The best flash powder

[SharkWhisperer]

The KClO4 Al S 50/40/10

 

It was originally developed for coarser homemade aluminum where 70/30 KClO4/Al burned slow. And with more KClO4, or more Sulfur the composition was slow too.

 

For small firecrakers i use 3-7 micron dark aluminum powder.

 

For large firecrackers i use 50:50 mixture 3-7 micron Dark+30 micron aluminum powder mixture to get a large effect. Or cc 20 micron around ball milled aluminum. Similar are a Ba(NO3)2/KClO4/Al/S 30/30/30/10 mixture with the same mixed Al, but there you must use 2% boric acid. The Dark+Mixed Al 50:50 mixture operates under 40 micron aluminum.

 

More:

 

The most possible extreme powerful professional flash powder

 

Whats the most powerful professional flash powder what you can make at home,safe,extreme bright,the voice is sharp, and the destruction power was amazing too.About 10 year research i find the perfect flash powder. I tested all possible flash powders with all possible of ratio this time. And nothing can beat it.This flash powder was the KClO4/Al/S 50/40/10% (Potassium perchlorate/Aluminium/Sulfur) with 3-4 micron german dark aluminum powder.

 

If you make firecrackers this flash powder was the best what you can make it at home. There are no disadvantages just real power.

 

But why:

 

-The mixture was absolute stable and safe, safer than the similar M46 formula.The mixture was absolute professional mixture.

 

-The mixture are more powerful with 3-4 micron aluminum powder than the KClO4+Mg 50/50 mixture what used in M80 salutes.Much more brighter and effective.Its have the KClO4/Mg/S flash powder 50/40/10% (with 400 mesh magnesium powder) all power and extreme sound.Plus its much more stable than a KClO4/Mg 50/50 mixture.

 

-When you use 20 micron aluminum or blue aluminum in large firecracker have a big effect.The metal powder rich composition some of the metal powder burn in air and not the oxidizer burns it so you will see much better and brighter flash effect.The same technique what used in photoflash powders.

 

But in flash effect its almost have the Ba(NO3)2 flash powders extreme bright big effect.1,5g in a polumna (triangle) firecracker are 1,5 km far away can hear the extreme powerful sound. And the flash effect in the night are

brightly shiny.

 

-The ratio was the most strongest KClO4 Al S ratio.Works with coarser aluminum too.The ratio beat all another KClO4/Al/S ratios.

 

-When you directly ignite it its not faster than other flash powders.But is you put in a paper tube performance can not be compared to other mixtures like:KNO3,KMNO4,Ba(NO3)2,mixtures.

 

-Its a all in one flash powder: extreme bright,extreme sound,safe,extreme power,plus a professional mixture.

 

-The KClO4 and sulfur does not attack the aluminum, so you does not need to use boric acid to protect the aluminum.

 

-Sulfur and aluminum powder are cheap and easy to buy. No extra special costly ingredients are needed what you does not use from something else.

 

The extreme powerful KClO4 flash powder using a ball mill:The finely powdered 24h in a ball mill milled potassium perchlorate 200°C-300°C heated and cooled down. Than at room temperature mixed with sulfur powder at 5:1 ratio than milled again in a ball mill more 12 hour the 2 component. And mixed 6:4 with 3-4 micron dark aluminum powder, and sifted in a sieve 3-4 times.Thereafter are thoroughly mixed in a mortar and paste in small doses so that the constituents are well mixed and sifted in a sieve again.If the components they are not well-mixed to a homogeneous powder the flash powder will minimum 50% it will be weaker. With KClO4 potassium perchlorate the mixture are stable and highly resistance for friction. And the KClO4+S 5:1 mixture is not flammable. If you carefully mixed together the ingredients mixed in a mortal and pastle to make the ingredients homogeneous.Its will be more than 50% powerful as if the mixtures were just shaken together.Before you use sieve through a sieve so that the powder gets loosened.The mixture are largely resistance for friction so you can safely make it.

 

But then why is not it so well known like the classic KClO4/Al 70/30 or KClO4/Mg 50:50 mixture?

 

In professional pyrotechnics one of the goals is cheapness.The other thing is that the mixture is too strong.In homemade pyrotechnics the KClO4 are a costly material.So people use the classic mixtures.Another thing KClO4/Al/S mixtures with more KClO4 or more sulfur you can easy slow down the mixture.Like the Shimizu flash comp 64/23/13. So find the most powerful and best KClO4 flash powder ratio and ingredients need several years of experimentation.

