (untwisted) strand.

Match made by that method is lightning fast, and burns completely, leaving
little in the way of smoldering string afterwards.

LLoyd

[Thomas N.]

Post by Lloyd E. Sponenburgh
When I bothered to make match, I built a simple "guide box" that ran six
strands of thin cotton yarn through the slurry, wiped them through a gauge
plate, then gathered them into a single (untwisted) strand.

Lloyd,

I bothered to make it too for a long time. Admittedly, buying it for
$5.00 per 100' has made me lose interest in making it again.

Thomas

[Joe Smith]

Here's some stuff on quickmatch
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/fusemaking/quickmatch.htm

[Joe Smith]

Some more on blackmatch
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/fusemaking/blackmatch.htm

[Joe Smith]

Some more http://www.vk2zay.net/article.php/18

[l***@yahoo.com]

Most string is treated. Pure, non treated, cotton chrocet (sp?) is what
you want. Often my match will send a 3' piping 60' into the air if lit
while vertical. To slow down match I add more dextrin. That way I have
a common BP mix that is used for many goodies. Using x-mas paper makes
colorfull piping and can be had cheaply at dollar stores. Do not use
plastic. To improve the piping's water prooffing, add aluminum foil to
the x-mas paper before rolling. I wax my roller dowel. Larger ID piping
can be made using round curtain rods. The rod slit helps start the
roll. Rolling the pipe a litle loose at the end will allow a good joint
if you have to add a piece for longer match. Flouresent (sp?) light
tube protectors make good, cheap, clear match storage containers. I
perfer to pipe the match and then store to avoid damage the the match.

[Mike]

Post by j***@mac.com
Anyway, any thoughts or advise will help. I'm finally making some
because I've been told my core burners will function better with
blackmatch and quickmatch near the nozzle.

Here's a method from the WPA bulletin:
It works ok for starters, modify as you wish or throw it in the trash.
Some info was garnered from other posters.

========================

Shell Cross Match and Passfires:
Use 7-8 strands single filament cotton tea bag string or similar or 4
strands of cotton crochet string (size 10) for cross match. Pull through a
sizing die made from a piece of solid brass round stock 3/4" diameter and 2
to 3 inches long drilled and reamed smooth with a .100" hole. A glass eye
dropper or ketchup spout with a .100" opening can be utilized as well

For Shell Leader Match:
Use 16 strands of single filament cotton or 6 strands of cotton crochet
string (size 10) pulled through a sizing die with flat rectangular shaped
opening. The shape of the leader match when dry should resemble a shoelace
5/16" or so wide. Round shapes can be made as well.

Hot Slurry Mixing: Do not use an open flame or exposed heat source for this
procedure.

For cross match Meal "D" or BP milled with Willow charcoal is preferred. To
cement the slurry mixture to the cotton strands and make the match stiff use
2% Gum Arabic and 2% dextrin together to equal 4%. The Gum Arabic/Dextrin is
mixed with water and dissolved by warming in a double boiler. Twice the
weight of BP is added to the binder solution and mixed well to make a hot
slurry. Conversely, the weighed amount of water used is equal to 50% of the
BP used.

Formula parts by weight:

BP ------------------ 100
Gum Arabic---------- 2
Dextrin----------------2
Water--------------- 50

A water bath is necessary to keep the temperature of the slurry at constant
98 C degrees.
With dextrin only as the binder higher heating temperatures will cause an
excessive amount of Potassium Nitrate from the BP to dissolve into solution.
This causes larger crystals of Potassium Nitrate to form when the match is
drying resulting in less vigorous combustion.

While Gum Arabic tends to impede this crystal formation it also has a higher
oxygen demand.
If no heating is applied, the slurry becomes too thick and won't penetrate
the cotton fibers as well. When using Meal "D" or other commercial grain
powder heating is required to get the grains to properly dissolve.

For leader match: a straight 4% Dextrin can be added to the BP ingredients
and ball milled together, then add plain water while mixing using the above
hot slurry mixing method.

Option: For crossmatch, as the same for leader match, one may try adding the
dry Gum Arabic/Dex binders to the BP ingredients and ball milling them
together.

Reference: The amount of water (usually less) can be adjusted to suit your
preferences.
On page 198 in Shimizu's Art & Science book, 3% Gum Arabic is dissolved in
40% water by weight and heated in a water bath to make the match slurry. For
this formula the amount of BP added to the Gum/water binder is also 100
parts by weight.

Typical Match Frame:
Douglas Fur molding 1.500 by .750 varnished with "L" brackets to reinforce
corners with an overall frame size 2 feet wide by 3 feet long. Install two
holes and center them in the longer pieces to accommodate a 5/8" wood dowel
for a bearing axle. Having one frame for cross match and the other for
leader match is a good idea.

How Much To Make:
Determine size of match frame and number of windings on the frame with
spacing of say 1/2" to 5/8". A frame 2 feet wide by 3 feet long will accept
a total of 38 turns of match cotton with 5/8" spacing. This will total 76
separate 3-foot pieces or other lengths depending on preference.

The weight of BP needed to coat a single 3-foot piece of cross match is
approximately 8 grams. Ten grams is the approximate amount needed for a
3-foot piece of the heavier leader match. To ensure all the cotton gets
coated the amount BP is calculated so that some excess slurry is available
during the application process. Adjust this amount more or less if needed.


Batch Method Procedure:
After deciding how many windings of black match one wants to see finished
with proper spacing on their match frame. Unwind that same length of cotton
from the frame and wrap it around the tapered middle section of an inverted
plastic flowerpot that's a foot or so in diameter. Tie the bundle of match
cotton loosely in 4 sections then remove it and place it aside.

The whole object of this is to prevent the strands of cotton from becoming
tangled while working in the BP slurry or when winding the strands back onto
the frame while they're being pulled through the sizing die.

Next, place the bundle of cotton in a coffee can or stockpot of a convenient
size and pour in the right amount of hot match slurry. With rubber gloves
lightly work the slurry into the cotton by hand. After the bundle of cotton
is well saturated remove it and push it firmly down on the tapered section
of the upside down flowerpot then cut away the 4 holding ties.

Beforehand this "inverted flowerpot dispenser" needs to be centered and
secured on a vertical metal rod attached to a base that spins freely. Drill
a hole in the center of the flowerpot to provide a center of axis or for
ease one can simply attach the flowerpot to a revolving condiment dispenser,
most of which use ball bearings.

Next, find the outer end piece of the bundle and pass it through the sizing
die, then attach it to the far side of the match frame. While holding the
sizing die in the left hand start revolving the match frame with the right.
Apply a little tension to each 3-foot section wound on the frame so the
pieces don't droop and cement themselves to adjacent strands while drying.

Types of cotton:
The best cotton to use for crossmatch is a single filament untreated strand,
which cements together better resulting in stiffer match. Depending on the
diameter, tightly woven mercerized cotton crochet string will not accept the
BP slurry as easily as the single filament untreated strand. Also, cotton
yarn that consists of many convoluted filaments makes a black match that
lacks stiffens and is best used for rocket ignition rather than cross match
for shells.

Notes for Success:
Beware of excessively twisting the strands of cotton in the pot of match
paste. One problem that can occur with the batch method is having the coated
strands tangle while pulling them through the sizing die as the match is
being wound on the frame.

Important, use the same type of cotton or fibers that have equal stretch and
breaking strength. Make sure all surface areas of the match frame and axle
bearing exposed to match paste are covered with wax paper. Be sure to place
a plastic drop cloth on the floor to catch any drip.

======================