Powerful Rocket Igniters

Hello, I'm designing a new rocket and I needed to make some igniters so I went into the garage and tested about a dozen different styles and I settled on this simple, and easy design.

Below you will find all the steps in order to reproduce my product.

Materials

• Paperclips [Amazon]

The best option are the ones without insulation however I did not have any.<br>

• Cotton [Amazon]

Cotton balls are just the same as the pads I used. 

• Heatshrink 2.5mm [Amazon]

I like the clear heat shrink. It allows you to see if you are done packing the cotton.<br>

Tools

• Wire strippers/cutters
• Flat Pliers
• Scissors
• Pointy Tweezers
• Lighter/hot air gun (air will work better as to not light the cotton.)

I started this step by grabbing my pliers, cutters, and paper clip. I used the pliers to straighten the paperclip out, and then I stripped all of the insulation off of the wire.

With the stripped paper clip, I bent it 180 degrees and got the legs as close as I could before they would twist around each other. Then I bent the legs out about 45 degrees. A half centimeter out, I bent the legs inward to get the straight leads. Lastly, I used my wire cutters to even off the legs.

This next step will require the heat shrink, cutters, tweezers, cotton, and the bent paperclip. You will want to start off by placing the heat shrink on the tip of the paper clip and clipping the excess off leaving about 3mm above the paper clip. Next, you will want to tear off a piece of cotton and roll it around to get it tighter, then use the tweezers to push the cotton into the heat shrink until you cannot stuff any more into it. you will want to trim off the excess and repeat from the other side.

Lastly, you will want to take your heat gun/lighter around the heat shrink. I like to run the heat around the cotton to get rid of the stringy bits.

Congratulations you have a finished product.

I used a 12VDC Lead Acid Battery, if you use the same battery you will need some low gauge wire or some silicone insulated wire to prevent spontaneous wire degradation. If you have a way to check for a flame you can break the circuit to stop overheating.

If you find it is hard to ignite a motor you could try to tear some cotton. Put it in a cup and sprinkle some Potassium nitrate( KNO3 ).

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I've included a beaker full of used experimental igniters.