 

I made a lot of test videos from this composition with various aluminum powders: Homemade from foil, Dark, Dark+Blue, Homemade refined paint grade, 20 micron Al, in a extreme mini and 1Kg firecracker too.

Thanks for your detailed response. I appreciate your ingenuity, and anybody else that practices pyro in nations where chemicals are difficult to obtain and must in some instances (e.g., KCLO₃) be synthesized from precursors. I appreciate this very much. And, as Ronmoper indicated, you have obviously spent a lot of time and effort into developing your blog and associated materials, and have collated a lot of information from across the pyro world. That itself is respectable, and nobody without a serious interest in the hobby would have applied so much effort. So, if any of my critiques were taken personally, that was not my intention. And I appreciate that Google Translate is imperfect in converting Hungarian to other languages.

in

That said, it still escapes me how such a bright man as yourself is still grinding chemicals by hand in a poppy seed grinder and mortar/pestle, for hours, when you could probably design and build a decent ballmill in a day, and post a video/blog about how to do that? Also, because your message highlighted that your site is meant for amateur/hobby fireworkers, it might benefit from enhanced/expanded discussion of practical safety tips, maybe even a whole section to this topic alone. Including not mixing FP, even small quantities, in glass vials! And I'm sorry, but recommending mixing KCLO₄-based FP in a mortar/pestle, even in small quantities, is just not good advice. It is rare that homemade KCLO4 does not remain contaminated with its precursor KCLO₃, sometimes in large amounts. Bad advice, when additional screen mixing will do the exact same thing once your ingredients are so fine--your claim of "50% more powerful" after mortar/pestle mixing of ball-milled KCLO₄/S being mixed with pyro Al, above, either means that your ballmilled perc/S was not well ballmilled, or that your claim is, ahem, overenthusiastic. One or the other.

 

If you put your info out there for public assessment, your information will be publicly assessed. Anyways, congrats on developing a detailed blog on the pyro sport. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, and are largely appreciated. That said, some of your posted methods and assessments would benefit from new suggestions, constructive criticism, and in some cases updated information, as with any complicated project that evolves over a long time frame.

 

So thanks for your efforts, and good luck in future endeavors.

 

By the way, is the national speed limit in Hungary still 80 kph (50 mph)? Last time I visited, I had an enjoyable sunrise conversation with the border guards about how I could cross your nation from the Romania side to the Croatia side at an average speed of 120 kph (75 mph), given all the small towns on the way? It was difficult to translate "I am a magician" from English to Hungarian, but in the end we all had a good laugh (and I wasn't in jail). And your communication somehow has given me a ravishing appetite for a big plate of chicken paprikash, so now I am off to the kitchen to do some pseudo-Hungarian culinary wizardry!

 

Take good care mx5kevin, my Eastern European colleague in fire!

 

SW

[Richtee]

ravishing appetite for a big plate of chicken paprikash, so now I am off to the kitchen to do some pseudo-Hungarian culinary wizardry!

 

 

One of my specialties...

 

Signed..

 

The Mad Hunky!

[myfriendtheenemy]

I was wondering if sulfur would help KCIO4/Al flash at all. I'll have to do some 1 gram firecracker tests.

 

I lit off some flash powder I got from a commercial firework, and it burned my nostrils when I smelled the smoke. What kind of flash is this?

[SharkWhisperer]

I was wondering if sulfur would help KCIO4/Al flash at all. I'll have to do some 1 gram firecracker tests.

 

I lit off some flash powder I got from a commercial firework, and it burned my nostrils when I smelled the smoke. What kind of flash is this?

The cheapest junk chems that the Chicoms could get their hands on at the time--so long as it works, they don't give half a rat's smelly ass about incidental things, like toxicity, etc. A very small percentage of imported fireworks are actually examined by the customs/CPSC/BATFE to see what they contain or how much. The 50 mg flash limit per ground salute is routinely off, sometimes a bit higher, often a bit lower, for example. Most of their flash in firecrackers is usually KCLO₃ (occasionally some KCLO₄; regardless it's probably diluted with KNO₃) and bright Al, both very inexpensive.

