Flash Powder

[CarolinaPyro]

Hello, I recently purchased some Eckart 5413H Aluminum powder german blackhead and some perchlorate. This will be my first time making this. I have a few questions. What does it take to set it off? Is this powder very stable? How many grams do I mix at once? Where and how do I mix it? All comments are appreciated. Thank you!

[Xtreme Pyro]

Hello, I recently purchased some Eckart 5413H Aluminum powder german blackhead and some perchlorate. This will be my first time making this. I have a few questions. What does it take to set it off? Is this powder very stable? How many grams do I mix at once? Where and how do I mix it? All comments are appreciated. Thank you!

 

Again.. new member and already asking about flash.. Why do you feel the need to make flash? Nothing against you, just curious.

 

To answer your question... flash can be impact and friction sensitive, static can be an issue as well. I personally mix via the diaper method (if you don't know what it is, look it up), and no more than 10 grams at a time. I also suggest spraying your work area with static guard. Flash is NOT something that a beginner should be making, and NOT something to take lightly.. it deserves alot of respect.

[CarolinaPyro]

I want flash to make salutes. I love to put overloads in .. well, anything really. Recently, as you may know or not know the "black market" for overloads has come to an end. The only way to get big crackers is to make them yourself now or take the risk of buying them from a different country. Firecrackers/Salutes are my favorite firework personally. Making is a whole lot cheaper too. I do not know much about making though. I know the correct mixtures, but im not sure how sensative my aluminum and flash powder will be. I was honestly thinking of getting a pinecone picker upper thingand just putting it in a cup and shaking it and looking away. So if it did go off, I would not be harmed mixing in small amounts. Is pouring it into tubes safe? And is there any method to get it in there and do I pack it or not?

[Col]

Judging by your questions you appear to have almost zero experience with pyro in general. Looking away is not going to save you from fragments of the pine cone picker upper.

[ddewees]

At least he's honest...

 

Search for "binary mixing flash" and don't use any other method.

 

Of course, you should also be warned that what you wish to do is more than likely illegal and can lead to severe consequences.

 

Don't become a nuisance, try to do something positive for this hobby. If you love salutes, then try and get yourself a job working on a display crew. You'll be legal, praised for your work and see (hear and feel) all kinds of large salutes.

[CarolinaPyro]

I plan to mix 1 gram at a time and that will not blow up a stainless steel punecone thing. Thanks for the advice ddewres!

[Jakenbake]

If you don't know all this info about the chems you are mixing then how do you know it won't rupture this "punecone thing" baking your arm with hot nasty chlorine gases?

[gregh]

Thanks for the advice ddewres!

who?

[ddewees]

Close enough.

[Sparx88]

The aluminum that you have is very reactive and very sensitive and it does'nt get much better than that. Top shelf stuff. I know your going to do this no matter what we say. So take it easy, do your research and don't get careless about it. It only takes getting bit once, like a philippine cobra. Do not grind the perchlorate, use it as it is the way you got it. You already have the best aluminum, don't push it. Static shocks will set it off. And it does'nt need to come from your hand it can happen with spoons and other plastic things to stir or mix. Use wood. But even after all that I still have to say you should'nt do it. Don't be like some of those jerk offs on youtube. Do some searching on the web about flash powder accidents and see for yourself why this is not a safe thing to do without experience.

[Arthur]

The issues are two fold.

1/ you will annoy the neighbours, so they will end up reporting you to law enforcement wherever. You will get noticed for all the wrong things and may see and excessive terrorist charge coming your way.

2/ You may find out the hard way about flash being powerful when your hands and fingers separate and go flying past your face.

[jessoman]

carolina, If your thinking of mixing flash in the way proposed- coupled with the knowledge you have so far, you are likely to be seriously injured. At least spend a few hours reading the forums. Research binary method.

[r44astro]

CarolinaPyro

 

I am an old beginner, I have mostly been making small batches of BP in harbor freight ball mill, using welding gloves, welding coat and face shield when opening jar with a bucket of water near outside 200 ft away of barn. I am working on different granulation methods for lift and my BP rifle. I have made a few cut stars and star gun to test, using baseballs to test lift. Back to flash, even 1 gram of flash, spread out flashes, contain that same 1 gram of flash and it explodes violently. I would listen to these guys with experience on this forum. If 10 grams went off with diaper method you can be seriously hurt, loose an eye, finger or worse. If you want large explosion and have 100 yard rifle range shoot some Tanerite. It is a lot of fun, safe and legal in most areas and you'll improve your aim.

