Early sulphur matches

[tombear]

before I have a go at researching, getting the materials together and then probably posioning or otherwise harming myself does any one know of a source or has made themselves sulphur matches?

I don't mean the strike anywhere sort but the pine spills with just sulphur on the ends (coated? impregnated?) used to transfer flame from the tinder box to whatever needs lighting?

I've poked around various renactor suppliers site but not found any to buy.

Any advice folks?

Thanks

Tom

 

[Draven]

http://www.nwta.com/couriers/6-96/matches.html

Found that site on google.... author states that they were made by dipping a wood splint into wax, and then sulphur, but also states that they've not gotten them to work right... maybe you could find a contact email address on that site for more info?

Hope this helps a bit!
Pete

 

[Wayland]

Easy to make.

Split a pine spill, shave the ends to points and dip in molten sulphur.

To ignite touch to a glowing ember.

 

[Mike Ameling]

I have not heard of any sites/companies selling them. Probably because of that sulfur - flammable/hazardous.

The tricky part about making them yourself is not getting TOO much sulfur on the end of your wood stick/splinter. Too much or too thick and it will be hard to get it lit from your burning coal/ember. But you still need enough for the burning ember to "flare" that sulfur up and get the stick burning.

The main purpose was to convert that burning/glowing ember/coal into an open flame - to then use it to light a candle, pipe, or even get tinder burning. And they date all the way back to Roman times.

So no help on a vendor for them.

But you might also want to do some searching for Spills and Spill Planes. These wood planes were designed to create specific wood shavings. The ... shavings .... were the "end product". One type made long thin slivers, the more common version worked like a regular rabbit plane, but the shavings came out as a long tightly twisted spiral shaving.

You took a "spill", and lit the end in your fire. It would then burn with flame for an amazingly long time - with care and rotating it as needed. I picked up an original Spill Plane, and have played with the Spills. They are great for lighting a candle or your pipe. Or even for lighting your way to walk from one room/building to another.

The historic "toys" we play with.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[tombear]

Thanks folks!
thats just the sort of info' I was looking for :-{D)

Now to find a source of small amounts of sulphur in the UK. According to what I found on the net the stuff melts at 116 C so it won't be hard to do although I think it's a outside job with a stiff wind at my back and a S10 strapped to my face! I better look into the H & S before I start making them!

Has anyone seen any originols in museums/books/on the net as I'd like to make them as historically accurate as I can, dimension wise?


On a similar note since for the obvious reasons I've had difficulty getting a small quantity of potassium nitrate (if anyone knows of a legal source in the uk...?) I think I'll be getting my lads to pee in a bucket out back and be evaporating it off during the summer to make some. All I want is to supe' up my char cloth (I need all the help I can get!!).

Thanks again

Tom

 

[Wayland]

I bought a "sulphur candle" from a garden centre.

It was beads of sulphur with a wick in a tin used for fumigating greenhouses.

That might also serve as a good warning to melt sulphur in a well ventilated place, it's particularly nasty if you suffer from asthma or the like.

Might try a sausage making supplier for Pot. Nitrate.

 

[Gwhtbushcraft]

Here is a source for potassium nitrate (saltpetre),
http://www.biltongbox.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=11

There is also a tuturial on making self igniting matches but it sounds like you have to toy with some quite dangourous chemicals to get them to work,
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2006-01/making-perfect-match

George

 

[novembeRain]

potassium nitrate, kn03, potash whatever you want to call it is available from garden centres (including online) but as a substitute use potassium (or sodium) chlorate - look for "oxygenating tablets" for aquariums (careful, don't store it in a metal tin as it's not all that stable). Mix it anything above about 50/50 (more oxidiser) with sugar and it burns violently (you can make rocket fuel for fireworks this way) and should easily turn an ember into flame.

Use the potassium nitrate if possible though as it's safer.

Gwht, I paid that for a kg of potassium nitrate from an online garden centre - search for chempack. Was a while ago now though.

 

[blodyntatws]

Don't really know if this is what you are looking for but Baldwins herbs www.baldwins.co.uk sell sulphur powder. Its 8.99 for 500g. I use it in some of the loose incenses that I make.
Loz

 

[Mike Ameling]

Has anyone seen any originols in museums/books/on the net as I'd like to make them as historically accurate as I can, dimension wise?

Tom

I have the book THE BRYANT AND MAY MUSEUM OF FIRE-MAKING APPLIANCES, Catalog of the Exhibits from 1926. It shows a picture of 5 or 6 bundles, but describes more in their collection. Most made from strips of pine pointed at both ends, and both ends dipped in sulfur. But it also lists ones made from straw, reed, cotton thread, and even brown paper. Lengths varied a lot, but were generally 5 to 8 inches long. But some were single ended and only 3 to 5 inches long. The amount of sulfur shown in the B/W photos looks pretty thin/light.

Bryant and May were the first major company to make/market friction matches in Britain - located in London. I do not know if their museum still exists. Bryant & May LTD., BOW

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. If you are searching for this old book, be careful. There is a supplement printed in 1929, but it has far less additional info/pics in it. Look for the original 1926 edition. I picked up my copy through one of the out-of-print book web sites like abebooks.com, alibris.com, bookfinder.com

 

[tombear]

It would seam that they use potassium nitrate in the keeping of tropical fish and there happens to be a huge fish tank shop in Waterfoot where I live! I'll pop in tomorrow to see if they have it before I get it on the interweb.

I'll try the garden centre for the sulphur.

Cheers folks!

Tom

PS the Bryant and May collection is at the Science Museum now

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/abo...tions_snapshot/bryant_and_may_collection.aspx

 

[KIMBOKO]

I just dip cocktail sticks into molten sulphur.