 

Burning nostrils suggest several compounds, with sulfur being high on the list. If you read Shimizu's FAST (and many other treatises, including our Hungarian buddy's blog), yes, some KCLO₄ FP mixes do include sulfur, usually at 10% or close. Sulfur lowers ignition temperatures and increases FP sensitivity to both heat and physical forces. Feel free to compare, but there is little (in my opinion) that sulfur can improve on vs standard 70:30 FP, in small-quantity applications. And that's if you know that your perc is pretty pure and not contaminated with KCLO₃, which becomes even more dangerous in FP with sulfur addition. This is particularly common in homemade perc, and in the cheapest Chicom crap you sometimes run across but cannot trace its origin. In perc-based FPs, sulfur can modify the boom pitch, most noticeable in large salutes, but that's advanced pyro and not all that useful for small-scale applications.

 

You're new to APC, and welcome, but please appreciate the dangers inherent to even "standard" 70:30 FP, keep working quantities small and don't store the shit in your house, and please consider that there is much less artistry in the simple task of mixing basic FP than many other beginning fireworking techniques (like making decent BP...). And practice safe science, ffs. Shatterproof eye protection and leather gloves (and more) is standard PPE that's new folks tend to neglect. Once you've had an accident, and you will have an accident if you stay with the hobby long enough, you will immediately realize how dumb the risks were that you learned to take for granted when you did this-or-that 50 times without a problem.... FP is fun and useful, but violent as shit and hazardous, particularly if you don't afford it due respect. I say respect not fear. FP is easy. One of the simplest things in fireworking. Perhaps expand your horizons a little beyond it?

 

If your FP is standard 70:30, and you're needing "help" with 1g salutes, then something is definitely wrong--either you're weighing it inaccurately or mixing it poorly, or, more probably, your starting chems are crap. Basic FP is not tricky. Stop and correct that issue before you consider adding sulfur into the mix--it won't "help" your FP.

 

Being safe is #1. Having fun is #2. Accidents have happened to even the most experienced fireworkers. Often, in hindsight, they could have been prevented.

Edited May 28, 2021 by SharkWhisperer

[myfriendtheenemy]

The cheapest junk chems that the Chicoms could get their hands on at the time--so long as it works, they don't give half a rat's smelly ass about incidental things, like toxicity, etc. A very small percentage of imported fireworks are actually examined by the customs/CPSC/BATFE to see what they contain or how much. The 50 mg flash limit per ground salute is routinely off, sometimes a bit higher, often a bit lower, for example. Most of their flash in firecrackers is usually KCLO₃ (occasionally some KCLO₄; regardless it's probably diluted with KNO₃) and bright Al, both very inexpensive.

 

Burning nostrils suggest several compounds, with sulfur being high on the list. If you read Shimizu's FAST (and many other treatises, including our Hungarian buddy's blog), yes, some KCLO₄ FP mixes do include sulfur, usually at 10% or close. Sulfur lowers ignition temperatures and increases FP sensitivity to both heat and physical forces. Feel free to compare, but there is little (in my opinion) that sulfur can improve on vs standard 70:30 FP, in small-quantity applications. And that's if you know that your perc is pretty pure and not contaminated with KCLO₃, which becomes even more dangerous in FP with sulfur addition. This is particularly common in homemade perc, and in the cheapest Chicom crap you sometimes run across but cannot trace its origin. In perc-based FPs, sulfur can modify the boom pitch, most noticeable in large salutes, but that's advanced pyro and not all that useful for small-scale applications.

 

You're new to APC, and welcome, but please appreciate the dangers inherent to even "standard" 70:30 FP, keep working quantities small and don't store the shit in your house, and please consider that there is much less artistry in the simple task of mixing basic FP than many other beginning fireworking techniques (like making decent BP...). And practice safe science, ffs. Shatterproof eye protection and leather gloves (and more) is standard PPE that's new folks tend to neglect. Once you've had an accident, and you will have an accident if you stay with the hobby long enough, you will immediately realize how dumb the risks were that you learned to take for granted when you did this-or-that 50 times without a problem.... FP is fun and useful, but violent as shit and hazardous, particularly if you don't afford it due respect. I say respect not fear. FP is easy. One of the simplest things in fireworking. Perhaps expand your horizons a little beyond it?

 

If your FP is standard 70:30, and you're needing "help" with 1g salutes, then something is definitely wrong--either you're weighing it inaccurately or mixing it poorly, or, more probably, your starting chems are crap. Basic FP is not tricky. Stop and correct that issue before you consider adding sulfur into the mix--it won't "help" your FP.

 

Being safe is #1. Having fun is #2. Accidents have happened to even the most experienced fireworkers. Often, in hindsight, they could have been prevented.

I started my pyro adventure with making potassium nitrate/sugar rockets, but all of them failed since I didn't have tooling or much skill.

