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charges of gunpowder. In order to confine the gases produced on ignition, the gunpowder was confined within each shot hole by inserting a pointed rod known as a "needle" in the gunpowder-charged hole and then packing in soft clay and tamping it down to form a plug. The "needle" was then removed and replaced by a fuse made of straws or quills filled with black powder. To prevent sparking, a copper needle and a non-metallic ramming rod, typically made from
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estimate the delay between ignition of the fuse and the ignition of the main charges. However, early fuses, known as filled "quills", had a tendency to either burn irregularly, "flash off", or break—either by separation or by "pinching" in the shot hole due to the tamping process. They could also be damaged allowing moisture in, which could cause them to
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the invention of the safety fuse. However "this fuse soon replaced the less reliable fuses which were made of straws or quills filled with black powder, thus greatly reducing the hazard of accidental explosions in mining or construction." Word of the reliability of
Bickford's safety fuse spread, and was soon in large demand across world markets.
111:", and the miners would need to wait before returning to the work face to set new fuses. Increasingly, miners in Cornwall in the late 18th and early 19th centuries were becoming badly injured as a result of suspecting that there had been a misfire and returning to the work face just as a smouldering damp quill ignited the gunpowder charges.
195:
Given the unreliability of fuses and means of detonation prior to
Bickford's fuse, this new technology changed the safety and conditions of mining. Due to poor record keeping or lack thereof, it is relatively difficult to determine the exact number of mining accidents and related statistics prior to
159:" with tar to waterproof the product. The outcome was the development of a fuse which when lit "the fire only travels along it slowly, rate of burning ... being about 30 seconds per foot." Bickford had developed a fuse which would burn for a known length of time, depending on the length of the fuse.
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were first used by the
Chinese between the 10th and 12th centuries. After the Chinese had invented gunpowder, they began adapting its explosive properties for use in military technology. By 1044 they were using gunpowder in simple grenades, bombs, and flamethrowers. Gunpowder did not reach Europe
102:
The other major problem concerned the intentional ignition of the gunpowder charges. To provide some protection from the blast and the fumes, a nominated miner ignited the far end of the fuse which was intended to burn at a known rate. The miners, therefore, knowing the length of the fuse, could
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should execute his commission in such a respectful and revered silence as is seemly in such a place where (unless the
Almighty in his Grace keeps a protective hand over the Labour) the least lack of care may not alone cause the loss of life of all present, but may even in a moment transform this
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If a spark was created, the results could be disastrous to the work force, and this was a common occurrence. Miners and mine owners were aware of the dangers of the use of gunpowder in mining, as is evident in their instructions for handling the material. A mill in
England preparing the material
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One of the problems miners faced when introducing gunpowder into their operations was that it was relatively easy to ignite when exposed to sparks, intense heat, or flames. The method used by miners to blast away rock involved drilling several holes across a rock face which would be filled with
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for his device (No. 6159 "Safety Fuze for
Igniting Gunpowder used in Blasting Rocks, Etc") on 6 September 1831. It was originally called "The Patent Safety Rod" but its name was later changed to the "Safety Fuse". It was supplied as a "rope" of about 0.375 to 0.5 inches (9.5 to 12.7 mm)
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which could be ignited in one of two ways. First, by inserting a safety fuse into the blasting cap and igniting the fuse. Second, by attaching an electrical wire onto the blasting cap and producing a current which would travel from the source to the blasting cap.
148:. While observing his friend winding cord together to generate a rope, Bickford believed he could adapt the same method towards developing a fuse. This was done with the help of his son-in-law George Smith and a working miner named Thomas Davey.
