Potassium chlorate

I'm curious about the consistancy as well. Here's what the website that sells it says:

(Chlorez 700, chlorinated paraffin resin) Cream colored powder

Used as a chlorine donor (70% chlorine). -50 mesh, 97%. Solvents are xylene, acetone and alcohol.

It runs about $8.50 US which is a lot cheaper than Parlon, but the only formulae I see using it are the Baechle system ones, which also use a couple of things I dont have like copper oxychloride and stearic acid. So maybe there isn t much point in buying it to save money.

Sorry, your probably right about this wanting to be in the Pyro chemistry forum but I'm not sure how to move it.

Now I'm picking up an old thread again but I couldn't help it since I have chlorowax and also recently started to get interested in the Baechle system.

I haven't experimented much with it yet, but this formula, for instance, seems interesting:

Beachle Aqua

barium chlorate 84
red gum 10
copper carbonate 2
chlorowax 2
dextrin 2

Very interesting is that as little as 2% copper carbonate (and 2% chlorowax?) should make this composition aqua instead of the typical barium chlorate green (haven't tested it though, but this far I haven't heard one bad word about the Baechle system). Also very interesting is that by using 2% barium carbonate instead (to prevent the weak acids in the red gum from reacting with the barium chlorate), one might probably get a very good pure green, maybe even better than the 9:1 barium chlorate/shellac, that I'm otherwise very much in favour of.


The consistency of chlorowax isn't "waxy" at all, by the way; it's a dry powder like parlon. Doesn't smell very good, though, a bit like hydrochloric acid.

I don't know how much it would matter, but that's not the formula as originally given.

Chinese deep violet-blue microstars
Source: Myke Stanbridge / Rec.pyro

Potassium perchlorate to pass #240 39.0
Black copper oxide to pass #240 37.0
precipitated sulphur to pass #240 15.0
Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) to pass #60 6.5
Acacia gum, a top quality fine dust 2.5


I'm not sure how large you made them, but it's fairly well known that it only works as micro stars. In larger sizes, it tends to get washed out. HCE is probably the closest replacement we have, but it's hard to judge without seeing the real deal first.

Akacia gum is called Arab gum or Gummi Arabicum here. I could buy some and test it.

I made 8mm pumped stars, which probably is way too big.

I've seen such formulas once. I really don't remember where though, and it's been driving me nuts for years. As far as I recall, there was a relatively high level of sulfur and hexachlorobenzene. I've heard people say that parlon could be made to work as well. It seems it needs that low fuel value chlorine donor, presumably for color production and to kind of "clog" things up.

We discussed Chinese Blue#1 some year or two ago:

potassium perchlorate 39
copper(II)oxide 37
sulfur 15
hexachlorobenzene 7
red gum 2

I tried it with HCE instead of HCB, since HCB is as good as impossible to get hold of in Europe. Not remarkably blue but as blue as Conkling etc anyway. Hardt prime#6 for ignition, NC as a binder.

Sounds like you had a close shave there. I don't think the rocket had anywhere near enough power to keep itself stable.

I like rockets, but they're very unpredictable. And I understand that a neighbour becomes upset when a rocket hits his house.

EDIT: double post.