Just saying. Again I am a beginner so take my words as such.

Bill

[FlaMtnBkr]

Flash is powerful and will ruin lives if handled incorrectly. That said, it isn't a touch explosive and needs a reason to ignite. If you mix it in the container it is going in via the binary method so you aren't playing with mixed flash you will be a lot better off. For many of us it is winter right now. That spark that zaps your finger when you reach for the door knob is enough to make mixed flash ignite.

 

Flash can be made safely and is done so all the time. But do yourself a favor and read for a couple hours about flash and pyro safety. A search here on flash and safety should give plenty of reading material.

 

But what you want to make is likely illegal and definitely cannot be transported off your property legally. Home made fireworks, even stuff that doesn't blow up, are classified differently than commercial fireworks and are treated like explosives. In our post 9/11 world things are looked at differently and if you run into problems with the law you could quickly be labeled a terrorist or a suspect in possession of bomb making material. Without the material to make 'pretty' fireworks you will be looked at as a boomer playing with explosives and not a guy that likes and makes fireworks but was ignorant of the law. A felony isn't something to take lightly so know what you are doing can get you in a lot of very expensive legal trouble. It also puts a black eye on the hobby and gives anti's more reason to make all fireworks illegal.

 

I'm curious why you say some type of fireworks are gone? Were these commercial or illegal fireworks? If commercial, the name may change, but I bet the same fireworks will still be around to purchase. That's a game that has been played a long time.

[CarolinaPyro]

I would just like to affirm to you guys it is 100% legal and does not annoy neighbors. We live on 1260 acres with a few family members spread across it and he has an ATF High Explosives License. He is not familiar with flash, he uses dynamite. Dynamite is very expensive and to much of a bang most of the time. It vaporizes anything to blow up. I want something powerful enough to launch a baseball a few hundred feet into the air, but not vaporize it. I will be using the binary method and come up with some contraption to mix it for me. Thank you guys for all the help! I had never heard of the binary method.

[CarolinaPyro]

And I also do have fun, creative, and pretty good Firework Shows there each 4th of July. Those are very fun to set up, and everyone enjoys them! It is though that is very expensive and my relative and I cannot do it but once a year.

[r44astro]

CarolinaPyro

To launch baseballs a couple hundred feet only requires 5 grams of ball milled BP normally 8 grams of BP gives me 4 seconds from apogee to hit ground around 300 feet I guess. My guess is even a half gram of flash under a base ball will blow up launch tube. Depending on the tube material you could have dangerous shrapnel coming towards you. I am just a beginner but I have never ever heard about any experienced pyro guys use fast flash for lift powder but I could be wrong.

[GalFisk]

For launching things out of a tube, such as baseballs (or fireworks shells) there are better powders than flash. My personal favorite is benzolift, but that is only because I don't yet have the equipment to make consistently good black powder. Both powders produce more gas and less brisance than flash - but benzolift can be pretty angry and is only really suitable for 3" shells and smaller. For bigger stuff, a more gentle "push" (relatively speaking) is needed.

The "angry" flash produced from blackhead is mostly used for creating a sharp loud crack, a brilliant flash of light, and for breaking apart stuff violently. Also where space is at a premium, so the most power needs to be concentrated to the smallest volume.

 

Flash powder is sensitive to heat, sparks, electrostatic discharge, shock and friction. The first two are rather obvious, but the latter three have also bitten people badly. FlaMtnBkr has good advice.

 

I'd recommend learning to make the more basic (sefety-wise) compositions in pyrotechnics first. Black powder, and black powder-based fireworks stars can be a nice starting point. And when you can make your own fireworks effects, the 4th of July shows can be that much more spectacular on the same budget. A small star mine of tiger tail or some basic glitter can cost less than a buck in chemical ingredients.

 

What ever you decide to make, learn all you can about the chemicals used for making it, the process for making it safely, and the properties of the finished product itself. Learning about what NOT to do, and what can go wrong, is also useful. I think reading accident and incident reports have made me more aware of the risks involved than all the stuff about how to do it the right way. Learning from the mistakes of others is much better than making them yourself.

[Mumbles]

If your intention really is to launch something, flash powder is not the answer. I think you're misinformed about how flash powder can be used. It's still far too brisant. You'll want black powder.

