Pyrotechnics!

[r_chez_08]

Well its getting sorta close to the 5th of november (I dunno if you guys in america have guy fawkes/ firework night) and I thought I might try and make some fireworks.

I wondered if anyone on this forum had done so before, and how you go about doing it.
Thx

 

[devino246]

Umm, MAKE fireworks?? Thats sounds like a terribly dangerous idea.

And yeah, we have firework night. Its called F&CK YOU, ENGLAND night, AKA 4th of July

 

[T-man]

Making fireworks is a time consuming thing and you realy need to know your chemistry. Plus if anyone found out that you were making stuff like that you would have the cops knocking on your door. - You could be a terrorist, or got something peronal against someone, or something.

 

[r_chez_08]

Lol fair enough.
Reading into it a bit more i decided to leave it to the pros.
I could just picture the firework exploding on the ground- not nice!
However I might buy some chemicals and make some bangers instead- cos Im a pyromaniac like that

 

[gokart14]

dude i love fireworks.... do you have acsses to gun powder??? if you do your all set

 

[fowler]

why are fireworks banned in aus it sucks

a good bang for your buck is to fill a beer bottle with petrol and stand it in a bomb fire

of course petrol will only burn as a gas and not in the bottle
petrol boils and shoots out top of bottle causeing huge fire ball

u can get 3 to 4 fire balls outta each bottle

probs not the best idea but the fact we had plenty of empty bottles to try on probs had somthing to do wit it
we were trying to get the bottle to blow up but we discovered this instead

 

[shakey0818]

I researched it last year before the 4th of July and it is dangerous but like another person said all you need is gun powder.Google fireworks supply company and you can buy all you need from there.Make sure you take a finger ans toe count before and after u light them off.

 

[r_chez_08]

Lol ok thanks.
Found I can buy potassium nitrate on eBay. That mixed with various chemicals in the right mixture makes a mixture that burns fast/ explodes

 

[B.M.800]

Ever play with magnesium? If not, try an get some.

 

[DCProductions]

Don't know if potato cannons are legal in the UK, but here's an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQqvcqTbUKc

Steel wool on the back of aluminum cans filled with petrol. I've tried steel wool by itself and it's pretty awesome!

 

[Badot]

Black powder is pretty easy to make... Potassium nitrate, charcoal, sulfur. The charcoal can be made out of wood (pinecones have worked well for me) and the sulfur isn't terribly necessary (essentially lowers the ignition point a bit - slightly faster burn, but not worth the extra money IMO)

Throw 'em in a ball mill with nonsparking media and you have yourself some airfloat black powder. Mix it with a bit of water so it's formable, pack it into whatever container you want, and you're good to go. Mix in different chemicals for different colors... powdered magnesium makes and extremely bright white flash

Or when you have the airfloat black powder, I hear a lot of people mix in about 10% motor oil by weight to slow the burn to a suitable fuel for rockets... haven't tried it myself though.

 

[r_chez_08]

@DC: i will look at the vid tomorrow. I am on my ipod which doesnt support it.
@Badot: how much is a ball mill?
Thanks

 

[maxpower49]

Ball mills can be expensive but you can make your own and firework making is illegal but it is actually a rather large hobby there are many websites you can find supplies from. I make plenty of fireworks it is a hobby of mine but I talked my father into getting his pyro enthusiast license, I am 18 but you are not allowed to get one untill you are 21...But i can make fireworks as his "apprentice" eventho I am teaching him lol. If you would like a link to a couple sites for chemicals and a few guides let me know and I can send them to you, but be extremely careful it can be quite dangerous. One more thing if this is just for a holiday it might just be cheaper to buy some fireworks, some of the chemacals can be expensive but they will make allot depends on what you feel like spending and doing.

 

[Badot]

@Badot: how much is a ball mill?

I made one out of a pencil sharpener, an old airsoft BB bottle, some misc. nuts, bolts, and washers, some steel siding to support the drum, a spare bearing, a chunk of wood, and I believe there are nickles in there as the media. As usual though, always keep it a good distance away from anything valuable when it's running

It's basically trash and maybe $2 worth of nickles... small, but does more than what I need.

 

[r_chez_08]

Ok thanks for the advice would an old pill bottle in a lathe work for a ball mill, with some lead shot? Or would the speed be too high? If too high i have an old washing machine motor to use.

 

[maxpower49]

It would work if you can adjust the speed of the mill but you have to mill things for a few hours for good results so I'm not sure how well the mill would stand up to that, but they could probally handel it no prolblem. Here is a great site that really helped me get started it has tons of guides, mixtures and definitions to help you out. http://www.pyroguide.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

 

[r_chez_08]

Ok thanks. I may make one from the old washing machine motor, cos they are designed to run for hours.

 

[Orange Krate]

Burn Notice's Michael Westen at age 13.

"If you need to make an explosive charge, just after the Fourth of July is a perfect time to do so. An M80 is essetially a black cat in a larger tube, with, some extra black power around it and some room to spare. Carefully unwrap a few more black cats and use the powder to fill up that extra a space, and, you've got yourself an M80 with a whole lot more bang for your buck"