newb to it all

[eaglesfn68]

just wanted to say hi that i just signed up and am a total newb. what should i start out with. i heard start working with bp. should i buy it or mix it myself. and then just make what, smoke bombs, bottle rockets, aerials, etc. thxs and any websites you have with info would be great. i checked wikipedia and they dont have much.

[Umphrey]

You should probably start out with smoke/black powder. Make a small KN/SU(potassium nitrate/sucrose) smoke device. It is highly advisable to get a ball mill running as soon as possible, or else it is difficult to make decent BP.

should i buy it or mix it myself.

It is best to make it yourself, as buying it is both costly and can be difficult to find. If you are buying make sure it really is black powder. Pyrodex and smokeless powders are NOT black powder.

 

 

For reading:

http://www.pyroguide.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

You should read over the whole site, then check out the tutorial section.

 

Ladykate's site is also excellent: http://www.creagan.net/fireworks/

 

Wouter's practical pyrotechnics is one of the best sources of information: http://www.wfvisser.dds.nl/indexEN.html

 

Best of AFN III:

Link Deleted

This is may be difficult to understand for one not familar with pyrotechnics, but it is still a very informative read.

 

After you get some BP chems you can try making a basic charcoal fountain. You can just use green mix(this is just the BP ingredients screened together) in a fountain. Also, it is very important to read before asking questions. We frown on spoonfeeding people too often.

 

 

 

 

Edit: Apologies for the copyright infringement, I was unaware posting it wasn't condoned. I've seen BAFNIII posted here several times with no warning, so I had incorrectly assumed it to be alright.

Sorry

 

Are George Weingart's works okay to post?

[Mumbles]

Deleted the link to the book. It's still under copywrite, and we cannot condone or allow the open sharing of the book.

[FUZE]

Well, I would try melting KNO3 & Sucrose together (potassium nitrate and sugar) over a low temp until it almost looks like peanut butter then let it cool and harden on wax paper in good size amounts about a half dollar or so. Make sure that u mix it 70/30 ratio so say 7 grams potassium nitarte and 3 grams sugar. But when u heat up the mixture I highly advise you not to do so in your own home. If the mixture ignites it creates alot of smoke.

[asilentbob]

That progression:

(BP or smoke mix), rockets, aerials sounds pretty good. I think that trying a few other small things just for the added experience would be good too. Things like fountains and spinners (ground, bees, saxons, etc). Also when your getting ready to do aerials, try a starmine or 2, they create a very beautiful effect that is seldom seen in OTC fireworks.

 

Some beginner projects:

Ball mill (make or buy)

(harbor frieght tools has some rock tumblers that many pyros use)

 

Stargun(s) (make it, pretty much a solid tube with one end plugged and a hole near the plug for a fuse... they are used to test fire stars into the air... like a one-shot roman candle... don't hold it though)

 

Star roller... if your making your ball mill it would be a good idea to find a way so that you can use it as a star roller if you get to the point that you want to roll stars instead of cutting or pumping them.

 

Also when you start making stars, don't go overboard with colors... Chrysanthemums and some glitters require very little more than black powder chemicals and the effects are very beautiful.

[aquaman]

Heres my beginners list to more advanced devices:

 

Rolling tubes, smoke devices, BP (whichever method), fountains, hummers, stars, star mine, roman candles, whistlers, rockets, aerial shells, firecrackers/salutes.

 

That's roughly how I started out.

 

Check out the member tutorials to learn how to make some of this stuff.

 

You if you have any problems or "serious" questions just ask. Just don't make a new thread for every question that you have. Post in a topic that is related to your question. Also if you use the search button for this website you can probably find an answer for any question that you may have.

[itwasntme]

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.pyrotechnics/topics

 

Search there before doing anything. I have gotten MANY good ideas from there. it is my favorite group. With out that group, I wouldn't know half of what I do now!

 

For a beginner project, make kno3/sugar and get some coarse charcoal, add it to the kno3/sugar and put it in a mini fountain like in my tutorial.

 

http://www.apcforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1321&hl=

[deadman]

I am pretty sure I first did a KNSU smoke bomb. There is a thread that answered this question inadvertantly. If you'd like to take a look then: http://www.apcforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1163&hl=

[mormanman]

Um the best way to make smoke bomb is find a blender (not your moms go buy one if you use something for pyro never again use it for food) use the KnO3/sugar 70/30 mix. Blend them together for about 15 to 30 seconds and presto. Put it in a paper tube or light it by itself, you can make fuses out of it with a straw by ramming the mix into the straw you may want to put some clear packaging tape on one end though, but its a good fuse a made one that was water proof once.

[deadman]

I definitley would not do that. Also "best" may not have been the best choice of words for that method. If you are going to be grinding powders in blenders/grinders you want 2, at least. For oxidizers and reducers. I personally like mixing then melting into an empty toilet paper roll with a fuse going all the way through the comp. So to each his own, and smokers are fun for newbies.

 

Sidenote: I wouldn't have too much of a problem using foodware that had sources of KNO3 and/or sugar. As long as it wasn't too much in it.