Thermalite Equivalent Fuse

The word "thermalite" has come to be widely used in the pyrotechnics community as a
generic term referring to a specific kind of fuse or ignitercord. The commercial version
burns very hot and is therefore useful for initiating hard to ignite compositions. One very
common usage is as an igniter in amateur composite rocket motors. The fuse comes
with external wrappings of nichrome wire which can be used to perform electrical
ignition. Sources for thermalite are increasingly hard to come by and purchasing it by
mail will usually require permits and licenses. Thus, the need for producing a suitable
home-made equivalent has never been greater. The method presented here represents
my own adaptation of the method described in a publication entitled "Homemade
Imitation Thermalite Ignitercord" by Firefox Enterprises, Inc. This project illustrates the
production of only one of the many varieties proposed in the Firefox publication and
does not begin to offer the full wealth of information contained therein. Various
combinations of binders and chemicals can be used to produce burn rates ranging from
5 seconds per inch to slightly more than one second per inch. Since my most common
use of thermalite is for cross-matching time fuse, I chose to illustrate the fastest burning
and easiest to ignite variety.

WARNING!! This project uses chlorates and finely powdered magnesium. The dry
composition is very sensitive and must be handled with proper care. This procedure
should only be attempted by those whose knowledge and experience will minimize the
risks of handling these materials.

There are a few pieces of minor tooling that enhance the

process of making thermalite, but they are very simple to
make. First, a pedestal to hold the batter cup is nice
because it frees up the hand that normally would have to
hold it. This one can be clamped to the edge of a work
bench so that the batter cup is held out over the floor. It is
made of pieces of 1 x 4, one of which has a round hole in
it for the cup.
Here, I have made a drying rack by using hot glue to
fasten 18 clothes pins to another piece of 1 x 4. This is
hung from the ceiling of my shop so that fairly long
lengths of fuse may be suspended from it if desired.

A binder for the fuse composition is made by mixing the

following: (parts by weight)

vinyl resin................................. 47 parts

nitrocellulose lacquer(10%)....... 25 parts
dibutyl phthalate(plasticizer)..... 10 parts
acetone.................................... 18 parts

The vinyl resin and plasticizer are available from Firefox.

Thirteen bucks will buy enough of both to make more
fuse than most people will use in a lifetime. You can mix
up a lot of the binder at once and store it in a jar for
whenever it's needed.

Now the dry composition is prepared. This is where a

good deal of caution and proper handling becomes
imperative. The list of chemical ingredients is:

potassium perchlorate................. 37 parts

potassium chlorate...................... 30 parts
charcoal, air float........................ 10 parts
magnesium, 200-325 mesh........ 15 parts
red iron oxide, ferric..................... 5 parts
aluminum, -325 mesh, flake.......... 3 parts
sodium bicarbonate(additional)..... 1 part

The magnesium should have been treated with

potassium dichromate or coated with linseed oil prior to
using it in this composition. This will make it less likely to
react with any water present in the acetone. Another
alternative is to use molecular sieves to dry your acetone.
The potassium perchlorate, potassium chlorate and iron
oxide are screened together first. Make sure a screen
which has never been used with sulfur is chosen for the
screening. In a separate mixing cup, the remainder of the
dry ingredients are weighed and stirred together. Finally,
the two compounds are mixed together using a gentle
method called the diaper method, shown in this picture.
The two piles are placed on a large piece of paper, such
as newspaper, and mixed by picking up alternating
corners to gently roll the powders over each other until
thoroughly mixed.
Prior to mixing the binder with the dry powder, the core
wires should be prepared. For a typical batch, I cut 18
lengths of 26 gauge copper wire to a length of 19 inches.
The wire is then "roughed" by pulling it through my
pinched fingertips which are holding a piece of folded
sandpaper. This gives the wire surface enough texture to
allow the batter to stick to it. Now, 25 grams of dry mix
and 17 grams of binder are placed in a 5 ounce paper
cup and stirred to make a batter about as thick a pancake
batter. The cup is placed in the "batter pedestal" and a
small hole is poked in the bottom. The batter should be
thick enough that none will drip out of this hole. This "first
dip" is accomplished by pushing the wire up through the
hole until about an inch of it protrudes from the top
surface of the batter. A tissue is used to clean the batter
from the top 1/2 inch of the wire. Then the wire is
grabbed from the top and slowly pulled the remainder of
the way through the batter. After the first dip, the batter
diameter will be quite small at about 1/16 of an inch. The
wire is then clipped into the drying rack and the
procedure is repeated for the remainder of the wires.
They will be ready for the second dip in a few hours.

The second dip is identical to the first, except that the

hole in the batter cup may need to be widened slightly to
allow the thickened first dip wires to go through. The
batter can be slightly thicker for the second dip so that
the coating will be thicker also. Pulling speed will also
affect the finished thickness somewhat. Very slow pull
speed allows some of the batter to drain off, yielding a
thinner coating. Both of these factors can be varied to
adjust the final diameter between the range of 1/8 inch to
3/16 inches. It may be necessary to add a few drops of
acetone and stir the batter occasionally because this
solvent evaporates so quickly. Again, the dipped wires
are clipped to the drying rack until they are completely
dry. This will take about 6 to 8 hours.

When completely dry, I cut the finished igniter cord into 6

inch lengths so they can be easily stored. The finished
product is firm, but flexible. It is very durable because the
composition will not flake off easily when the cord is bent.
This stuff is quite water proof and burns with a pleasing
and loud hiss. I have found a plethora of uses for this
marvelous improvisation for thermalite. Among them are:

It can be used as a substitute for visco in most

cases, although the slower speed variety is better
 for this purpose. At 3 cents a foot for materials
cost, it's less expensive, too.
It is a very good replacement for black match
when used for cross-matching.
I use a small length of it in the nozzle of fountains
when I want to ignite many at once with sticky
match. The same concept is used to ignite
girandola drivers and most other forms of black
powder rockets.
Whenever I use sticky match to replace quick
match for mine and shell leaders, I put a piece of
the thermalite at the end of the match to assure
ignition of the lift powder.
I haven't tried this yet, but I think there is a good
possibility that short lengths of this cord could be
used to make go-getter inserts in a shell. A few
wraps of masking tape with a little bit of one end
left exposed, would create very energetic little
rockets. Even unwrapped lengths will fly all over
when lit if they are not attached to something.

I'll close this project page with a few comments about the Firefox booklet. If you are seriously contemplating
this project, I highly recommend that you purchase the booklet. It contains two different dry formulations and
two binder solutions. It will tell you how to make this thermalite equivalent in a variety of ways to achieve a
wide range of burning speeds. I have not included all this information in my project description because
Firefox deserves to benefit from their development efforts and publication of this material.

Comments and suggestions from visitor feedback:

From: Terry McCreary (terry.mccreary@murraystate.edu)

To: dwilliams@wecreate4u.net

Just visited your web page. Re: The preparation of imitation thermalite: I've always preferred to
prepare the liquid mix, then add the metal(s) and mix til wetted, then other solids, and finally the
KClO4 and KClO3s. In this fashion, much of the solid-to-solid friction encountered when mixing
solids is avoided; the liquid mixture appears to act as a phlegmatizing agent (love that word!)

If you have any questions or comments, then.... E-mail me!

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