Matchstick Rockets

[gothique_97]

Do not try this without adult supervision

http://www.matchstickrockets.com/

 

[Darian Rachal]

When I was in the 7th or 8th grade('65/'66), in our science book, it showed how to make these. I was facinated by them. In our book it showed them laying on the edge of an over turned glass, with the propellant area off the glass, just a bit.

I wonder if this didn't perhaps spark my interest in rocketry?

 

[wwattles]

You know, I tried making these as a kid, and never could get one of the suckers to actually "launch". I got a lot of burned match heads covered in foil, but none actually moved off the paperclip... might have to try another one sometime...

WW

 

[rstaff3]

This looks A LOT safer than the ones we used to make back when we were kids. Man I'm glad I moved on to Estes back then.

 

[n3tjm]

I actually got them things to fly . Pretty fun... but so easy to burn fingers

 

[rabidsheeep]

OH MY GAWD

the memories we have in ohio of doing thing with those

and when my uncle was a kid he would shave hundreds of packets of matchsticks into a tupperware thing and put in alil gunpowder and make bombs

 

[sandman]

My cousin and I were probably ten or eleven when we discovered match stick rockets.

(I think this was just after matches were invented!)

We experimented with different style of matches and different foil combinations until we found the perfect combination.

The combo probably won't work today 'cause all the stuff is changed, here is what we used:

Ohio Blue Tip kitchen matches (the tiny wooden ones without the white tip...all blue!)

The correct foil is important too...the only one we found to work correctly everytime was the very thin foil used on Kit-Kat bars back in the early 60's

You had to peal the tin foil off of the wax paper backing (carefully) and we actually were able to use the foil more than once.

We did this inside a lean-too shed behind the chucken coop. It had a cement floor.

You should have seen my mother's face when she walked in...a cloud of phosforous smoke, burnt spent "rockets" everywere, Kit Kat wrappers covering the floor, and chocolat all over our faces!

Oh yea...burns all over our clothes 'cause we were at oposite corners of the shed...shooting at each other.

sandman

 

[wwattles]

And somehow, I expect to see a Transmogrifier or a Spaceman Spiff helmet in the corner somewhere...

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by sandman
My cousin and I were probably ten or eleven when we discovered match stick rockets.

(I think this was just after matches were invented!)

Yep, I used to make these things too, when I was ten or eleven...

...I think this was just after fire was invented...

gawd, i'm gettin' old... LOL

 

[edwardw]

I also built these, but then from a friend discovered you can make matchsticks fly better when you put them down a BB gun barrel

 

[Larry]

I forgot about these until I seen this thread. I remember making them way back when.
I showed them to my son. Now I got both of us in trouble with the Mrs. This is her Yeeoooo!!!!

Anyone ever built the 5 cent sugar rocket? A company called Teleflight use to sell a paper on making small rocket motors using the same basic propellant that the October Science Bravo Niner kit uses. They also had a book on how to make larger(up to G) black powder motors. I have the book but never got into making the larger motors. I don't know if Teleflight is still around or not.
Larry

 

[Ryan S.]

I have made these and I perfected them one afternoon. I made them really large I would take matches and shave a bunch of heads off until I had the single match with a bunch of shavings with it

The key was to wrap enough aluminum foil around the top so it woudnt explode but not too much as to make them too heavy. Do it right and I had them going 10-15 yards

 

[wfcook]

Now *this* is resurrecting an old thread, but I thought this video might be of interest:

[video=youtube;M5_4kHZsdyc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5_4kHZsdyc[/video]

 

[Bat-mite]

When I was a teen, we used to take an expired CO2 tube (stainless) from a pellet gun and cut the punctured nozzle off of it. We would get a gross of matchbook matches, and cut the heads off. We would pack as many heads into the CO2 cartridge as would fit, then stick three matches out of the nozzle end as a fuse.

Shove the whole thing into a stainless still 1" pipe, aim it at a tree (or whatever), and light the "fuse."

Homemade bazooka.

 

[dave carver]

Now *this* is resurrecting an old thread, but I thought this video might be of interest:

[video=youtube;M5_4kHZsdyc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5_4kHZsdyc[/video]

I go to forums where necroposting is encouraged. It keeps information on a subject from being spread all over the place and time.

 

[Ravenex]

When I was a teen, we used to take an expired CO2 tube (stainless) from a pellet gun and cut the punctured nozzle off of it. We would get a gross of matchbook matches, and cut the heads off. We would pack as many heads into the CO2 cartridge as would fit, then stick three matches out of the nozzle end as a fuse.

Shove the whole thing into a stainless still 1" pipe, aim it at a tree (or whatever), and light the "fuse."

Homemade bazooka.

My friends dad did this and put a hole in his grandparents garage wall.

 

[TopRamen]

I made matchstick rockets as recently as about 2 months ago.

 

[BobH48]

Yep, I used to make these things too, when I was ten or eleven...

...I think this was just after fire was invented...

gawd, i'm gettin' old... LOL

You were lucky. Fire had been invented when you were a kid.

 

[Bat-mite]

My friends dad did this and put a hole in his grandparents garage wall.

That's what I'm talking about! :wink:

 

[rocketed]

This is a great video for good match head rockets:
[video=youtube;WFyKgmnCF-8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFyKgmnCF-8[/video]

 

[JStarStar]

When I was a teen, we used to take an expired CO2 tube (stainless) from a pellet gun and cut the punctured nozzle off of it. We would get a gross of matchbook matches, and cut the heads off. We would pack as many heads into the CO2 cartridge as would fit, then stick three matches out of the nozzle end as a fuse.

Shove the whole thing into a stainless still 1" pipe, aim it at a tree (or whatever), and light the "fuse."

Homemade bazooka.

And nifty shrapnel wounds when the whole thing blows up in your face. :headbang::headbang:

 

[TopRamen]

When I was doing them a couple months ago, I had one CATO.:w:

 

[foamy]

I did a lot of these in art school. The one below is the most efficient model. They'd get thirty or forty feet on occasion.

I posted this a few years ago and the thread got pulled.

 

[RocketT.Coyote]

The final pages of The Great Paper Airplane Book showed how to make matchstick rockets using safety matches, tin foil, a straight pin, and a bent paperclip. The bent paperclip was the launcher. The pin was used to form the thrust chamber.