Old Squibs

[displayfireworks1]

I’ll post this under miscellaneous. Perhaps our explosive forums member Arclight can give us some details on this. These “Squibs” are for sale of Facebook Marketplace. Price $10.00 . If the man lived closer I would purchase them for curiously sake.
.
.
6900
.
.
6901
.
.
6902
.
.
6903
.
.
6904

[FinnAmerican]

Lighting a vintage No.1 Rocket Squib:

https://youtu.be/l87Rv4VueaE?feature=shared

[Arclight]

Those were used with blasting powder prioer to dynamite being a thing. They would drill around a 3/4" hole 12-24" deep with hand steels and a sledgehammer, pour coarse chunks of black powder from a can in, and then pack clay, gravel or other stemming around a brass needle. The needle woudl then be pulled out and replaced with one of these squibs to act as a fuse. I can scan a page from a mining book that shows this.

[displayfireworks1]

Those were used with blasting powder prioer to dynamite being a thing. They would drill around a 3/4" hole 12-24" deep with hand steels and a sledgehammer, pour coarse chunks of black powder from a can in, and then pack clay, gravel or other stemming around a brass needle. The needle woudl then be pulled out and replaced with one of these squibs to act as a fuse. I can scan a page from a mining book that shows this.

Interesting, what makes it different from a regular fuse we know today? Also, what is the "Rocket No. 1" reference? Was that a sizing term or some sort? I'm going to guess the video that is posted is not indicative to how it burned. That one in the video may be damaged with moisture

[Arclight]

It is similar to a fuse, but stiff and straight. I suspect the "No. 1" refers to the length. The origin of this product was miners filling a hollow reed or quill with packed powder and using that as a fuse. This sort of thing was in use in coal mines for a lot longer than in mines with hard rock. Black powder does a good job breaking coal without crushing it too much.

[Arclight]

I found it. See page 33 of this book:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/UserFiles/works/pdfs/bul017.pdf
6905
6906