New teenager

[willowmp]

hi everyone, im willow and i have been a pyro pretty much my whole life. Yes of course iv done all the youtube model rocket explosives and whatnot and have ben doing those for years. This year i have really gotten into wanting to make my own fireworks, not co2 bombs or that whatnot, real fireworks. The fireworks i have made so far are firecrackers using armstrong's mix(yes i know the dangers to armstrong;s mix) and have also made bottle rockets. I dont consider the firecrackers as truely homemade because all i did was stick it in lego pieces and let dry. But i am pretty proud with the BP rockets. Two have failed and because of my younger days of model rocketry i knew what to look for. i completely made these rockets except for the BP.

 

 

Now heres my main issue and why i am writing this thread, i am a high schooler(15 years old). i am very smart and have studied pyrotechnics for many ears over the internet. the two problems that stand in my way are obtaining materials and parents. my dad is fine with my hobby but my mother does not understand. i live with my mother and have seen if i could persuade her into allowing this hobby but she wasn't fazed by my attempts. because i am only 15 i have no way of accessing chemicals unless i find the equivlent in a product suh as model rocket estes engines for BP and stum remover as potasum nitrate. do any of you think you could help me with my situations, i really love thisas a hobby and i think i could do something related to pyrotechnics as a job but my mother will not agree.

 

Thanks;

willow

[Jason]

The best way to persuade parents, and the way that I did it, is just talked with my mom about the things I had learned and what I knew.

 

My first experiment in pyrotechnics was BP/Rockets, and now that I make consistant rockets she sees that I know what i'm doing and trusts me.

 

Also, parents normally don't like letting their kids play with stuff that explodes. Stay away from anything that goes "boom". Once your mother sees you know what you are doing she'll trust you.

 

Next, getting the material to make BP is both easy and cheap. All you have to do is get:

 

Potassium Nitrate can be purchased as fertilizer commonly 13.75 - 0 - 46

 

Sulfur can be purchased as wettable/dusting sulfur. It's not very pure but it's not the determining factor in BP.

 

Charcoal can be made for cheap. Get a good tree, i.e. willow, black willow, red aldar, poplar, paulowania, balsa, white pine, silver maple, etc. Next, put your small pieces in a tin can (paint can for example) put the top on, drill a 1/2" hole in the top and place it on a controlled fire until its done smoking. Voila. Charcoal.

 

The first thing I recommend making is a fountain. It's probably the easiest pyrotechnic device. Then build from there.

 

Hope this helps. GL, stay safe, and have fun.

[mormanman]

Here is what I did and it worked for me. Do some stuff behind her back like fountains and stuff. The one day take her out side and show her a fountain. My mom didn't want me to do this hobby and I should her one and she was all like wow that was pretty cool. So just make sure it doesn't blow up when you show her though, if that happens you can do it anymore. Its risky but it might work. Just let the fountain breathe. If that makes sense.

[willowmp]

yea these are great answers. morman i might try what you said it worked on my dad. the only thing i hope doesnt happen is that she sees it then decides to make it even harder for me to make fireworks. another problem is i can basically only do BP bottle rockets because thats all i have. i take the BP out of estes model rocket engines, which can get expensive(not to expensive for a pyrolover ). i dont know how i would obtain the chems for a fountain, unless i use powdered sparkler and bp to form an upside down rocket that is very rich in effect and not in bp.

 

or i could just get some crappy fountains and liberate the powder even though i dont have much acess to them due to being a minor that cannot drive yet. even when i am able to drive i believe the policy is that you must be over 18 or have somebody over 18 with you to buy consumer fireworks.

 

 

what i really need to do is make a ball mill and ill be able to make my own BP i know how it will just be tough to get the ball mill, unless i get a craft store little kiddy rock tumbler kit lmao.

[flying fish]

I use a rock tumbler with coins...real cheap! (Then again I don't do any really serious milling, but it does work ok)

 

I was a little older when I started getting seriously into homemade pyro (almost 18), and my parents were a little skeptical (needed some convincing - especially my mom) but they let me buy the materials I wanted. Their skepticism went away when they saw that I was spending more time working on star formulas than actually building devices. Of course now they look forward to my occasional shell test.

 

This probably doesn't help (hopefully doesn't make you jealous, lol), but I thought I'd share it anyway. But the lesson is that you can try to show your parents that you are interested in the science and beauty of fireworks and not the bangs. Also, you should know, and demonstrate that you know the proper safety precautions when working with BP and fireworks.

 

At 15 I imagine it would be a little harder to convince your parents to let you get into pyro. I do admire your interest in legitimate pyrotechnics at such a young age. It's refreshing to see a 15 year old interested in something other than "kewl bombz".

[mormanman]

flying fish I'm 15 dang. Jk.

 

But the way I made a fountain was I make a TT rocket and flipped it upside down.

If you didn't know already a TT rocket is bp with extra charcoal. Very cheap to make.

[styropyro]

Man I haven't posted here in forever, it's nice to be back.

 

Anyway, moms will be moms, they will always be conserned about your saftey. Start with small things and always tell her that you will be safe, and that you won't be doing stupid things. Also take on new things slow. When I was 12 it took some persuading to buy my first few pounds of Potassium Nitrate, but when they heard me talking about the chemistry behind the fireworks they let me. Then it took some more persuading for some different chemicals after that. I'm gonna be 15 in a few days and now the persuading is over, they trust me becuase I showed them responibility and now I am happily building aerial shells, it did take a while, but it was easily worth it.

[flying fish]

And I thought I found pyro early in life. I didn't realize there were so many young pyros out there. I suppose it makes sense though - pyrotechnics are very addictive, and they can be learned about over the internet. What 15 year old isn't constantly on the web looking for something else he can get himself addicted to in order to counter his internet addiction?!

