18 replies to this topic

[Gary]

Does anyone know if the tin oxide potters use as an opacifier is the (II) or (IV) form?

According to wikipedia, the tin oxide used in pottery is SnO₂ (tin(IV) oxide).

[Potassium chlorate]

I know that in the US large pistol (percussion) caps, coated with 70/30 KClO4/Al flash, have been used for a crackling effect. Haven't tried it and don't know about the legal status of percussion caps in the UK, but in Sweden they're still license free.

If it works, the crackling effect will probably be pretty powerful.

[rr22]

.22 blanks are still freely available,these have a crimped closure though so experimentation is needed to see if they behave the same as an open ended primer.
License or not for primers seems to be determined by the county police force in U.K. last time I looked.

Edited by rr22, 16 October 2008 - 12:14 AM.

[Potassium chlorate]

I know what .22 blanks look like, since I had a starting gun that calibre as a child. They were licensed together with real ammunition in 1994, though the components for ammunition; bullets, primers, gunpowder, cartridges are still free. Laws aren't very logical.

Anyway, I don't have KClO4 and Al at the moment, but I tried to ignite large pistol primers with Hogdon Triple Seven the other day. It failed. Though that doesn't mean it won't work with flash, since the reaction temperature of Hogdon is only a few hundred, at most around 1000 degrees, and the burning temperatur of flash is 2-3000 degrees.

Edited by Pyroswede, 16 October 2008 - 10:51 AM.