page_title: Safety fuse
section_title: Impact of the safety fuse
hierarchical_section_title: Safety fuse / Impact of the safety fuse
caption_attribution_description: Burning waterproof fuse
context_page_description: The safety fuse is a type of fuse invented and patented by English inventor William Bickford 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 mining industry. The safety fuse burns at a rate of typically about 30 seconds per foot.
context_section_description: 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 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.
  Bickford’s fuse not only dramatically improved the safety conditions of mines around the world, but also contributed to the development of dynamite. Alfred Nobel created dynamite in 1867, by moulding nitroglycerine and a mud-like compound found near his laboratories called kieselguhr into individual cylinders. At the end of each cylinder Nobel inserted a blast cap which could be ignited in one of two ways. First, by inserting a safety fuse into the blast cap and igniting the fuse, it will set the blast cap off and produce enough energy to detonate the dynamite. Second, it is possible to detonate dynamite by inserting a blast cap into the end of the cylinder and then by attaching an electrical wire into the blast cap and producing a current which will travel from the source to the blast cap will also set off the dynamite.
caption: A burning waterproof fuse
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