 

I moved on to making BP, but didn't find much use for it since I didn't have the coloring agents or the skills to make shells. I was going to buy a muzzleloader, but COVID made a lot of them unavailable. Of course, BP isn't good for making firecrackers, so I bought some FP ingredients and started making that.

 

No, I don't need help with the FP, it's plenty good with the 3 micron Al and well-milled perchlorate. I was just wondering if what Picasso said about adding sulfur was true. I'm trying to make mini .5 gram firecrackers (nothing exciting), but I can't find small enough fuse other than 3 mm.

 

I could be a lot safer, and thanks for the tips. I don't have a good ball mill for BP, just a plastic container filled with marbles on a small rock tumbler. I can only make 50 grams at a time, but that's still enough to do some pretty bad damage in an accident. I only make 10 grams of FP at a time and try to use it all up as quickly as possible. But again, that much FP could do a lot of damage, and I should have more respect of it then what I have now.

[SharkWhisperer]

I started my pyro adventure with making potassium nitrate/sugar rockets, but all of them failed since I didn't have tooling or much skill.

 

I moved on to making BP, but didn't find much use for it since I didn't have the coloring agents or the skills to make shells. I was going to buy a muzzleloader, but COVID made a lot of them unavailable. Of course, BP isn't good for making firecrackers, so I bought some FP ingredients and started making that.

 

No, I don't need help with the FP, it's plenty good with the 3 micron Al and well-milled perchlorate. I was just wondering if what Picasso said about adding sulfur was true. I'm trying to make mini .5 gram firecrackers (nothing exciting), but I can't find small enough fuse other than 3 mm.

 

I could be a lot safer, and thanks for the tips. I don't have a good ball mill for BP, just a plastic container filled with marbles on a small rock tumbler. I can only make 50 grams at a time, but that's still enough to do some pretty bad damage in an accident. I only make 10 grams of FP at a time and try to use it all up as quickly as possible. But again, that much FP could do a lot of damage, and I should have more respect of it then what I have now.

You can easily make functional tooling inexpensively using hardwood dowels from HD and a chunk of 2x4 to build a spindle on. Many folks have successfully done this for both sugar and BP rockets. Of course it's not as durable as metal tooling, but it's cheap, quick to replace, and functional. Spindles can be made from long nails or tent stakes, for example, so long as it's non-sparking materials--the risk of sparks is pretty low when you're hammering an oak dowel against sugar or BP fuels. Cheap wooden tooling is also excellent for compressing comps in fountains and in strobes. Still take care when beating on comps that have a lot of metal particles in them that could rub up against each other and spark. I have ancient wood tooling that I still use for ground devices and it works great. The rammers have a few strips of electrical tape over the hammered end that fits snugly into a copper plumbing end cap (cheap, too) to prevent the hammered wood from splitting. Works well. Most ground works don't need to be pounded to rocket pressures--just tightly compacted.

 

Picasso is experienced, and a source of good information. The difference between with/without sulfur in FP is probably not all that noticeable in small-quantity applications, and larger-quantity applications at your experience level risk either severe damage or a trip to the local pokey, both to be avoided.

 

You can buy replacement rubber-lined ball-mill jars for around $10 online that would probably fit your rock tumbler. The HF-sized jars/tumbler can comfortably handle 150g batches, and can be pushed to 200 g, but generally need longer milling times if overloaded. Marbles are less than ideal grinding media but many of used them. Milling takes longer with lighter media like glass marbles. If you must use marbles, then please be sure they are transparent and don't have those colorful swirls that may contain metallic pigments and may be more susceptible to sparking. And watch out for occasional glass chips in your comps, though these can usually be easily screened out. Discard any chipped marbles. Try to get your hands on some .50-caliber lead musket balls (hardened with antimony if possible). Even in a small jar, the milling efficiency will be much greater than with marbles. I think I paid around $10 for 100 musket balls (unhardened) a few years ago. Prices change. You don't need a lot for a small single jar, and if you stick with the hobby, then for sure you're going to be doing a bit of milling and probably eventually wanting to upscale your mill size. There are a lot of tutorials and instructions for economically building your own ball mill from common components, with only rudimentary building skills necessary.

 

Try to keep your eyes and fingers intact. 10 g of FP can cause a lot of damage, with a good chance of it being permanent, if it goes off in your hands or close by. And only use containers that will not turn into shrapnel if you have an accident. This is very important. Slightly more expensive American visco doesn't spit sparks as much as the Chicom fuse, and is generally a little safer for using for FP applications.

