When you strike a match with a wooden shaft, and let it burn, the burnt bit often curls over in an untidy manner, and can even drop off, but not any more.
Inside every Straight Match is a strand of reinforcing wire which discourages this unpredictable curling action.-- xenzag, Jun 17 2010 These ones stay pretty straight. http://images.bidor...ZIPPO_LIGHTER_3.jpg [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 17 2010] These ones stay pretty. http://farm1.static...1305_283fcfabce.jpg [swimswim, Jun 17 2010] bent! http://matchesforsa...ges/burnt_match.JPGbut i'll fix that [xenzag, Jun 17 2010] this will transmit heat down the wire and heat up the shaft while sapping heat from the combustion.-- Voice, Jun 17 2010 Manufacture the match with a curl in the opposite direction and the match will straighten when it burns ...-- Aristotle, Jun 17 2010 But how can we perform "grandpa's last stand" after a few beers?-- wagster, Jun 17 2010 the curling happens with a candle wick made of fibre, but those often have a wire to reinforce them anyway. In my experience, a wooden match stays pretty straight, blackens and falls off. so not sure what you are proposing.-- dentworth, Jun 17 2010 They curl up, and I'm going to put a stop to it.-- xenzag, Jun 17 2010 okey doke-- dentworth, Jun 17 2010 I know it's a stupid, useless idea, of no practical purpose, but isn't that the essence of the halfbakery? It is for me anyway.-- xenzag, Jun 17 2010 I love this idea!!!-- dentworth, Jun 17 2010 What causes the bending? It must be something to do with heat, so I suggest a little rotating collar at the base of the match. One side would have an IR laser and the other a jet of liquid nitrogen. The bending of the match would be detected by some kind of remote sensing array, triggering collar-spinning -laser-flashing -liquid-nitrogen-squirting -match-straightening action.-- pocmloc, Jun 17 2010 The match will tend to curl up, but generally when the diameter is sufficiently reduced. By using a fat match, your fingers will burn before the match can bend.-- ldischler, Jun 18 2010 I wonder if there is a coriolis effect causing matches on this side of the equator to curl clockwise or counter and tongues of flame from a campfire...and while I'm on an elemental tangent, are sink holes, volcanic eruptions and continental drift also coriolis effect effected?hmmmm-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 18 2010 random, halfbakery