 

[Mikey P]

In terms of health and safety, the molten sulphur itself is dangerous if you get it on your skin (obviously) but the fumes will be sulphur dioxide. This will dissolve in the water in your nose, mouth and lungs to form sulphurous acid, which is not that strong but will still sting.

Well ventilated room and an S10 may be the way forward!

 

[bikething]

In terms of health and safety, the molten sulphur itself is dangerous if you get it on your skin (obviously) but the fumes will be sulphur dioxide. This will dissolve in the water in your nose, mouth and lungs to form sulphurous acid, which is not that strong but will still sting.

they didn't tell us that at school (20-odd years ago mind )

If I remember correctly, sulphur is a bit odd, in that if you heat it, it melts to a yellowy liquid... then if you keep heating it it thickens up to a browny-black tar like consistancy... and if you heat it further it turns back to a darker yellow liquid again...

 

[tombear]

It would seem the keepers of tropical fish do not rise early as I bounced off their door on Saturday at 9.45. I'll try again on Monday. I did, in a fit of lazyness pick up some pine splints from the tobbaconist that are just the job, I'll trim the ends into points as suggested. (by the by the one in the centre of Manchester is a great source of wooden cigar boxes as they usually have a pile of the empties in the corner for a quid a pop. Having contained several hundred quids worth of Havanas finest they are oftern really well made, but I digress).

If I can find a suitable thermometre (I did have a old catering one somewhere) I will make note of the best tempreture for dipping the splints.

Now to root out some ugly linen napkins we got as a wedding present and make some decent char cloth.

Any advice on impregnatong the finished article with the KN03? , strenght of solution and such?

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

In the end I had to resort to the interweb and the wifes paypal account.

http://www.gardenchemicals.co.uk

supply both KN03 and sulpur powder in the sort of small (about 4 oz / 100grm ) packs I wanted and the postage wasn't bad either.

By the time they arrive hopefull the weather will be good enough for a bit of outdoors chemistry.

ATB

Tom

 

[Mike Ameling]

Now to root out some ugly linen napkins we got as a wedding present and make some decent char cloth.

Any advice on impregnatong the finished article with the KN03? , strenght of solution and such?

ATB

Tom

Charcloth does not need to be dipped in potassium nitrate. It will catch a spark without that. But if you dip/soak cotton/linen cloth or cord in potassium nitrate, you will be making "slowmatch" - what would have been used in a matchlock gun. You strike a spark on the end of your Slowmatch, and then it continues to slowly smolder without just going out. In use, you blew the ash away from the end, and the pulled the trigger to lower that glowing/burning end into a small amount of black powder in the pan on the outside of your matchlock gun. That touched off that powder, and the "flame" then blew through a small hole in the side of the gun barrel, and then it ignited the powder inside the barrel to shoot the gun.

But if you want to make amadou, then you do need to soak it in potassium nitrate. You cut out that thin/fluffy layer from a shelf or hoof fungus (between the hard outside layer and the Gills inside). Then pound that layer a bit to "fluff" it up some more, and then soak in your water and potassium nitrate solution. After it has soaked a while and become thoroughly saturated, pull it out to drip and dry out. The stronger the potassium nitrate solution, the faster it will burn when it catches a spark. But once your new "amadou" is made, it will catch that spark fairly fast, and then be pretty hard to put back out. It will spark and fizzle much like a firecracker fuse, but not burn so fast.

How much? When your water will no longer absorb any more potassium nitrate. You will start to see undissolved crystals in the bottom. And if you let the water evaporate out of any left over solution, you will be back to having just potassium nitrate (possibly with a little calcium in it from hard water).

If you do a search for "slowmatch" or for "matchlock", you should find several web sites telling you how to make that slowmatch. How much potassium nitrate you get into it will affect how fast it burns - either slow smolder or fast like a firecracker fuse.

Hope this helps. Be careful with your playing.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. Thanks for the info on that Byant and May collection. I figured it still existed somewhere.

 

[tombear]

As the kids were off at scout camp, it was a lovely day with a stiff breeze and the alternative was catching up on the house work I finally got to make my replica sulphur matches.

I proffed a test tube and the holder from the eldests chemistry set and used my pocket rocket as a heat source. There was plenty of ventilation, with the wind blowing any smell away. The sulphur powder melted very easily. I experimented a bit and the closest results to originals I have seen came from dipping quickly twice, alowing a few seconds to cool inbetween , the sulphur was just short of bubbling.

I made two variations on the splints, double ended ones as were described to me and some square section single ended ones which aproximate some originals we found in a museum in Lancaster, I'd love a copy of the match box they came in!

When I have a camera man handy I will ignite them from my slowmatch and see how well they work.

I'm toying with making some with splints from a piece of Maya wood I have left over.

ATB

Tom

 

[AJB]

Brilliant

 

[tombear]

Herself agreed to help with testing the sulphur matches so heres the pics.

I cheated and lit the slowmatch with a Bic rather than show myself up in front of the family with my crap flint and steel technique as I just wanted to see how well the sulphur matches lit from smouldering linen rather than replicate the whole pre 1850s firelighting process.

Pressed against the ember it took a about 4 seconds for the sulphur to catch, blowing on the second attempt speeded this up slightly.

Until the sulphur ran out it was quite difficult to blow the match out, more so than a normal strike anywhere match.

We tested them inside and there was quite a stench of sulphur (which made me popular) but that was to be expected. They do the job and are easy to make. Would I take them out to use?, well not unless I was period treking or demonstrating how things used to be done.

ATB

Tom