Black powder & Flash powder

[Hetfield]

Well, you could put a spark or flame to just flint dust and you could get a shower of sparks

however mixed with an oxidiser (pot chlorate in this case) I have not noticed an excessive amount of sparks.

really quick though, goes with a very low pitched thud/wooooosh unconfined!

Definatley give it a try though man, worth it......about 7 minutes constant witha lighter will get you about a half pinky nail sized pile that you can at least experiment with.

-Hetfield

[john lee]

Originally Posted by Hetfield

Well, you could put a spark or flame to just flint dust and you could get a shower of sparks

however mixed with an oxidiser (pot chlorate in this case) I have not noticed an excessive amount of sparks.

really quick though, goes with a very low pitched thud/wooooosh unconfined!

Definatley give it a try though man, worth it......about 7 minutes constant witha lighter will get you about a half pinky nail sized pile that you can at least experiment with.

-Hetfield

Could you use one of those magnesium fire starters,they have a large flint to work with and you'll be getting some mg too!
When i've sorted my chlorate/perchlorate out i'll give it a try.Cheers John.

[Hetfield]

To be honest, I think they are usually made of magnalium e=which is a mix of magnesium and aluminium......If you could powder it just that stuff works brilliantly with pot chlorate

Although it could also be made of ferrocium which is made up of i think26 different metallic fuels. Fantastic if mixed with chlorate

-Hetfield

[john lee]

Originally Posted by Hetfield

To be honest, I think they are usually made of magnalium e=which is a mix of magnesium and aluminium......If you could powder it just that stuff works brilliantly with pot chlorate

Although it could also be made of ferrocium which is made up of i think26 different metallic fuels. Fantastic if mixed with chlorate

-Hetfield

Hello Hetfield.I've just bought some un powdered magnalium chunks and it can't be made from that if it's a 50-50 mix,i can powder it with my hands it's that brittle,the powdered stuff cost too much to buy,but the freshly made chunks are mega cheap.
It is very easty to get a good mesh with a motar and pestal.It's like powdering a crisp!
I've not heared of ferrocium before,i'll have to check that one out.Google here i come.
PS I've checked where my chlorate come from,but they do not have a web site.
My supplier must collect it in person,or though another site.Cheers John.

UPDATE ON THE PERCHLORARE.
I dryed it in the oven and it's still the same.i thought it may be nitrate so put 120grams in 200ml of hot water,it did not desolve,so it's not potassium nitrate.
What happened was the crystals went to the bottom,remember this was hot water.
I tryed mixing the crystals and most still went to the bottom,but some floated ,i've now removed both and they are drying in the oven.I'll test them asap(tonight)
UPDATE ON PERCHLORATE.
The crystals that were on top do nothing and the crystals from the bottom are still the same.
I've been in contact with the person that sold me the perchlorate and have been told that my problem is a common one.
The reasons why my flash is not working is that potassium perchlorate flash will not work with atomised aluminium powder.It will only work with flake aluminium powder.
So i was doing something wrong after all,trying to use atomised aluminium powder even at 400mesh will not work.Problem solved,i think!

[MaQ10]

can yo tell me some kmno4 recipes and rtios plz

[john lee]

Originally Posted by MaQ10

can yo tell me some kmno4 recipes and rtios plz

Potassium permanganate is too dam dangerous for flash,or any other pyrotechnic comp.
I would recommended finding a new ozidizer.
I know it's easy to buy,but it's not worth the risk.
John.

[Tweak]

hey does anyone have any links to sites that sell black or gunpowder to canada that would work well for making simple bombs?

[john lee]

Originally Posted by Tweak

hey does anyone have any links to sites that sell black or gunpowder to canada that would work well for making simple bombs?

Are you talking about a banger?
Make your own black powder,it's not hard to make.
John.

[CanadianPyro]

Originally Posted by john lee

Potassium permanganate is too dam dangerous for flash,or any other pyrotechnic comp.
I would recommended finding a new ozidizer.
I know it's easy to buy,but it's not worth the risk.
John.

I agree, I stopped using KMnO4 back in 2006, as it wasn't worth the risk. KMnO4 is an active oxidizer at room temperature, and is thus too unstable for pyrotechnic compositions. Made some damn strong flash though, comparable to but slightly slower than KClO4 comps.

KClO4 is a pretty difficult substance to obtain these days, but it is possible to find if you look hard enough. It's the only oxidizer that I would recommend for flash powder. Potassium Chlorate is a slightly stronger oxidizer, but it makes MUCH more sensitive flash. Nitrates work, but they are much slower oxidizers.

hey does anyone have any links to sites that sell black or gunpowder to canada that would work well for making simple bombs?

Get some KNO3 from a hydroponics store, sulfur from a gardening store, and cook some debarked willow or alder wood in a simple retort. Buy a cheap ($20 or so) digital scale from eBay. Use a coffee grinder to powder the charcoal and sulfur. Once they are both fine powders, weigh them in a 1.5:1 charcoal:sulfur ratio, and grind them together. Don't worry about grinding the KNO3. Take the mixed fuels out, weigh them, and place them in a plastic container. Add 3 times this mass of KNO3 to the container. Mix well with a spoon. Add a sufficient amount of water to turn the mixture into a very viscous paste. Mix again. When it begins to dry, add more water and mix one more time. Form the mixed powder into a ball, and grate it over a window screen onto a piece of newspaper. This will form small black granules. Allow them to dry for a day or two. You now have decent granulated black powder that will work just fine in properly designed salutes.

