MMX Igniter on a Square Toothpick

Last night, when I was prepping some models for today's launch, I switched out an MMX engine into another rocket.

Before pulling the engine, I gently removed the MMX igniter. I tried to remove the square toothpick first but the igniter came out with it.

Take a close look at the end of the igniter over the end of the toothpick.

It's actually bent into a square shape over the square blunt end of the toothpick.

The square igniter bend could be getting more hot igniter wire onto the propellant surface, as opposed to just the wire tip over a round pointed toothpick. I haven't had any MMX misfires in a long time.

I'm convinced now that the square toothpicks are the way to go for MMX igniter retention.

The only downside to using square toothpicks is the tendency to break when pushing the igniter into the MMX nozzle. Don't push in from the back of the toothpick, push from the center area closer to the nozzle.