slow match recipe

[willie wobble]

Might ye have the recipe for slow match ,cotton rope soaked in super saturated salt peter , i had it and now that i need it i've lost it and can't find it in the search ,

[blackjohn]

Hold on... I know I've seen it somewhere...

http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/lunte.html

[blackjohn]

ps - I love this guy's site. He did some incredible experiments to powder made from a variety of charcoals and found some to make better powder than others. Pretty cool.

[Captain Jim]

I use potassium nitrate instead of lead acetate. Both are period correct and potassium nitrate (Saltpeter; niter; Nitric acid, potassium salt, KNO3, dissolved at the rate of 36 gm/l00 ml water ) is less toxic, for those who light their pipes with their slow match. Those of you who smoke manufactured cigarettes already use KNO3 as it is the additive that keeps cigarettes burning. KNO3 can be obtained from fireworks suppliers or as Spectracide Stump Remover at Home Depot or Wally World.

[Capt Thighbiter]

Recipe? We been using black powder ( FFFF GOEX) disolved in a bucket of water and letting the rope sit overnight. Dry it out and seems to work fine, doesnt go out and the burn rate is pretty good, not great.

Light my pipe with it? Novel idea!

[Captain Jim]

Recipe? We been using black powder ( FFFF GOEX) disolved in a bucket of water and letting the rope sit overnight. Dry it out and seems to work fine, doesnt go out and the burn rate is pretty good, not great.

Light my pipe with it? Novel idea!

Of course you know that one of the ingredients of BP is KNO3, saltpetre.

[Capt Thighbiter]

Recipe? We been using black powder ( FFFF GOEX) disolved in a bucket of water and letting the rope sit overnight. Dry it out and seems to work fine, doesnt go out and the burn rate is pretty good, not great.

Light my pipe with it? Novel idea!

Of course you know that one of the ingredients of BP is KNO3, saltpetre.

I know saltpeter is a part of BP, I dinna know the chemical symbol for it was KNO3.

This learnin' stuff hurts my intelects! I suppose it makes a difference how much BP one disolves in the water, as to how well it works as slow match. We used a quarter of a can of Goex to a half a pail of water, made 12 feet and it lasted us pretty much the whole year, and we fired one in three weekends. I wound up with about 4" left at the close of our last festival of the year.

I burnt the last 4" the other day, just to fill the house with that lovely smell! A course, my wife and dog hate it, but 'waste not...'

[Captain Jim]

Yeah, I light mine off in the house "just for practice" and I catch all kinds of hell.

[sutlerjon]

Slowmatch, The period recipe is from 1628, Rope boiled in "ashe-lye and pouder" I find that you can get as good results if you boil the hemp rope (use the real stuff only) boiled in vinegar and water for an hour or so, add powder(black powder only). I use a quarter pound of powder and 2 gallons liquid, and do up a100 feet of match. After the powder is dissolved put in the p[owder and let it cool. Once its cool, take out a hang dry. (not in the oven if you value your marriage) You can use any grade, even old stuff you aren't to sure of for shooting. Salt petre is expensive unless you buy a bag of farmer grade. Black powder is 75% nitre anyway and at $12 a pound is much cheaper than sublimed potassium nitrate. Beside you can use the leftover powder. If you don't have gunpowder, you don't need match.

Fred at Jamestown

I get a lot of forwarded e-mails and this was just one of the recipes, as I come across more I'll post them

Jim

[Dutchman]

for those who don't know "fred at yorktown"...... make the trip and visit him. call ahead to find out when he will be in the fort. a planned half hour "hey i have a question- ok let me show you" turned into a five hour barrel of laughs.

on to slowmatch..... so the soaking in powder is safe compared to the potasium nitrate? i know its based on the ammount of powder, but what is the burn rate per foot?