On Dec 7, 3:36 am, "Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote:
"nick hull" wrote in message

.. .

In article ,
Don Foreman wrote:

A McGiver solution might be to rig a firing pin setup that uses small
pistol primers. At about 2.5 cents per pop, the cost would be
considerably less than that of the oxygen going down the hole. A bit
of dirt might screw up a spark gap, while primer ignition would tend
to be self-cleaning.

Another solution would be a rocket igniter, easily made by putting a
thin wire over a match head. The current heats the match head to
ignition and the flare up lights the gas (or rocket engine). They are
available commercially in hobby stores.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

As a kid, I'd use a single strand of copper wire and a low voltage high
amperage source ( I used to use an old tube type power supply from a radio,
but a 6 or 12 volt battery (think auto or garden tractor) would serve very
well). I'd pluck the single strand from something like appliance cord, then
hook it to heavier wire. No need for anything more, although a match head
would certainly provide insurance of ignition.

The single strand will glow red and burn in half, much like a fuse. I used
to fire home made cannon that way, using home made black powder. Worked
every time.

Harold

I did this with a 110V feed (and 3 strands) to give an absolute
guaranteed ignition to my 30-gal trashbag acetylene bombs.

Blobs of molten copper shooting about tend to get things moving quite
well.

I imagine a tractor or motorcycle battery would have enough current to
do much the same.



Dave