40 replies to this topic

[king lerock]

HI
i have just started to experiment with pyrotechnics and i have a few questions.ok so i have just ordered the engredients for black powder
potasium nitrate, sulphur and willow charcol powder and i was wondering what other chemicals i should get.also i plan to buy Magnesuim a soon and i ask can you grind down Mg ribbon or rough powder into a fine powder.finaly what type of fuse should i buy?

ps i would appreciate it if you could tell me where to obtain these

[Arthur Brown]

Hi, and Welcome!

Please read the forum carefully, there are several suppliers mentioned in posts and signatures. Some will be more convenient for your needs than others. All the theory of BP manufacture has been covered several times, the formulae the methods and the testing for different types of powder for different purposes.

Milling metals to fine powders is hazardous and best not attempted until you have lots of skill and experience, and the right equipment!

Look also on the forum for good reliable hard copy books. It is so much safer to learn from other's mistakes.

Lancaster's book would be a good start though not the cheapest.

Edited by Arthur Brown, 31 January 2009 - 03:25 PM.

[king lerock]

Thanks for the advice and yes i have already found some good web sites to purchase from and was just asking if anyone knew a good website.

[portfire]

Search the forum, theres a Thread on buying chemicals with links to sites (some maybe dead now) and the service has been commented on, so just choose which one you prefer.

Also, as Arthur said milling metals IS hazardous and really not suited for a beginner. My advice is to perfect your method of BP manufacture, great joy awaits from 3 basic chemicals

[king lerock]

My advice is to perfect your method of BP manufacture, great joy awaits from 3 basic chemicals

thanks and i quite agree

[Pyrogeorge]

don't mill metals in same jar and same grinding media with bp chemicals..it will explode and i don't know if it is possible to grind magnesium,another person can corfim that.

[king lerock]

thanks this is really helpful, got another question though. Besides simply burning it what could you use Magnesium ribbon for?

[Arthur Brown]

There is little use for Mg ribbon!

Get a decent text book, study all the things you can do with variants on the BP ingredients. Rockets fountains, lift BP, burst BP "tiger tail". Get some cheap meshes and separate the charcoal by particle size then you can get all sorts of scintillating effects. Try the effect of charcoaling your own woods -willow, pine, alder etc.
There are plenty of things to do before you need more than charcoal, sulphur, nitrate and dextrin.

First learn to work cleanly! Charcoal makes a horrid mess and you will need to use it for almost everything!

Lots of care, and a few simple tools will keep the mess in one place.

Learn to weigh accurately, and write it all up so that you can repeat the things that work for you and improve on the things that do not.

[king lerock]

unfortunatly i can't spare enough money for a text book right now but i will obtain one as soon as possible. is their a part of the forum that lists chemicals used in pyrotechnics and their effects? i could not find one.

[portfire]

Yeah plenty, use the Search function and try Google The basics are out there but you will need a good book at some point. Also, the law is a BIG part of what we do so READ through MSER, you can get and view this from the HSE website.

[Arthur Brown]

Use the search function AND check that you are searching ALL the forum not just the last few days. You can select to search the last few days and also from the beginning, search from the beginning to catch up on the last few years of the forum.

[seymour]

is their a part of the forum that lists chemicals used in pyrotechnics and their effects? i could not find one. huh.gif

Potassium nitrate, KNO3, is a relatively mild oxidiser, which is commonly used, among other things, in Black powder, Charcoal streamer stars, some Zinc stars, some silver streamers, many fountain compositions and rocket compositions. Along with other nitrates, it can react dangerously with Aluminium if damp or wet.

Potassium Chlorate, KClO3, is a more violent oxidiser, previously widely used, mainly in stars. Potassium chlorate compositions generally ignite easily and have large flames. However, it is very dangerous to mix chlorate with a range of chemicals such as Sulfur, Phosphorous and Ammonium compounds. Since the use of Potassium perchlorate became widespread, the more dangerous chlorate has been used less than in former times. This is not a chemical to be used without extensive research into its properties.

