7 replies to this topic

[king lerock]

hey i have just earned a bit of money and spent most of it but theirs still a bit left any suggestions on what to buy?
by the way i already have all the BP ingredients, Mg, a scientific balence, viso saftey fuse, 1/4" paper tubes and caps and a pestle and mortar.

Edited by king lerock, 07 February 2009 - 10:28 AM.

[Potassium chlorate]

Depends on your interests and skills. KClO4 is useful and you can make flash out of that and Mg. Or you can buy some barium or strontium salts for green or red flames.

[Richard H]

You should stay well clear of flash powders until you are more experienced, and only then in very limited quantities. Start with black powder compositions and try fountains / gerbs.

[king lerock]

ahh good idea. Question will the salts make BP burn red or green?

Edited by king lerock, 07 February 2009 - 11:36 AM.

[Richard H]

You need to buy some books on the subject and get reading up on basic pyro chemistry.

[king lerock]

got any recemondations?

[spanner]

Make some dextrin. Then you already have the ingredients to make several star, fountain and gerb comps, like:

STARS:

Gold Spider Web
Author: Bill Ofca
Text: Technique in Fire Volume 5 - Mastering Cut Stars the Easy Way
54.00%.....Potassium Nitrate
32.00%.....Charcoal (Air float)
7.00%.......Sulfur
7.00%.......Dextrin
Ball mill all components together. Dampen with 75% water/25% alcohol mixture. To make a soln. of 75/25 water/alcohol, add 21.6 oz. water to 12 oz. of 70% isopropyl alcohol.
Cut 5/8" to 3/4". Burst shell with strong flash powder bag. Precipitation method can be used to make it if a ball mill is not available. Screening alone doesn't work very well. Slow burning with a bit of gold tail.

With some brake lathe turnings (free for the asking at many garages) you can make:

Fe Streamer
Potassium nitrate.............45
Sulfur..............................6
Charcoal af.....................29
Cast iron 30-40 mesh.......22
Dextrin............................5

The cast iron can be treated with tung or linseed oil.

FOUNTAINS:

Roll yourself some 3/8"- 1/2" tubes and even w/o a choke, they'll perform OK. No need to treat the iron if you use them right away (in a day or three, say).

Fe Fountain Degn
Meal.............7
Fe filings.......3
KNO3............2
C..................1
Sulfur............1

Weingart Fountain
Text: Pyrotechnics Revision: 2nd Edition Author: Weingart Chapter: Part III: Products of Manufacture Page: 119
46.51%...........Black Powder (meal)
27.91%...........Potassium Nitrate (granular)
9.30% ............Charcoal (coarse)
9.30% ............Sulfur
6.98% ............Black Powder (2Fg)

Chrysanthemum #6 Shimizu
Text: Fireworks: The Art, Science, and Technique Author: Shimizu
55.00%........Potassium Nitrate
33.00%........Charcoal, coarse and af
7.00%..........Sulfur
5.00%..........Dextrin
Chrysanthemum #6 can make a very nice fountain unchoked, or a choked gerb with the use of some coarse charcoal.

GERBS:

Steel Gerb Hardt
Text: Pyrotechnics Author: Alexander P. Hardt
percent........Component
52.00%.......Potassium Nitrate
13.00%.......Charcoal (Air float)
9.00%.........Sulfur
26.00%.......Steel (20-40 mesh turnings)
Coat the turnings to prevent rust unless used right away. The same iron turnings from above will work fine.

Weingart Gerb #1 and Driver
Reference: Text: Pyrotechnics Revision: 2nd Edition Author: Weingart Chapter: Part III: Products of Manufacture Page: 119
57.14%.................Potassium Nitrate
23.81%.................Steel filings (Iron turnings are fine)
9.52% ..................Charcoal (airfloat)
9.52% ..................Sulfur

There are dozens of different comps that are variations on these themes! With some 325 mesh atomized aluminum, there are many more comps you can make for stars and fountains. The Al will give silver sparks, the iron gives gold.

I realize that this is a whole lot of spoon feeding- a practice I don't usually condone. So if the mods wish to remove this, it's fine w/me!

PLEASE take the good advice just given by Richard H- get some books (use the search function- most everything you've asked is there, including which books are recommended!)

Enjoy!

Edited by spanner, 07 February 2009 - 01:00 PM.

[ExplosiveCoek]

got any recemondations?

Shimizu's FAST is a good book to start with. It explains almost every firework you know.