fishy1

He did drilling most days, he must be guilty.

Had you have been in the UK of late, I`de definitely have gone with "Damp" being the cause!
it`s downright Soggy and has not stopped raining here since I got up at 7 (it`s half 3 now).

having said that, the Whistle did work rather well, and I may try making one myself eventually, I don`t have any Perc here (there`s little use for it in the Lab) I have plenty Chlorate though, and that`s little use for Whistles LOL, so I`ll have to buy some I think.

the Benzoate isn`t a problem I have a reasonable amount of Ammoinium Benzoate and so can easily convert that to any other metal benzoate (Sr,Ba,Cu etc...)

did you quickmatch the Fountain and whistle together or were they 2 separate devices and fuses?

Where did you get your ammonium benzoate? I'm looking for some so I can try copper benzoate/ammonium perchlorate stars, which are a pretty nice blue.

A mine. Espesically mines with inserts that aren't just stars.

Cheerz, I was getting a little worried myself for a bit!

as far as I can tell, when Carbon burns it emits an Orange color into the spectral band, and That`s what seems to drown out the Green from the Barium, BaCO3 isn`t all that Basic either so perhaps the Hydroxide of it may do a better job??? again, that`s another one up for experimentation.

I Have seen for sale a Blue flash paper and have no idea HOW they could make that work! I wouldn`t mind owning a little and analysing it in the Lab
actually I think I`de probably use most of it in pure amazement and end up with very little to test, but hey, that`s what`s pyro`s about

My best guess for "blue" flash paper would be neutralising it with potassium carbonate or other potassium salt. I suppose it could also be dusted with a blue star comp.

I could be mistaken, but I thought an ice bath was commonly used to cool the reaction, and prevent a runaway.