MrCATO Posted March 18 Posted March 18 (edited) I've made a few new headings using blue aluminum and 50/40/10 kclo4/al/s. The al is a 50:50 mix of blue/dark. I use a small 1g charge of hot 70/30 attached to the match to help it go. Open air the mix is not nearly as reactive as 70/30 but confined it seems to be every bit as reactive. I also switched over to jute twine instead of cotton. For some reason I break cotton string really easily and this stuff is very hard to break. The reason I switched comps is to pursue a cheaper way to make these and be a bit safer in the process. I also want to address an issue with oxidizer always clumping up. Is it safe to prescreen kclo4 together with sulfur and the less reactive aluminum that way all that needs to be done is diapering in dark al? I took a few small samples of this premix and smacked it with a hammer a few times. I also tried grinding it with a hammer. I even took a torch to it and I can't get it to do anything. Does that mean it's safe to store a "cold mix" to hasten construction and eliminate clumping or is this a bad idea? Edited March 18 by MrCATO 1
DavidF Posted March 19 Posted March 19 The problem is that the moderator (Sidewinder) has unequivocally stated that these types of conversations are now forbidden on this forum, unless they take place in a special section that requires "vetting" to get into. We are now all timid about answering any questions about flash because he has already shut down discussions about it and locked threads to show us he means business. The forum rules state that intelligent discussion about flash is allowed, but intelligent discussions have been locked down, so there's a disparity between what's been OK and what's now not OK. Personally, I think preventing the free discussion of this topic in an open forum simply drives people towards uninformed personal experimentation that ends up being more risky than the perceived potential harm of free discussion. In the past, I have suggested that newbies with flash-related questions could be directed to the very informative Wikipedia article, which I've linked to several times now. This is the link that I feel should be offered by a moderator if they have a concern about potential liability issues due to allowing free discussion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_powder I think most experienced pyros would be OK with screening the pre-mix, but I personally wouldn't find it necessary or do it. There are a lot of discussions about Vitamin F and blue aluminum sprinkled throughout the forum. I'm almost positive you'll find a good answer without anybody needing to get their wrist slapped
MrCATO Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 I'm well aware of the "gatekeeping" and how people in this community enjoy(sarcasm) discussing flash openly. I seen the HE board and sent a message to an admin to request access so as not to step on anyone's toes. I'd like to remain in good graces but it's imo that I'm doing myself a disservice by waiting on a response just to be able to be taught proper safety procedures on something I'm not going to wait to do. I've seen such threads before (it's where I got the formula). But they don't answer all of my questions which is why I brought it up. I'll check them out again, thanks.
Zumber Posted March 19 Posted March 19 Plus one,I have also sent pm to admin for HE access two times, last was in June 2024 and recently just in last week but it seems he hasn't read it. Kindly waiting out for response. 1
MrCATO Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 (edited) Again I want to reiterate. I'm not trying to rock the boat so to speak, just want to emphasize my due diligence at going through the proper channels. Something to add relating to the thread subject but not directly, would I benefit from getting thicker casings? For example the bottom shot casings from woodys. These ones I'm using are a bit more affordable but the sidewalls are quite a bit thinner. When I'm spiking, I notice some slight crushing as I'm wrapping the string. In my mind it's not tight enough unless the string is imprinting in the cardboard discs/casings. Edited March 19 by MrCATO
Carbon796 Posted March 19 Posted March 19 Those look more than acceptable for rocket headings. If anything I would say the endisks look a little sub par. But for rocket headings, they're probably just fine. For inserts in a shell I would use doubled up 1/8" chipboard disks. One inner & one outer, for example.
mx5kevin Posted March 21 Posted March 21 On 3/18/2025 at 2:12 PM, MrCATO said: I've made a few new headings using blue aluminum and 50/40/10 kclo4/al/s. The al is a 50:50 mix of blue/dark. I use a small 1g charge of hot 70/30 attached to the match to help it go. Open air the mix is not nearly as reactive as 70/30 but confined it seems to be every bit as reactive. I also switched over to jute twine instead of cotton. For some reason I break cotton string really easily and this stuff is very hard to break. The reason I switched comps is to pursue a cheaper way to make these and be a bit safer in the process. I also want to address an issue with oxidizer always clumping up. Is it safe to prescreen kclo4 together with sulfur and the less reactive aluminum that way all that needs to be done is diapering in dark al? I took a few small samples of this premix and smacked it with a hammer a few times. I also tried grinding it with a hammer. I even took a torch to it and I can't get it to do anything. Does that mean it's safe to store a "cold mix" to hasten construction and eliminate clumping or is this a bad idea? I have been using the ratio for several years, with Blue+Dark 50:50, and pure dark too. There are no storage problems with it, it maintains its consistency even after long storage, up to 2 years. To fix clumping problem simple heat the KClO4 before and after the grinding. Have much more better visual effect than the standard 70/30. There are two videos on my Bitchute or Odysee channels that show in detail how I make it, with friction sensitivity tests. There are also i made many tests with KClO4/Al/S 50/40/10%, check the mini match cracker video. In the Testing flash powders for firecrackers from the popular most know oxidizers video i compared with 70/30 and KNO3/Mg/S 50/40/10. The difference in both cases is drastic in visual effect and performance. KClO4 Al S 50 40 10 meets the highest quality requirements and expectations in every respect: Visual effect, safety, sound power, excellently tolerates the use of coarser aluminum powder well compared with another KClO4 Al and KClO4 Al S ratios, and does not need to protect the aluminum with boric acid. A true masterpiece. It has merits that no other flash powder has.
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