Potassium perchlorate, KClO4, is the somewhat safer cousin of Potassium chlorate. It is used as an oxidiser in many of the same types of compositions, such as coloured stars, other stars, the safer whistle compositions, some explosives (the KP burst charge for example). Potassium perchlorate generally burns with a hotter, but smaller flame that Potassium chlorate, and is harder to light. However, it is usually less sensitive than the chlorate in similar compositions, and does not have such serious incompatibilities as Potassium chlorate. Having said that, a mixture of Potassium perchlorate and sulfur is fiendishly sensitive and will detonate with a solid impact, but will not ignite "spontaneously" like chlorate can, under certain conditions with sulfur.

Commonly used names include KP, perc and perch and K perc.

Ammonium perchlorate, NH4ClO4, is an expensive specialist oidiser. In fireworks it is known for producing vivid, neon colours, particularly reds and blues. While it produces beautiful colours, it has some issues that need to be dealt with. One of these, is the production of Ammonium nitrate via double decomposition when it comes into contact with Potassium nitrate and some other nitrates in the presence of water. The amount of water requred to start the reaction can simply be that in the atmosphere, and once started, the hygroscopic Ammonium nitrate attracts more water, accelerating the reaction. While this is not on its own a dangerous reaction, it ruins the compositions and is to be avoided. Some nitrates can come into contact with Ammonium perchlorate, though impurities in them can cause the reaction regardless. Contact with chlorates is one of the worst cases that can happen with Ammonium perchlorate, as Ammonium chlorate which can be created is a notoriously dangerous explosive which can explode from the slightest shock or movement. Additionally, Ammonium perchlorate will react with Magnesium or Magnalium in the presence of moisture unless they are dichromate treated. This generates heat which may build up and ignite the mixture, and the reaction is easily identified by the strong smell of a product of the reaction, Ammonia being emitted. Ammonium perchlorate also is known for making stars that are easily blown out by high velocities.

Ammonium perchlorate us often called Ammon perc, or AP.

Barium chlorate, Ba(ClO3)2, is quite possibly the most dangerous oxidiser used in fireworks, but it makes beautiful greens with the addition of any fuel. However, greens almost as good can be created with Barium nitrate in some compositions, so Barium chlorate is not often used, and is not a beginner chemical. Incompatibilities are the same as Potassium chlorate, and it is also more toxic due to the toxicity of Barium.

Barium nitrate, Ba(NO3)2, is a widely used oxidiser and barium donor, being used in most green compositions, along with many glitters, whites, silver streamers, and yellows. To get a good green a clorine donor must be added, and the addition of a metal fuel aids the production of a good flame and bright colour. Barium nitrate, like most Barium compounds is fairly toxic.

Strontium nitrate, Sr(NO3)2, is used as an oxidiser in many red and purple compositions. With it, beautiful reds can be produced, but as a drawback, it's a bit hygroscopic, and it may take a while to dry if water is added, or if it is impure or in damp weather, it may not dry.

Strontium carbonate, SrCO3, is perhaps the most widely used colourant for red burning compositions. It is also used with copper to make Purple colours.

Strontium sulfate, SrSO4 is used in red strobes, and could be used for other red compositions.

Barium sulfate, BaSO4, is used in white and green strobes, as well as in firefly stars.

Barium carbonate is used mostly in silver glitters, but can make an ok green.

Copper(II) oxide, CuO, is used for blue compositions, as well as with Strontium in purples. It is also a component in other compositions, such as in some crackling compositions. It is a catalyst for Perchlorates.

Other compounds are also used for blue stars, such as carbonate, ocychloride, metal powder, and the benzoate, which also doubles as a fuel.

Bismuth trioxide, along with Lead tetraoxide and other bismuth salts are used as oxidising agents in crackling microstars.

Calcium carbonate is one of the most common colourants in Orange stars, due to it being cheap, and unlike many calcium salts, is not hygroscopic.

Sodium oxalate, Na2C2O4, along with Sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3, are used in gold glitters as "delay" agents, as well as as sodium donors (yellow colour)

Other Sodium containing compounds are used to donate Sodium for yellow flames.

Antimony trisulfide is used as a delay agent in glitters, and can be used in pretty white stars.

