How to Make Hot Glue Matches for Emergency Repairs

How to Make Hot Glue Matches for Emergency Repairs

Hot Glue Matches
Hot Glue Matches Cooling on Workbench
DIY Hot Glue Matches
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Have you ever needed to fix something but did not have a hot glue gun handy?

Today’s hot glue matches project shows how to combine strike anywhere matches with hot glue so you always have the ability to use hot glue no matter where you are.

It is not hard, and all you really need is some matches and a hot glue gun.

I store mine in an old pill bottle and keep them in the glove box of my truck.

Mine are not as pretty as the video from Facebook where I got the idea, but then again I made several of these in just a few minutes.

The big thing I learned was to cool them standing upright do the glue flowed where I wanted it rather than away from the match head.

I think that if I took more time and continued to swirl the match in my hands as the hot glue match cooled, then the resulting bead would be much more even.   However, even if this was not a pretty project it works and is simple enough to add in a small repair kit for emergency repairs on the go.

How to Extract Nitrocellulose from Ping Pong Balls

How to Extract Nitrocellulose from Ping Pong Balls

 

How to Extract Nitrocellulose from Ping Pong Balls
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Ping pong balls are made of nitrocellulose, I am sure that many would like to create non-nitro based balls, but industry has never been able to create ping ping balls with the same bounce as the nitrocellulose based balls.

Now, while extracting nitrocellulose from ping pong balls is easy, the nitrocellulose is adulterated with camphor.  This turns the explosive potential of the balls down while making them more plastic.

Now, while I like to extract the nitrocellulose to make nitrocellulose lacquer for making e-matches (electric initiators) for my rockets, woodworkers have long used nitrocellulose lacquer for fine furniture and musical instruments.

How to Make Nitrocellulose Lacquer:

  • Ping pong balls, acetone, scissors, a wooden stir stick, and a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
  • Simply cut up 4 or 5 balls, and cover them with twice as much acetone as you need to cover the balls.
  • Let sit overnight.

Additionally, I like to add in some double based (smokeless) gunpowder that I save from my mistakes while reloading.  It gives me a hotter flame for igniting my model rockets.  Additionally, it allows me to waste less powder when reloading.

So now you know how to extract nitrocellulose from Ping Pong Balls.  Its easier than editing actually, I just realized that for some time this said nitroglycerine.  I guess that was a Freudian slip, because it would be really neat to have a easy way to get nitroglycerin, but it would probably be illegal, and I would not want to break the law.