<p> Jumping Cracker Construction</p><p>Before you start – think safety, safety, safety! Ensure that you are wearing all relevant protective equipment (glasses, gloves etc). Consider other peoples safety – do not endanger anyone else. Ensure that you are familiar with everything that you are working with.</p><p>1. Start by putting on safety glasses – I always put on safety glasses when doing anything pyro related – even rolling paper pipes. It’s just a good habit to get into. 2. Next - rolling the cracker pipe. This is much the same as quick match pipe. I use brown packing paper, generally 5 inches wide & about 18 inches long, rolled on a 4mm brass rod. Dry roll, with brush of PVA glue along the top edge to stick it down. 3.</p><p>Fold one end over about half an inch & glue down. Set aside to dry.</p><p>You will end up with a pipe like this.</p><p>4. Once dry, flatten the pipe starting from the sealed end, but leave about an inch at the open end “un- flattened”. This leaves a cup into which the B.P. is poured. I like to then open up the flattened pipe slightly, by inserting a 2mm brass rod down the full length of the pipe (this aids the flow of the B.P. when filling it.</p><p>5. Next, pour in fine grain B.P. (fffg) using a small funnel. Tap the pipe to ensure that the B.P. forms a continuous trail to the bottom of the pipe.</p><p>6. Now the pipe & B.P. must be crushed. This is to reduce the B.P. to half grain & half powder (if it was all grain it would blow itself out, all powder it would not be quick enough to burst the pipe). Ideally a small slip roll could be used to crush the tube between its rollers, but I hammer the pipe flat, trying to ensure that I do not miss any section of the pipe. I wear nomex gloves for this.</p><p>7. The flattened pipe must now be dampened to make it flexible enough to be bent back & forth into its zig zag shape, without splitting. Lay the pipe on a damp cloth or towel. Spritz the pipe with a spray of water to further dampen it, then wrap it in the damp cloth. Leave for at least 30 mins to get thoroughly damp & flexible.</p><p>8. Now to bend the pipe into the zig zag shape using the special “jig”. The jig is a piece of wood with a slot cut out of it. The thickness of wood determines how wide the resulting cracker will be.</p><p>The cracker works by burning very quickly in the straight sections (acting like quick match) & bursting the pipe. When it gets to the bends, the powder is packed much tighter & so burns slower into the next straight section. This results in the BANG, pause BANG etc. Generally the longer the straight section the louder the bang – BUT, the longer the straight section, the more prone they are to blowing themselves out! I generally use a jig about ½ inch wide. Take the pipe & place the closed end into the special jig, with the open end towards you. </p><p>Now place the first wire or thin dowel on top of the pipe & bend the pipe back over it & back through the jig, away from you.</p><p>Place another dowel on top of the pipe & bend it over the top of it back towards you & so on until the pipe is used up. Keep the pipe taught at all times & compress the whole zig zag down when complete.</p><p>9. Lift the pipe, including the rods out of the jig. Let the dowels fall loose. </p><p>Now wrap the cracker tightly with cotton, twice along its length, then back & forth in & out of the folds to secure its shape. Leave to dry for a day or two.</p><p>10. When dry, cut the pipe flush, exposing the powder & wrap the end with blue touch paper.</p><p>11. Take to a suitable open space, light the touch paper, retire & enjoy!!</p>