ClayDog Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) I'm working on a daytime black burst.This one is 3" ball with 10g charge of 70/30 boom boom surrounded by 40g airfloat charcoal. I pushed it with an Estes D12-0, that took it about 150 feet.We used to make them with used copier toner (resin), hard to find now. Going to try black chalk next. Anyone know a decent flash comp that creates black smoke? Cant find much on it... Thx CD https://youtu.be/yj-2o5EpC-Q Edited January 13, 2017 by ClayDog 1
lloyd Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 Try Shimizu's black naphthalene star. There are two in Lancaster... I forget it's number, but it's chlorate and naphthalene. It's a great daylight black. If you make the stars very small, it'll make a black cloud with little spikes that look a lot like ack-ack. Lloyd 1
ClayDog Posted January 13, 2017 Author Posted January 13, 2017 Howdy Lloyd, thx for response. Shimizu Black Smoke stars. I did make some 3 days ago, 0.5". They are in a baggie. In another baggie. Then in a quart bell mason jar. Stinky sons a bitches they are. I had not considered making them part of the burst as smaller stars, good idea. Durn sure will NOT make next batch in the shop.Will post results here, probably popping them with the black chalk burst. CD
AzoMittle Posted January 15, 2017 Posted January 15, 2017 Black Smoke Stars (Daylight Stars - Shimizu)[Potassium chlorate 44Antimony 24Napthalene 26Dextrin 6Use quickly else keep very tightly sealed. The Napthalene will evaporate if the stars are left in a device or left unsealed. The resultant star would be very sensitive. Always press these mixtures. Another version by Ken Miller:potassium chlorate - 60 %napthalene, - 20 mesh (crushed flakes or mothballs are just fine) - 40%antimony sulphide, dust - +4%This mix was meant to be safer than the Shimizu version - and looks like it should be. Put this in a 1" tube with 1/2" nozzle or no nozzle. Light with a slight bit of comp and blackmatch. Always press these mixtures. An Easy Black/Gray Smoke (military formula) that produces volumesHydrochloroethane 45Zinc Oxide 45Dark Aluminum 10Prime using 50/50 smoke mix and meal then 100 meal. Quoted ad verbatim from: http://www.creagan.net/fireworks/compositions.html#smokestarsI cannot comment on how well these will work as stars versus ground effects (or if they will at all...). If you try any of them please report back! It is worth noting that the last formula Creagan lists is very similar to Ellern's Grey Smoke: Ellern's Grey Smoke45.5 Zinc oxide45.5 HCE09.0 Calcium silicide Another smoke that might work (again, no promises) would be: Faber's Brown Smoke47.4 Potassium nitrate29.2 Asphalt resin10.6 Sodium borate04.9 Calcium carbonate04.0 Sand03.9 Sulfur
ClayDog Posted January 15, 2017 Author Posted January 15, 2017 Thx AzoMittle, It looks like Ken Millers mix might make a denser smoke. Will try it! What I have found with Shimizu is that if you spill the smoke stars they make better trails. If you break the shell hard, they ignite & fly fine, but traveling too fast to leave a real smoke trail. Thx CD
lloyd Posted January 15, 2017 Posted January 15, 2017 I've made the Shimizu smoke on numerous occasions. At least with larger stars, you can break it hard, like a chrysanthemum should be done, and they leave dense, highly-visible trails. But I can see how - if they were very small - there wouldn't be all that much smoke to see in each star's trail. LLoyd
AzoMittle Posted January 15, 2017 Posted January 15, 2017 I was able to track down a couple other black smoke formulations that may work, I can send them to you if you want. Generally speaking all of the smokes I have are based around either dyes, an extremely slow burning / smoldering pot, or a system of oxidizer (potassium chlorate or nitrate) + carbon source(s) (charcoal, HCE, lampblack) + anthracene and/or naphtalene; some are modified with aluminum, magnesium, sulfur, realgar, or stearin. There are also some based off of zinc like the Ellern's I quoted above. Here are some examples of the more interesting ones. As always, caveat emptor: Smoke, Black Intense50.0 HCB17.0 A-Napthol11.0 Magnesium09.5 Potassium nitrate06.0 Lampblack04.0 Anthracene03.0 Sulfur00.5 Asphalt resin Ellern #13450 Cupric oxide35 Lead dioxide15 Magnesium Black Smoke Pot70 Potassium nitrate30 Red gum10 Barium nitrate10 Stearin
WSM Posted January 16, 2017 Posted January 16, 2017 Instead of air-float charcoal or black chalk, why don't you try lampblack fluffed up with some Cab-O-Sil? I think it would have the best air burst appearance. Good luck. WSM
FlaMtnBkr Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 Wasn't copy toner some type of lampblack? If so, lampblack may get you close to the original. Though there are many different types from what I understand. I think there are also much cheaper sources than pyro suppliers if it doesn't need to burn.
lloyd Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 Fla,No... it's a fusible black plastic in sub-micron particle size. So it looks a lot like lampblack. Only, this stuff melts at high temperatures, and doesn't burn worth a hoot. Lloyd
mabuse00 Posted September 11, 2021 Posted September 11, 2021 (edited) Have you seen those salutes?At 1:00. I would rarely shoot anything in daylight, but this makes me curious. How is this done?Smokemix like mentioned above mixed in flash? Or flash surrounded by naphtalene, like a fuel/air explosive? Edited September 11, 2021 by mabuse00
FlaMtnBkr Posted March 21, 2022 Posted March 21, 2022 I know this is older but since you didn't get an answer... I believe those are lamparas (sp?) which are big cylinder shells that have a bottle full of gasoline or diesel along with a bunch of vit F to disperse the fuel and light it. A search should provide plenty of info on their construction.
SharkWhisperer Posted March 21, 2022 Posted March 21, 2022 I know this is older but since you didn't get an answer... I believe those are lamparas (sp?) which are big cylinder shells that have a bottle full of gasoline or diesel along with a bunch of vit F to disperse the fuel and light it. A search should provide plenty of info on their construction.That vid is very cool, as are the lamps! Especially the bigger ones. Link to DK's tutorial... http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fireworks/lampare.html
Richtee Posted March 21, 2022 Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) I know this is older but since you didn't get an answer... I believe those are lamparas (sp?) which are big cylinder shells that have a bottle full of gasoline or diesel along with a bunch of vit F to disperse the fuel and light it. A search should provide plenty of info on their construction.Lampares. And you do NOT wanna “flower pot”. Altho they are rather spectacular. I use a HD freezer ziplok for gasoline. The launch ruptured it, was a flameball to about 30 feet and did an impressive napalm imitation. Gadzooks! I’d suggest recycle a plastic water bottle. The HD ones. Edited March 21, 2022 by Richtee 1
mabuse00 Posted June 24, 2022 Posted June 24, 2022 Gasoline then, thank you.I got some naphthalene last year, it was a challenge to put in stink-proof storage, and now I dont want to open it up again Do people usually prefer pure gasoline or is there some napalm-style thickener involved (that likely produces even more smoke?)?
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