[mormanman]

Books.

[flying fish]

Books.

That works too! I'm too cheap to buy books (spending too much on books for college!). Personally I learned via much internet reading and experimenting. But there are plenty of pyro books that I want to get my hands on, and probably would have learned more efficiently with.

[willowmp]

lol

 

i think i will make a little fountain and stuff and show her, good idea with the char. i didnt remember it could be used thanks

[mormanman]

I don't know who that was directed to and if it was me I'll share the credit b/c I learned from these guy. But your welcome.

[willowmp]

yea my friend mentioned that i could make a powerpoint with vids and stuff howing how it was a hobby and the safety i would take. also show her my knowlage in pyrotechnics thats what changed my dads views.

 

if i can convince her im gong to start savin up for the UN 3 pound ball mill with lead media included, this way ill be able to make my own bp instead of using estes rocket engines that kills some of the fun.

 

do you guys think it would be a good buy, being 3 pounds im sure it isnt to large but i think it would bbe fine for me, and bsides it would be so much better then usin a rock tumbler and hell its from UN lmao.

[Choco]

Hey, I think all our mums will be worried about our safety which is fair enough

What i did was i took mum outside and showed some little fireworks i have made and she was impressed. If it's your dad, for arguments sake i told him that I'm just being a boy and I'm sure you would have done the same when you were young...

Seem to work

 

My Ball mill is an old lathe with a PVC pipe on it and that spins great. But a little to fast.

Hope this is useful!

[willowmp]

yes it is very much

 

 

but i just tried a small test where i took a small ammount of my TT powder and made it into a little fountain

 

 

after 2 fuse failures i put a small bit of bp on the nozzle and down the hole and used i candle to set it off, sadly the bp delayed in lighting and right as my face was over the fountain it ignited and violently catoed in my face. the tube didnt burst but it shot the kitty litter like a shotgun into my face and let me tell you that hurts like a bitch, it even hit my eye damn.

 

 

so fckin stupid

 

no eye injuries or other injuries just scared me shitless im never doing that again

[mormanman]

LOL wow. Sounds like me a year ago.

Don't give up on fountains just yet. Try again but this time make a bigger hole in the nozzle.

[deadman]

I think if it shot out like buckshot the clay was too loose or thin to try to be used. Try ramming a plug that has the same depth as the tube's inner diameter.

[willowmp]

lmao i found the problem, the TT BP mix i made is extremely fast, i dont know why as i only added fine charcloth to it.

 

 

i did the paper test it didnt burn through, it didnt even leave a mark on the other side.

 

 

 

i think there was another problem the tubes seemed weaker and both kinda bent to a small extent, but the fountain was to the point of the grain possibly having a rather large air pocket, even through the tube felt very solid. the nozzle was actually very big and very thick possibly why it hurt rather bad lol.

 

 

i think i will make some normal BP rockets to show my mother and use this TT mix for BP salutes because the rocket was extremely loud when it exploded ripping a whole in the side , its not safe for such thin walled rockets.

[mormanman]

Reinforce the tubes with more paper.

[tentacles]

willow: the UN ballmill isn't terribly priced, but you might try scrounging around and building your own... if you can dig up enough parts, it could end up costing nothing, and if nothing else you might be able to turn it into a star roller some day. I can understand wanting to get something that goes out of the box, though. If you're as serious about pyro as you sound, 200-300g batches of BP will not be enough for long. I thought they would be, and now I'm doing 700g batches and wishing my mill was bigger!

[willowmp]

yea im deff guna reinfore the tubes, im just scared that it would weigh too much for it.

 

 

i though about making my own tentacles but the issue is we just moved due to divorce meaning i have no tools at all. i dont even have a drill unless i got to my dads.

 

 

and where i live isnt exactly where you would be able to scrounge i mean the nearest wal*mart is over 10 mi. away and on a bike round trip thats a hell of a lot to do .

the only shop i have close to me is a grocery store but i doubt that would come in handy lol

 

 

thanks for the help everyone im just putting all my questions into one thread so i dont make unessary threads

[willowmp]

well so much for showing my mom she saw the title of the forum when i showed her and imeadiatly said no and walked away. she came back and told me that i might be able to do it at my dad's but he would have to give me permission.

 

she said she didnt want explosives and stuff at our house,i kinda understand where shes comming at because we rent a townhouse. my dad also rents but it would be harder because he is a tenate, the owner lives their.

 

 

 

im at a loss of ideas i could do it at my dads but i dont go very often, like every other weekend and even when i was there i would still have to spend time with him.

 

 

even if this is our house like i knew she would she wanted nothing to do with it, her usuall attituide. maybe if i show her some shells made by me she might be different, but i doubt it

[mormanman]

What I did was I payed for everything myself and I agree with who ever said build your own mill. But don't nag just back up and test stuff then show her when you got your stuff down.

[LGM]

Well, I'm reluctant to suggest this but you could just do all this and not let her know about it. Get some chemicals while at your dad's if you find some spare time, maybe set up an account at a pyro site and pick up supplies the next visit. Once you have some more supplies to work with make a really nice fountain or maybe a little show, preferably oriented around her favorite color, to show her and maybe sway her opinion.

 

I'm 14 and my parents are fine with pretty much whatever I do. Actually my mom doesn't really know about all that I'm up to, but she never really minds when she sees whatever project I'm working on.

 

Like everyone else is saying, just let her see that you are being safe and that this can be neat and educational.

[willowmp]

yea tats a good idea

 

 

im pretty sure debit cards work on the internet? i have one so i could buy some chemicals i would just need my dad to sign the forms, or do a little forgery but only at the worst case.