15 replies to this topic

[Steve]

First off, i could do with a name for this, whatnot is all very well and good, but its not very catchy.

Right the low chemical stock composition i've suggested is something that calles it's self 'smoke water' made by Allen. It's as follows
Potassium nitrate - 4
Sulphur - 1
Carcoal medium - 1
Not entirly sure what smoke water is supposed to be but you can find out. If it turns out to be a pile of crap i'll put up something more interesting.

The one i mentioned for the well endowed in the chemical department group is 'Simulator - Atomic explosion' God knows what that is supposed to mean but hey, you can find out. It goes as follows
Aluminium (Pyro black) - 20
Potassium Perchlorate - 64
Sulphur - 8
Bran (grain) - 8

Looks quite interesting to me, hopfully i won't turn my garden into a wasteland but somehow i don't think its that good a simulator.

Right there you go, go make, go try, come back and discuss If this kicks off might stick up a new forum for it.
Also- could do with names for things, a pyro whatnot sucks.

For next time i'll dicuss the mixes beforehand with Rich and Adam and tell you a week or so in advance which chems you'll need.

Steve

Any feedback on this strange plan of mine would be really helpfull, also any suggestions for compositons that look unusual will be very much appreaciated.

[adamw]

'Atomic Explosion' looks like some sort of flash pot to create a smoky, bright fireball. Looks like it would need a strong case too, because what you've basically got is a flash comp.

[bernie]

There must be a manipulation of some sort. What do you do to get the water part? I would like more details. I can go mix up some bp comp easy enough but do I ram it in a tube or make stars out of it.....?

The flash powder comp is nothing special. As previously mentioned the bran is a anticaking/flame propogation element.
This is something you do for REALLY big salutes or bottom shots. A few GRAINS of flash in the right container will make a heck of a bang. I don't intend to burst your party ballon on the flash comp it just is not all that challenging.

I would like to hear more on the water smoke though.

Personally, I very much like 'Whatnot'

[Steve]

I have really no idea as to the water smoke, the name just intreeged me. There is no mention of water in the comp. I think you may be wright about the flash comp. Just somone giving it a hyped up name. It was a bit rushed. I promise next times whatnot will be slightly better planned and have better compositions.

Neway. Try the comps may be interesting.

STeve

[Pyromaster2003]

i will be trying them both over the weekend if i dont still have a hang-over from friday night:D.

have any idea of the power of ths form of flash has compared to standard flash. im pretty sure it was said that there is no big difference, but just to make sure...

[adamw]

Well if you look at it: KClO4 (64), Alu (20), thats close to the 'standard' 70/30 flash mix. The S and bran will slow it down a bit, but I assure you it will go bang / whoosh depending on the confinement. I assume it was designed to be fired in a strong, open ended pot of some sorts. Also, why waste dark alu when the cheaper bright grade would do fine.

[bernie]

Made up some of Steves wonder flash and shoved it in a tube. Now the whole back yard is aglow with a creepy green.
All the neighbors moved away and the whole family has sprouted a third arm. Eight ounces to a tube was too much I would be guessin'. You have any idea what good clean fill dirt costs?

Thanks a lot Steve!

[Steve]

Dammit, i want to try these now, but need to wait till weekend as i have sod all time.
Has anyone tried the water smoke yet - looks intreeging.

Steve

[leniol]

the water somke formula sound similar to lancaster white spoolette (except that has a small amount of meal powder too). as the name suggests it's basically a white flamed fairly slow burning comp.

[BigG]

Steve ? I was actually chewing on a few pencils thinking about it (and about some theory Bernie sent me ? he really have some weird ideas, the kind that strangely enough might works), and I come across a smoke formula from Shimizu that is very similar but utilized lampblack. With that in mind I took the ingredients and mixed then for only 5 minutes in a ball mill so they are very badly mixed ? and produce lots of dross and smoke. I made a small paper boat and filled a tub with water in the back yard. Put the boat in, filled it with the composition, light the thing up with a fuse and stepped back. Now, with lots of imagination you can think of the tub as a lake and the smoke like fog above the water. I mean ? A LOT of imagination .

Now, the one thing I didn?t try is to actually mix the composition with water and let a few folds of newspaper to soak in it. When completely dried, the paper should be hard and they should produce some nice smoke drifting on the lake ? errrr, tub. Someone wants to give it a go?

BigG

[Steve]

Where did anyone get bran from. Wandered round tescos but to no avail. Or was i just not looking hard enough.

Steve

[Pyromaster2003]

i got from herbal/organic shop, holand and barret i think. holland and barret have a website i think, could check it out for any salts like a pyro said the other day, potassium chlorate. http://www.hollandan...lland/main.html

[Edited on 7-7-2003 by Pyromaster2003]

[Edited on 7-7-2003 by Pyromaster2003]

[bernie]

There's no reason you can't use course sawdust in place of bran. Rice hulls would be a better substitute. Saw dust contains small amounts of acid that ideally would not store well.

The whole idea is to create little open spaces so the flame front can pass through more rapidly.

[leniol]

I tried the water smoke earlier. It burnt with a shimmering gold/salmon flame & stank like boiled eggs (not rotten ones for a change!) I also found that it tended to reignite if you poked the ash after it stopped burning. All in all it reminded me of a delay composition....

[Pyromaster2003]

tryed flash comp...wasnt much more than real flash, burnt a bit slower and crackled slightly. i used grass seed instead of bran.