The Quick and Dirty Squib.

by Alex Palfreman-Brown

18K3957

Intro: The Quick and Dirty Squib.

Make a squib (something that goes bang when you introduce an electric current) out of stuff lying around the home or office.

STEP 1: Stuff You'll Need...

Wire (single core/ paper clips etc)
A broken light bulb
Matches
Pen knife
Long nose pliers
Crocodile clips and wire
Masking tape.

STEP 2: Prepare the Wire.

Remove the filament from the bulb. Careful now. We don't want cut fingers.
It's like a coiled spring. Stretch it out. This will give you loads for future fun as you only need 1 1/2 inches at most.
Twist one end around a piece of wire, bend the wire over and crimp it with the pliers.
Repeat for the other side.

STEP 3: Prepare the Masking Tape.

Grap a piece of tape long enough to house the filament and a decent amount of the wire and crease slightly lengthways to make a valley.
Scrape some match heads off into the valley. Neaten up any stray pieces with your knife.

STEP 4: And Finally...

Lay the wire assembly through the valley of tape.
Roll the whole lot up, being careful not to spill the contents.
Add more tape to the ends, ensuring a tight seal around the wire and then more around the middle.
Tight is the key. If air can get in the this may just fizz instead of bang.

STEP 5: The Finished Quick and Dirty Squib

This won't take long to make. Minutes.
It'll take forever and more to grow your fingers back. Don't be stupid and treat this with respect.
Don't connect this to the croc clips before checking that the other ends aren't attached to the battery.
You'll want to use a lot of wire so you can get distance between you and the squib. Use safety glasses. They don't look as stupid as a white stick.
The size of bang (pop) you get is dependant on how many matches you use. Don't be stupid.
I don't mean to sound like a grown up but I don't recommend you do this but if you do and you hurt yourself, don't cry to me.

Moan moan moan.
Can be used with my Quick and Dirty tripwires but please use caution.

57 Comments

JamesRPatrick 16 years ago

"Don't be stupid and treat this with respect."- Makes it seem like giving respect is stupid. Might want to edit that.

BenNkanta 6 weeks ago

how will you use a nitric acid with this?

Alex Palfreman-Brown 16 years ago

Nah, it's fine as it is. If people don't get the idea, then the gene pool won't be suffering. Thanks all the same.

themasterpyro 16 years ago

AWNSER ASAP!!!!CAN YOU USE EXTRA FINE (VARNISHING) STEEL WOOL????

recyclebin 16 years ago

Any steel wool will work, as long as there is a high enough amount of voltage being sent through (9v works fine).

JamesRPatrick 16 years ago

I personally don't see why not. Most grades of steel wool "burn" to a 9v battery.

jeffconnelly 16 years ago

then do you think the winding wire stuff inside a small motor would be ok? it's about half the size of my steel wool, and I have a couple hundred meters of it. If it works...bye bye kitty...

JamesRPatrick 16 years ago

I'm not completely sure, but I think the combination of thin wire and low conductivity makes steel wool burn. If it's inside a motor, it's probably copper, which conducts electricity much better than steel, so the resistance in the wire may not be great enough to heat it up. But if you don't care about the motor, you can try it; steel wool is pretty cheap and even cheaper when stolen from your neighbor's garage.

jeffconnelly 16 years ago

Yeah, really.

themasterpyro 16 years ago

i just tried and failed, think i have to use a thicker wire? and do you know where i can get some nitric acid?

JamesRPatrick 16 years ago

I say thinner. Make sure it's STEEL wool. Not just any metal wool won't work.

themasterpyro 16 years ago

oh right its asbestos, of course its steel wool as far as i know they dont make anything else

JamesRPatrick 16 years ago

They have other metal abrasive wools out there.

themasterpyro 16 years ago

ah i see. sry bout being impatient and sarcastic in previous post.