19 replies to this topic

[j_henry]

I was recently on vacation for the 4th of july and there was a guy there with some "homemade m-80s" i was just wondering what i would have to buy to make these myself he said that the mixture was 70% potassium perchlorate and 30% aluminum powder, does this sound right and will it make a nice sized "boom"



Thanks
Jeremy

[digger]

You must be joking or a troll. This is a site for the art of pyrotechnics not illegal devices.

Moderators I assume this is another post to be removed.

[j_henry]

You must be joking or a troll. This is a site for the art of pyrotechnics not illegal devices.

Moderators I assume this is another post to be removed.

No im not joking i guess i didnt understand the fact that they were illegal no need to be hateful!

[marble]

Oh dear, they always seem to come in bunches

[j_henry]

What are you guys talkin bout, seriously i didnt know it was illegal!

[marble]

http://en.wikipedia....-80_(explosive)

They are highly illegal, to own and to make. I suggest you stay well away.

[j_henry]

Thanks Marble, atleast someone could give me a down to earth answer.

[marble]

Do you have any other interest in fireworks aside from salutes? You don't seem like your average k3wl to me, its a fact that some of the best amateur pyros started off making salutes and after a while the saw how stupid and crude they were and moved onto other wonderful things.

PM if your interested, I'll send you some ebooks.

[digger]

No im not joking i guess i didnt understand the fact that they were illegal no need to be hateful!

Sorry I did not want to come across as being "hateful", it is just that as marble says some people join the site for one purpose only which is to find out how to make dubious devices that are of no real use other than to take a few fingers off (as they are easy to make and the risks of the formula little understood when it is the first device you make). The compositions used in these should only be used once you have gained a good grounding pyrotechnic chemistry.

So if you are serious about pyrotechnics there is plenty of reading material here to get you started on the right path.


Digger

Edited by digger, 08 July 2008 - 05:55 PM.

[Arthur Brown]

An M-80 is a tube containing flash powder. Flash is a very unforgiving mixture, in the open say on flat sheet a fine dusting of flash will do just that and flash very brightly and almost silently. Confined as in a paper bag or envelope the same amount of flash powder will bang loudly, confined in a sealed tube flash is within the power range of high explosives. An M-80 will easily take your hand off or mutilate a leg beyond re use. If one explodes in the vicinity of any gravel or stones those will instantly become flying bullets and could kill at 100 metres.

Manufacture, possession or use of M-80s will get you into trouble, and that sort of trouble will permanently harm your chances of ever getting legal access to pro fireworks.

The best place to see M-80s is Youtube - let others be Darwin style stupid.

[Shake]

Sorry I did not want to come across as being "hateful", it is just that as marble says some people join the site for one purpose only which is to find out how to make dubious devices that are of no real use other than to take a few fingers off (as they are easy to make and the risks of the formula little understood when it is the first device you make). The compositions used in these should only be used once you have gained a good grounding pyrotechnic chemistry.

So if you are serious about pyrotechnics there is plenty of reading material here to get you started on the right path.


Digger

Well said Digger; I spent 3 years just reading before making anything more interesting than black powder. I have made a few salutes and yup..."bangs" are only so entertaining. I'm already more interesting with fountains and mines and am really looking forward to my first shell!

[j_henry]

I fully understand where you guys are coming from but on the same note, I am a blasting apprentice so i use the real deal when it comes to explosives everyday!

[portfire]

I am a blasting apprentice so i use the real deal when it comes to explosives everyday!

So why bother?

[j_henry]

So why bother?

lol because that is used on site and site only i have a fetish for explosives and was looking for something to play with on the farm

[Bonny]

Seeing as you have a farm or access to one, why not make something much nicer to lay with...like real fireworks? A burst of colours and spark trails are so much cooler than a big boom. Start by making some nice small fountains, then maybe some mines...and go from there.