cheap, easy nichrome wire igniters

the simple way to make nichrome wire ignitors (like the ones that come with model rocket engines) for setting off fireworks and stuff.
can be used with model rocket launchers, or cool people will make tetranitrates' awesome detonator

(C:\Documents and Settings\Matthew\My Documents\My Pictures\2007-08-25)

and use that.

I use it to blow up fruit. (Mainly rock-hard pears from my neighbors tree) You are responsible if you use it on something else. like relatives.

Step 1 Get your materials

to make these, you will need:

low-resistance material. (it means wire, dumbbell) I used rosin-core solder. because it was in sight and didn't move faster than me.

masking tape. (any kind of tape will work, but masking is easy to rip with your fingers)

nichrome wire. Can be bought in 10-foot rolls at unitednuclear.com, but I recommend looking for a spool of it on the internet (I used guage 38)

wire cutters and needlenose pliers help

Comments

[Aron313]

Aw man i looked at all the empty boxes!!!!!

[diy_bloke]

That is not as stupid as it may look, for some reason instructables sometimes places the boxes wrong. The stupid thing actually is someone taking time to add these boxes

[Aron313]

Haha true!

[diy_bloke]

Florist use thin wire to make bouquets that stick out these green foam blocks. That works great too

[whiskymonster]

i always used a single strand of copper wire, and wrap it round a match head.
a little bit of clingfilm, and dip in candlewax and they work underwater too!

[wrdplay]

toasters are the bomb for nichrome wire. can't wait till fourth of july. mad explosions

[blackman05]

can i use normal wires?i need it to at least catch flames for my bom to work

[that one guy]

Normal wires are designed to not heat up when current is run through- they have little resistance. Any wire will heat up when current is run through it, but the less resistance the wires have, the less heat. If you had a car battery or something the wires would probably heat up enough.

[Derin]

i slapped myself about 20 times during this ible

[Derin]

because I have the habit of looking at every single note

[jackh94]

 I saw the empty boxes and thought no! don't look at it! but I was too tempted...

[danm95]

I looked at the same box TWICE because the picture is there twice.

[Gamer917]

me 2

[Arbitror]

Same Prob...

[lunchboxslayer27]

lol me 2

[imkwl12345]

yer... my face is getting kinda sore too lol

[beazll09]

hey would you be able to use a nickel wound guitar string with a .009 gauge? for instance because I live in Australia and I am not able to get nichrome wire thanks

[Archive555]

I live in australia, and I can tell you, Nichrome wire is EVERYWHERE! Go to garage sales, and look for toasters and hairdryers. They contain LOTS of it. Also, Jaycar in australia stocks it, it's about $3AUD for a roll.

[killa696]

I got some from jaycar, but it's better to just get an old toaster if possible, because it was 4.50 for a small roll where i got it.

[coreyt]

you can just buy the rocket ignitors from the hobbyman in dandenong look on there website for an adress

[pyroten]

oh yea, i recently found out thru wondering thru dse, they have it as resistance wire.

[lasermaster3531]

.009 gauge is bad. the bigger the number thinner the wire.try thirty.

[lasermaster3531]

try picture hanging wire. it looks like a tiny cable. pull the wires apart so you have a single wire. the wires are steel and they have a nickel or zinc coating. use something like a drill battery to ignite it. you can get 10 ft or more in i package for very little money. it's not commonly known that it works like this, so you don't need to be OLD!

[pyroten]

i'm in australia.. but i got it from the science storeroom.

[cowscankill]

Buy some picture hanging wire. It is like twisted thin wires used to ... hang pictures. When you separate the thin wires, a simple 9v battery will make it glow hot red, and I've used it to burn fuses on my fireworks.

[goeon]

if you need nichrome wire take appart an old toaster

[that one guy]

you're gonna have to try that one out yourself. it may work, but you may want to try higher current/voltage if it doesn't work at first.

[Colonel88]

Can I just use some simple steel wool? Nichrome Wire is too expensive lol. I has it but it is for rocket ignitors...

[andreasawsome]

where do i get nichrome?as a 13 year old would it b hard for me to get witout an adult?

[superhubbardman]

I think you can get it out of Hairdryers

[lasermaster3531]

try picture hanging wire. it looks like a tiny cable. pull the wires apart so you have a single wire. the wires are steel and they have a nickel or zinc coating. use something like a drill battery to ignite it. you can get 10 ft or more in i package for very little money. it's not commonly known that it works like this, so you don't need to be OLD!

[The Red Button]

i tink anyone can get nichrome...go to radioshack or take apart some lightbulbs....or sumtin

[jarheadwithm16]

The filaments in lightbulbs are not nichrome they are tungsten.

[goeon]

break a working lightbulb and use the filiment

[jeymeowmix]

my dads convinced that if we buy online the fbi will come :P

[goeon]

break a working lightbulb and use the filiment

[lasermaster3531]

that's not very economical. it's tungsten and it's very fragile.

[goeon]

yeah

[jeffconnelly]

I'm 13, and I'm gonna get my mom to get some on ebay. it's like 3 bucks for a 30-ft. spool of 33-guage.(too many threes...)

[Mattrox]

you can get it out of hair dryers i think toaster and kettles too