273 replies to this topic

[pyromaniac303]

Hi is the following safe-I mean has anyone used it before or is it likely to explode on me?-for sparklers by the way

300 parts potassium chlorate
60 parts aluminum fines, flitter, or granules
2 parts charcoal
10% dextrin in water solution
500 parts strontium nitrate (optional, for red color)
60 parts barium nitrate (optional, for green color)

Seems a bit over-oxidised to me, approx 1/6th fuel, but I dont see why it wouldnt work. If at all possible though avoid the chlorate and replace with potassium perchlorate, though depends how fine your aluminium is, wouldnt want to end up with chlorate flash!

I think adding the strontium nitrate would increase your drying time considerably and was it supposed to be 50 or really 500? I doubt adding the 500 parts would give you a usable sparkler as there would barely be a high enough concentration of fuel to burn.

[BIOHAZARD]

so would my sparkler mix still work if I replaced to Potassium Chlorate with Potassium Perchlorate?

300 parts potassium chlorate
60 parts aluminum fines, flitter, or granules
2 parts charcoal
10% dextrin in water solution
50 parts strontium nitrate (optional, for red color)
60 parts barium nitrate (optional, for green color)

[MDH]

Take this as a reminder kids.

Don't ever try to use black powder originally intended for firecrackers (50/20/20/10 (120 mesh al)) in a fountain... especially with balsa, inside of a narrow tube where the gasses cannot escape fast enough.

Too much sulphur = big boom.

I had a fountain turn into a 21 gram charge on me today.

I am almost sure someone is going to call the police on this one, it sounded like a professional shell going off.

Edited by MDH, 03 August 2007 - 06:23 PM.

[RangerOfFire]

Too much sulphur = big boom.

I had a fountain turn into a 21 gram charge on me today.

I am almost sure someone is going to call the police on this one, it sounded like a professional shell going off.

How do you tell if there's too much sulphur? My BP leaves behind a smell of sulphur after burning so there may be a tad too much?

And another thing, 2 words... "plausable deniability". Just say you had an air b**b you bought off the internet or something or if it wasn't too loud a party popper or 2

And lastly remind me to test anything I make in the woods or a field...

[MDH]

Ugh. That thing was a disaster.

Either way, I have decided that balsa is a way too reactive charcoal to be using in fountain compositions.

Today I tried 4/5 (potassium nitrate and charcoal) and 7/1/1 (potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur) with charred wood grains and coarse aluminum and I still had little one gram fountains blow up on me.

Any vouchers? Is pine likely to blow up?

[portfire]

Can you give more details on your construction method,are you ramming or pressing?? and things like tube ID,nozzel thickness,choke etc will help.


dean

[Bonny]

Today I tried 4/5 (potassium nitrate and charcoal) and 7/1/1 (potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur) with charred wood grains and coarse aluminum and I still had little one gram fountains blow up on me.

Any vouchers? Is pine likely to blow up?
[/quote]

Pine works very well for me in fountains. Are you ball milling the comp for a long time? Less ball milling time should slow the mix down. As a general rule, choke should be 1/3 the size of tube ID. If the comp is not pressed or rammed tightly though, you may have air pockets which could be one reason fountains are exploding. There is a tutorial here:
http://www.pyroguide...?title=Fountain

[MDH]

Can you give more details on your construction method,are you ramming or pressing?? and things like tube ID,nozzel thickness,choke etc will help.
dean

Pressing with a heavy weight and twisting it in slowly. The Balsa BP is naturally very fluffy.

There was no choke as the tube is already only an inch or so in diameter and is about 12" long - meant for tall fountains or roman candles, the tube walls being about a quarter inch thick.

The powder was fairly far down there so the spray would be more vertical.

I was using coarse aluminum flake for sparks.

The thing went off after six to eleven seconds of just spraying out sparks.

I noticed the flare was getting too powerful so I backed away, then the thing blew.

[dr thrust]

i think the tube is to long, you can get the same prob with a rocket motor if its to long, and mybe a build up of dross behind the nozzle because theres a large cavity forming between the burning comp and the nozzle so dross builds up and blocks it!thats my two cents anyway

[Creepin_pyro]

i think the tube is to long, you can get the same prob with a rocket motor if its to long, and mybe a build up of dross behind the nozzle because theres a large cavity forming between the burning comp and the nozzle so dross builds up and blocks it!thats my two cents anyway

Dude - there was no nozzle...

MDH. try a shorter tube, and also I wouldn't recess the powder into the tube. Slow your powder down and use a nozzle if you want a higher vertical spray.

[MDH]

Thanks.

Additionally I am looking for a way to develop a blue burning whistle -- Is such a thing possible without disrupting the speed at which gasses are being released by the original mixture?

[Mumbles]

I have a formula for it. Due to some promises I made, I can't give it out though. I assure you it is possible though. You really have to think outside the box for this. Looking at the formula, it is totally off the wall. No benzoates or salicyliates. You really have to explore different oxidizing materials for something like this.

[BigG]

i see said the blind man!, thanks guy,s for the "cupric" explanation!,is there any hope for me or should i take up chess?

I hope you are not suggesting that people playing chess are without hope? That's might get you banned from the forum for breaching rule 10 of the forum rules.

[Creepin_pyro]

I have a formula for it. Due to some promises I made, I can't give it out though. I assure you it is possible though. You really have to think outside the box for this. Looking at the formula, it is totally off the wall. No benzoates or salicyliates. You really have to explore different oxidizing materials for something like this.

I'd love to see a vid of one of those if you have one - didn't realise someone had actually managed to make one! Just trying to think outside the box here, but I don't suppose it's some sort of exotic strobe which has been 'tuned' to whistle? No worries if you've allready revealed all the details you're at liberty to : )

[Richard H]

I would confidently predict it is based on a blue strobe formula