LiamPyro Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 Hi, I was just looking at an online site for a pottery supply store in my area, and realized that they have a lot of materials that are useful in pyrotechnics. One of them is black copper oxide, which I just happen to need for some blue stars. I was wondering if pottery-grade chemicals would be pure enough, or if I'm better off buying them online? Thanks!
Mumbles Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 Yep, most of them are pretty good. Not always super pure, but I've never had anything not work. The one main thing is that the carbonates tend to have some sulfate and sulfide in them, which can make them unpleasant to work with when being used as chemical reagents. Not a problem for pyro though. Copper oxide has always worked great for me. Copper carbonate isn't as pretty physical color wise as some of the pyro supplier stuff, but the flame colors are just as good.
LiamPyro Posted February 20, 2015 Author Posted February 20, 2015 Alright cool! Definitely a good opportunity to save some money. It's actually interesting just how many things they have that are used in pyro... barium and strontium carbonates, bentonite clay, various metal oxides, sodium silicate solution, CMC gum, etc.
MrB Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 bentonite clayIf the name of the game is "save money" how about kitty litter?All the cheap stuff for the kittens toilet is nothing but pure bentonite.B! 1
dagabu Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 Alright cool! Definitely a good opportunity to save some money. It's actually interesting just how many things they have that are used in pyro... barium and strontium carbonates, bentonite clay, various metal oxides, sodium silicate solution, CMC gum, etc. Read and black iron oxide under a buck a pound locally at the pottery place. They used to see KNO3 too but some kid bought a #50 and got caught with it it, a bag of dusting sulfur and a bag of briquettes three years back and the cops pressured them to drop it.
LiamPyro Posted February 22, 2015 Author Posted February 22, 2015 If the name of the game is "save money" how about kitty litter?All the cheap stuff for the kittens toilet is nothing but pure bentonite.B!That's true... I already have bentonite clay though, so I wasn't planning to buy it from the pottery shop.
LiamPyro Posted February 22, 2015 Author Posted February 22, 2015 Read and black iron oxide under a buck a pound locally at the pottery place. They used to see KNO3 too but some kid bought a #50 and got caught with it it, a bag of dusting sulfur and a bag of briquettes three years back and the cops pressured them to drop it. Wow! Under a buck a pound? The stuff at my local shop is $4 a pound, and $6 if you want the pure stuff. Fortunately, I found it cheaper online. Black copper oxide sells for $10 a pound, which seems semi-reasonable. BTW that sucks that the store near you was forced to quit selling KNO3... I find it odd that the police were able to do that just because of the kid with the BP chems, it's not illegal to own them or to make black powder! (I think)
carbonhalo Posted February 22, 2015 Posted February 22, 2015 Our local hardware store sells red and black iron oxide at $8/kgused as a concrete colourant
dagabu Posted February 23, 2015 Posted February 23, 2015 Our local hardware store sells red and black iron oxide at $8/kgused as a concrete colourant I tried that, it did not work well at all. I think there are other chems in there as well.
MrB Posted February 23, 2015 Posted February 23, 2015 There should be a MSDS info bit available, at least on request, for those pigments, which should be fairly telling.B!
LiamPyro Posted February 24, 2015 Author Posted February 24, 2015 Yeah, I think those pigments have charcoal and maybe clay in them in addition to the iron oxide. The stuff sold at my local harware is pure charcoal, I believe.
dagabu Posted February 24, 2015 Posted February 24, 2015 There should be a MSDS info bit available, at least on request, for those pigments, which should be fairly telling.B! They don't have to list inert or propriety ingredients if there is nothing reactive about them. Fillers, stabilizers and anti clumping agents do not have to be listed and they can be a huge detriment on its use pyrotechnically and perhaps on purpose.
Mumbles Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 It will still have to list the percentage of "active" components though. I'm sure they're not all created equal. There are probably different blends of pigments depending on which shade you want exactly. There may also be some processing aids. It's cheap and not hard to find in any case.
dagabu Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 Do you think there are retarders in the mix? I got a bottle of the quikcrete red color years ago, before I found the red iron oxide at the pottery store and it didn't work at all.
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