 

You may also want to read up on local, state, and federal laws. A federal user permit may still not cover you 100%. Additionally, the presence of such a license will demand that you do everything by the letter of the law or risk losing it.

[AldoSPyro]

CarolinaPyro I know you from YouTube and I think I might have directed you to this forum. Mumbles is totally right, whatever relative has the ATF license could lose it if he doesn't follow everything exactly by word of law. Also what type of ATF license does he have? He needs a type 20 license to manufacture fireworks and explosives. I believe to use dynamite you only need a type 54 users permit. You are very lucky to have that property, I live on a 1 acre property in California.

[CarolinaPyro]

Aldo, he has one. He does not have a fitted storage, therefore we would have to light it on the same day. I did not come here to get into legal matters, just to find out the safest way to make flash and I found that. I will probably not make flash because Id rather keep my hands. Thank you all for the help.

[Arthur]

Possession of a HE store licence imposes TOTAL COMPLIANCE FOR EVERYTHING. Do not make fireworks or flash powder or anything without the correct permits -all of them.

It only takes one transgression of regulations to have that licence removed, likely permanently.

 

Lift should be good BP but if you have a HE store, you could apply for a licence variation to allow commercial BP in there. 3 - 5 grammes of BP will lift a cricket ball to a very good height so scale that to a baseball.

 

Likely your HE supplier will know who supplies BP in moderate bottles (in the UK it's 500g bottles max)

 

I've seen attempts at lifting a shell with benzolift which resulted in a split mortar every time. Flash will simply turn the mortar and the ball into shrapnel.

Remember that BP produces gaseous products (50% IIRC) which moves things, Flash doesn't make gas it's solid + solid > solid + solid Only the surrounding air heated by the flame moves anywhere or anything. A flash shockwave can be useful for breaking things. But in this case playing with DIY flash could break your family's good relationship with the authorities.

[FlaMtnBkr]

Flash's combustion products are a solid at ambient temperature. But there are gaseous at combustion temps. Regardless, it's much too powerful for lifting anything that you want to be whole.

 

If you like pyro look into making your own BP. You will need a ball mill to make good powder but I actually find it fun seeing how hot I can make it. Charcoal is a crucial component and easy to make so I tried a bunch of different woods from around the property and found some really hot ones.

 

You can launch things like a baseball or a PVC shuttle that is described in an article. The resulting flight time gives an idea of power. Once you have good BP You can make lots of things like great rockets. After that first rocket takes off and gets lost in the clouds you will be hooked. Then you can get a rocket test stand and test your BP that way. Raw data on your computer will let you try all types of things and be able to precisely compare to other data.

 

Or if you are like many pyros and like guns you can get a cheap BP rifle and a chronograph to test the power of your BP. Plus it's a great feeling making your own BP and shooting a rifle with it using BP that is as good, or likely better, than the stuff you buy.

 

Of course most people don't do any of this but it's one little aspect of pyro that could likely keep you occupied for months if not years. And there are tons of effects that you can make from fairly simple to mind boggling complex/precise.

 

I like rockets and think they are a good place for a beginner to start. You can roll your own tubes from grocery bags and wheat paste made from flour or plain Elmers glue. You can make a core burner toolset from some wooden dowels and a nail. Pound in some kitty litter clay, even mediocre BP, then tape on a stick and fuse and in a couple minutes send a rocket to the heavens. If you have perfected your BP and it's hot then you can forego the clay and make a nozzle-less rocket that takes off like a bullet and a fierce 'whoosh' that will get any red blooded American make with a pulse giggling like a school girl the first time they have a successful launch. And some of us have the same response even after their thousandth launch.

 

It you can buy expensive tubes, rocket tooling that looks like a work of art, and a press to make rockets that climb nearly a mile or lift tens of pounds. You can make it as simple or complex as you want along with most other things with the hobby.

 

Once you start making stuff you can take that aluminum and dust your BP with it to strengthen/speed it up and get it sounding more like a salute.

 

Anyways, I'm sitting in a hospital room wide awake and rambling. Good luck and be safe.

[MrB]

Anyways, I'm sitting in a hospital room wide awake and rambling. Good luck and be safe.

What are you doing there? Courtesy visit, i hope?

B!

[rogeryermaw]

You ok Ryan? Keep us updated! Hope all is well.