Benzoates, such as Sodium benzoate, NaOOC6H5, Potassium benzoate and Copper benzoate, are fuels in some coloured compositions, as well as being fuels in some whistling compositions.

Dextrin is a commonly used water activated binder. It is also a clean burning fuel for coloured stars.

Red gum is another commonly used binder and fuel. It is activated by alcohol, and some other organic solvents.

Shellac is another fuel and binder, also activated by alcohol. It is widely used with chlorates.

Gum Arabic is a very strong water activated binder, which makes stars like stones. It forms acidic solutions, which means that it is best to avoiusing it for chlorates, but it can slow or prevent the nitrate aluminium reaction.

Nitrocellulose is a very waterproof binder, and is often used in primes or in layered stars where it is important to keep components apart. For example, an Ammonium perchlorate star, with a Potassium nitrate prime.

Parlon is an excellent chlorine donor, and is also a fuel and a good binder.

PVC is a fuel and Chlorine donor, and, with the correct solvents, it can be a binder.

Saran is another chlorine donor, fuel, and sometimes binder.

Aluminium is the most extensively used metal powder in fireworks. Particle size and shape is everything, and different uses need different kinds. For example, the coarsest flakes can be used for white sparks, and the firefly effect. Medium sized atomised is also great for silver stars and glitters, while thee finest flake Aluminium burns cleanly enough for a high temperature fuel in coloured stars, special effects such as flash cores, as well as the fearsome explosives known as flash powders.

Magnesium powder finds some use as a fuel in some coloured stars, as well as in coloured strobes. However its use is severely limited due to it often reacting with other pyrotechnic chemicals in storage. In the presence of moisture, some of these reactions have started fires, and some fine magnesium powders have ignited on contact with air, causing severe injury.

Magalium is an alloy of Both Aluminium and Magnesium. It does not react with other chemicals as severely as magnesium, though in some cases coating it with a protective layer, such as is done with Magnesium, is required. However, in burning it retains many of the properties of Magnesium. This is by far the most common metal fuel in Coloured stars, strobes and crackle.

Iron can be used to make lovely sparks, which range in hue from reddy orange to whitish yellow. If the carbon content is right, the sparks shatter explosively as they burn giving an interesting effect known as "branching".

Titanium powders are used to make very pretty, bright white sparks. While they are not reactive with other pyrotechnic chemicals, they are hard and can spark, so adding them to a mix will sensitise it to shock and friction. Titanium, along with ferrotitanium are used in the stunning brocade stars.

Ferrotitanium is an alloy of Titanium and Iron. It can be used much like Titanium, but with slightly, or considerably (depending on the alloy) less intense sparks.

Zinc dust is used to make Granite and Zinc spreader stars. It has a large, pearly aqua flame.

Silicon metal is used in primes, as it burns hot, producing molten silicon dioxide as a product, which sticks to stars and almost guarantees that they will light.




Consider this a list of some firework chemicals. There are many more in common use, and hundreds more in occasional use that I have not included. I have given only a token amount of information on each substance, and the idea is that you will now be ale to search each one, and hopefully be able to get the full information that you need to work safely with the substance. I hope this is of some help.

Happy researching!

PS. Do you have all the tools needed to make fireworks, such as a Ball mill, a press, good scales? These are every bit as important as the chemicals themselves.


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Spanner has now uploaded his vastly more extensive list.
http://www.pyrosocie...?showtopic=4477

Edited by seymour, 07 February 2009 - 02:33 AM.

[cooperman435]

WOW thats a reply seymour!

[seymour]

Ha ha, I got a little bit carried away. I was just informed that I wrote Antimony trioxide instead of the correct trisulfide. If I've made any other mistakes that need correcting, do please tell me!!

Edited by seymour, 02 February 2009 - 02:46 AM.

[king lerock]

thanks for that massive list and i have a few questions:
what is meant buy the term "stars", if at the moment i am only attemptng very small crackers and fountian like things using Bp and am willing to girnd its ingredients for a good long time will i need a ball mill, what would you use a press for and how would a good ball mill and press be.