ELEMINATOR

Well it might not be much to you guys, but for me it's GREAT

Here is it (if the link works)

http://tinyurl.com/35or9s5

Thanks guys, will have a bash with a few things tomorrow. I might even video it if I manage anything worth looking at.

thanks again.

Oh well, I couldn't wait so I just made my first ever fountain.

I card some A4 card and rolled it tight round a pencil and sealed it with insulation tape.

I then cut off about 2 inches and used that for my fountain.

I then inserted the rubber end of the pencil about half in inch into the bottom of the tube and secured it with tape. (to use as a ground spike)

I then inserted 6 inch of fuse, filled with my BP mix and packed down with another pencil.

Stuck it in the middle of the garden and lit it.

It had a nice slow burn of around 5 seconds, with orange sparks about 4 inches high.

Yes, I am very very chuffed at the moment.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

The next thing is, who do I make the sparks higher ? is it with a wider opening and more powder, or is it done with a different mix ?

I used 75% Potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal 400mesh, 10% Sulpher

Thanks in advance guys.

Brilliant, thats what I needed to know.

I will try a tiny fountain tomorrow.

Oh, if I wanted to add blue sparks, what would I need to add and what ratio to what I am useing now ?

thanks

First of all, ensure that for certain your white crystal product is potassium nitrate by adding a small amount of sulfur to it and attempting to make it burn. If it doesn't burn, it is potassium . And if you want to make fountains, grind the potassium nitrate to a fine quality and mix it crudely with charcoal and a small amount of sulfur. That will produce all of the sparks you need, and adding a small amount of aluminum and something typically intert (rust powder or Fe2O3, baking soda, etc) to the composition will also give it a slight sparkle.

At this point, you probably won't be making any shells. You asked about this rather late, with only five days to go. So it'd be best for you at this point to stick to making fountains. Simply rolling thick paper tubes and crimping them just slightly at the top will allow you to make excellent, quick production fountains which have a far greater and taller spray than is available from commercial products.

Hi MDH, Yes I have tried the potassium, charcoal and sulfur in a test dish over the last week, I use 75-15-10 ratio, it does make nice sparks and is very bright, but when I burn it in open dish it burns out quite quickly, I have not tried putting it inside anything yet as I have no idea how it would react.

For safety reasons, I have always assumed that if I was to put anything like that into a carboard tube, in affect it would be a shotgun cartridge and would blow up, is this the case or would it be a controlled burn if the top is open ?

Sorry guys, It may be a daft question to you, but to me it's a safety question that I need to be sure of.