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in 1831. Originally it consisted of a "tube" of gunpowder surrounded by a waterproofed varnished jute "rope." It replaced earlier and less reliable methods of igniting gunpowder blasting charges which had caused many injuries and deaths in the
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For three centuries gunpowder was primarily used for military warfare. It was not until 1574 that gunpowder was first introduced to the mining industry, and it took until 1617 before it was first used in a large-scale mining operation—at
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he developed the first practical and reliable means for igniting gunpowder when mining, the "Safety Fuze". After earlier attempts at developing a safer way had failed, Bickford had an insight while visiting his friend who was a
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Bickford's fuse not only dramatically improved the safety conditions of mines around the world, but also contributed to the development of
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yarn (a shiny vegetable fibre), spun in opposite directions, over a small "tube" of gunpowder, the whole of which would then be "
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A Manual of Mining: based on the course of lectures on mining delivered at the school of mines of the state of
Colorado
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instead of burn and introduce a long delay. If the main charge failed to ignite, this was known as a misfire or "
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until the early 13th century, carried over from China by Middle
Eastern traders and merchants along the old
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industry. The safety fuse burns at a rate of typically about 30 seconds per foot (1 second per cm).
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with Thomas Davey, who gained twenty five percent of the profits for the first fourteen years.
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diameter; and was sold at the time for about same price as its predecessor, quills, at three
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A Most
Damnable Invention: Dynamite, Nitrates, and the Making of the Modern World
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into individual cylinders. At the end of each cylinder, Nobel inserted a
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wrote in its instructions, "Whosoever is at Labour within or without the
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Plaque showing facsimile of one of
Bickford's safety fuse advertisements
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Manual of Explosives: a Brief Guide for the Use of Miners and Quarrymen
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Bickford invented a machine which would thread and weave two layers of
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301:(Fourth ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp.
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and a mud-like compound found near his laboratories called
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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
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place as well as its surroundings into a heap of stone."
431:"Contributions to the History of Explosive Agents"
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365:. Toronto: the Ontario Bureau of Mines. p.
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383:. The Department of the Army. 1984. p. 13.
54:Documented evidence suggests that the earliest
476:. Buckinghamshire: CIT Printing Services Ltd.
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175:(6 ft, 1.8 m). Bickford also set up a
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295:Ihlseng, M. C.; Wilson, Eugene B. (1907).
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207:created dynamite in 1867, by moulding
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408:"Nobel Prizes: Guide to Nobel Prizes"
381:Technical Manual: Military Explosives
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325:. New York: St. Martins. p. 77.
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508:. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.
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162:Bickford obtained a British
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359:Kalb, Courtenay De (1900).
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321:Brown, Stephen R. (2005).
131:moved to the heart of the
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410:. Encyclopædia Britannica
191:A burning waterproof fuse
183:Impact of the safety fuse
127:In 1831 English merchant
472:Crocker, Glenys (2002).
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81:Sensitivity (explosives)
75:Sensitivity of gunpowder
506:Mining in World History
133:Cornish mining district
533:Pyrotechnic initiators
504:Lynch, Martin (2002).
474:The Gunpowder Industry
447:10.1098/rstl.1869.0017
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79:Further information:
481:Earl, Bryan (1978).
230:Plastic igniter cord
31:by English inventor
429:Abel, F.A. (1869).
523:English inventions
487:Trevithick Society
483:Cornish Explosives
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217:blasting cap
205:Alfred Nobel
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16:Type of fuse
414:10 February
256:, p. 3
177:partnership
141:Tuckingmill
139:; where at
71:in France.
21:safety fuse
528:Explosives
517:Categories
278:Lynch 2002
266:Lynch 2002
236:References
213:kieselguhr
455:111132669
347:Earl 1978
157:varnished
146:ropemaker
109:hang fire
61:Silk Road
50:Gunpowder
224:See also
201:dynamite
137:Camborne
105:smoulder
29:patented
466:Sources
88:hickory
69:Thillot
44:History
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441:: 10.
173:fathom
164:Patent
38:mining
451:S2CID
305:–676.
241:Notes
169:pence
135:near
56:fuses
491:ISBN
416:2011
171:per
153:jute
25:fuse
19:The
443:doi
439:159
303:674
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