[H-BOMB]

It depends on how much damage you want. You can pack it with black powder which is a low explosive or you can pack it with TATP putty which is a high explosive but if you are a beginner pyro you should use black powder or flash powder i would recommend flash powder

[john lee]

Originally Posted by H-BOMB

It depends on how much damage you want. You can pack it with black powder which is a low explosive or you can pack it with TATP putty which is a high explosive but if you are a beginner pyro you should use black powder or flash powder i would recommend flash powder

What type of "beginner pyro" flash would you recommend and how is TATP putty made.
Cheers John.

[AgentApoc]

Originally Posted by john lee

What type of "beginner pyro" flash would you recommend and how is TATP putty made.
Cheers John.

As for the TATP putty, I made a thread detailing how to make it not to long ago.

[evilgrummus]

I have been using both Mg and Al flashpowders for my salutes for a while now, and with some patience, good chemicals, a good scale etc, the result is ... let's say "deafening".
However, I have been pondering adding some other effects than just a loud bang to the firecrackers. I tested adding a bunch of those little crackling "pepper corns" you find in consumer fireworks "crackling balls" to 1 gram of Al+KClO4 and placed it in a good container. Only 1 or 2 "crackle-corns" survived the blast, the rest, I assume, were consumed in the blast.
What other, easy, ways are there to add cool little effects to your salutes? I am not talking about making star mines etc, I know and I have seen the tutorials, but they all seem like they are intended for large aerial fireworks, not ground-based firecracker salutes. Would, for example, putting some larger flakes of aluminum foil in your 3 gram flash powder salute give a good effect, or would nothing special happen?

[uchiacon]

Well, I've made some quite nice flash in my garage with KMnO4 and home made aluminum from foil in the ball mill. I put it at the end of a black powder pile, but I don't have enough to fill a small tube with it. Just finished milling some aluminium foil/can flakes and they're pretty fine, but I've found the larger bits in the powder are jagged, so they are from the can, and if I pick some up in my fingers it will give a greasy sheen.

I think I will pass on cans and just use foil now, mills much much faster too.
And I also don't think I'll be swapping the KMnO4 out of my flash powders because I can't find chlorate and I'm not buying anything from the US. Shipping times are ridiculous and expensive.

[CanadianPyro]

Originally Posted by evilgrummus

I have been using both Mg and Al flashpowders for my salutes for a while now, and with some patience, good chemicals, a good scale etc, the result is ... let's say "deafening".
However, I have been pondering adding some other effects than just a loud bang to the firecrackers. I tested adding a bunch of those little crackling "pepper corns" you find in consumer fireworks "crackling balls" to 1 gram of Al+KClO4 and placed it in a good container. Only 1 or 2 "crackle-corns" survived the blast, the rest, I assume, were consumed in the blast.
What other, easy, ways are there to add cool little effects to your salutes? I am not talking about making star mines etc, I know and I have seen the tutorials, but they all seem like they are intended for large aerial fireworks, not ground-based firecracker salutes. Would, for example, putting some larger flakes of aluminum foil in your 3 gram flash powder salute give a good effect, or would nothing special happen?

Just noticed that you are a member here. I love your YouTube videos, very entertaining.

Adding coarse metal powders to flash can create some interesting effects in my experience. I've only tested iron and aluminum flakes. The iron flakes add a shower of orange sparks, and the aluminum flakes produce white sparks. The effect is rather cool looking at night, but not really visible in daylight.

[YoungPyro91]

I didn't know that you could mix "KNO3/Magnesium (50/50)" for flash powder.
I know you can mix 50% NH4NO3/50% Magnesium for flash powder.
How well does KNO3/Magnesium (50/50) flash perform?

[CanadianPyro]

KNO3/Mg works well. Not as well as KClO4/Al, but with finely powdered components, it is pretty close. I used this composition almost exclusively after giving up KMnO4 flash. I recently discovered a supplier of KClO4 and Dark Al that ships to Canada, so now I have moved on to a safer composition. KNO3/Mg is somewhat unstable, as are all Mg based powders.

Using Ammonium Nitrate in combination with magnesium is very dangerous, and downright stupid. A metal that reacts exothermically with water mixed with a very hygroscopic oxidizer? That has to be one of the most unsafe pyrotechnic compositions out there.

[Widigo]

Hello:

I can not find a reference online, even on TNT's website. There is a small light maker that is found in most TNT bundle packages. I have not used them in a few years. They look almost like a cupcake with the top being the diameter of a quarter and the bottom being the diameter of a dime. I have seen them in green and red. They are tiny and they are so bright that I can not look at them. I used to sneak to my buddies bases in firework wars and light them so that we could have time to reload while they couldn't see. I am very interested in trying to reproduce these small toys but I can not find what they were made of. Does anyone have any idea what formula these are made from? They would burn for a good while and I would love to make more.

These may be them, but I can't tell I only see the box.

Lightning Flash - Box of 6 - Sparklers, Smoke, Novelties