Chemical Time Delay Fuse

To get an understanding of how this is going to work, mix up equal parts by volume Potassium chlorate and granulated sugar. Pour a spoonful of the mixture in a small pile and make a depression in the top with the end of a spoon. Using a medicine dropper, place one drop of concentrated sulfuric acid in the depression and step back.

It will snap and crackle a few times and then burst into vigorous flames. To make the fuse, cut about 2 inches off a plastic drinking straw. Tamp a small piece of cotton in one end. On top of this put about an inch of the clorate/sugar mixture.

Now lightly tamp in about a quarter inch of either glass wool or asbestos fibers. Secure this with the open end up and drop in 3 or 4 drops of sulfuric acid. After a few minutes the acid will soak through the fibers and ignite the mixture.

The time delay can be controled by the amount of fiber used and by varying how tightly it is packed. Don't use cotton for this. The acid will react with cotton and become weakened in the process. By punching a hole in the side of the straw, a piece of blackmatch or other fuse can be inserted and used to set off the device of your choice.

Potassium chlorate was very popular with the radical underground. It can be used to make a wide variety of explosives and incendiaries, some of them extremely dangerous to handle. The radicals lost several people that way. But, don't worry. I am not going to try to protect you from yourself. I have decided to tell all. I will have more to say about Potassium chlorate, but for now, let's look at a couple of interesting electric fuses.