Edited May 28, 2021 by SharkWhisperer

[myfriendtheenemy]

You can easily make functional tooling inexpensively using hardwood dowels from HD and a chunk of 2x4 to build a spindle on. Many folks have successfully done this for both sugar and BP rockets. Of course it's not as durable as metal tooling, but it's cheap, quick to replace, and functional. Spindles can be made from long nails or tent stakes, for example, so long as it's non-sparking materials--the risk of sparks is pretty low when you're hammering an oak dowel against sugar or BP fuels.

 

Picasso is experienced, and a source of good information. The difference between with/without sulfur in FP is probably not all that noticeable in small-quantity applications, and larger-quantity applications at your experience level risk either severe damage or a trip to the local pokey, both to be avoided.

 

You can buy replacement rubber-lined ball-mill jars for around $10 online that would probably fit your rock tumbler. The HF-sized jars/tumbler can comfortably handle 150g batches, and can be pushed to 200 g, but generally need longer milling times if overloaded. Marbles are less than ideal grinding media but many of used them. Milling takes longer with lighter media like glass marbles. If you must use marbles, then please be sure they are transparent and don't have those colorful swirls that may contain metallic pigments and may be more susceptible to sparking. And watch out for occasional glass chips in your comps, though these can usually be easily screened out. Discard any chipped marbles. Try to get your hands on some .50-caliber lead musket balls (hardened with antimony if possible). Even in a small jar, the milling efficiency will be much greater than with marbles. I think I paid around $10 for 100 musket balls (unhardened) a few years ago. Prices change. You don't need a lot for a small single jar, and if you stick with the hobby, then for sure you're going to be doing a bit of milling and probably eventually wanting to upscale your mill size. There are a lot of tutorials and instructions for economically building your own ball mill from common components, with only rudimentary building skills necessary.

 

Try to keep your eyes and fingers intact. 10 g of FP can cause a lot of damage, with a good chance of it being permanent, if it goes off in your hands or close by. And only use containers that will not turn into shrapnel if you have an accident. This is very important. Slightly more expensive American visco doesn't spit sparks as much as the Chicom fuse, and is generally a little safer for using for FP applications.

I just tried making a sugar rocket with some homemade tooling (a nail punched through a 2x4 and a 3D printed rammer) but the clay plug popped out. I'm not using the best powdered clay, and it would be better if I got some bentonite.

 

I don't think my rock tumbler could handle much more weight. I've tried making a larger ball mill, but it never worked. Now that I think about it, I could probably find some 3D printing plans for a ball mill instead of buying or wrestling one together. I won't need a larger mill unless I plan on making BP for shells or shooting.

 

Shell making doesn't sound like much fun; it takes a long time to make something that is gone in a few seconds. I would make some report shells, but the idea of having a powerful shell that might not lift in a mortar tube freaks me out. It would probably be safer if I mastered making rockets and put a report head on that.

 

Making firecrackers is a lot of fun, but the cop that lives across the road makes my parents uneasy, despite us living in the boonies with 15+ acres and plenty of loud explosions coming from the gravel pit down the road.

[SharkWhisperer]

I just tried making a sugar rocket with some homemade tooling (a nail punched through a 2x4 and a 3D printed rammer) but the clay plug popped out. I'm not using the best powdered clay, and it would be better if I got some bentonite.

 

I don't think my rock tumbler could handle much more weight. I've tried making a larger ball mill, but it never worked. Now that I think about it, I could probably find some 3D printing plans for a ball mill instead of buying or wrestling one together. I won't need a larger mill unless I plan on making BP for shells or shooting.

 

Shell making doesn't sound like much fun; it takes a long time to make something that is gone in a few seconds. I would make some report shells, but the idea of having a powerful shell that might not lift in a mortar tube freaks me out. It would probably be safer if I mastered making rockets and put a report head on that.

 

Making firecrackers is a lot of fun, but the cop that lives across the road makes my parents uneasy, despite us living in the boonies with 15+ acres and plenty of loud explosions coming from the gravel pit down the road.

Unsure what you're using for nozzles, but bentonite cat litter works like a charm. Use the granular stuff, not the smaller clumping stuff. The cheapest generic bag that Walmart sells for a few bucks. Grind it up a little in a coffee/spice grinder until it's a mixture of dust and smallish granules, not all dust. Some swear by pure bentonite alone, for nozzles/endcaps on various devices. Others add grog (sharp hard ground ceramic particles) to give the mix some teeth to better grab cardboard/paper tube walls. Some add a little wax for better consolidation. Easy stuff.

 

If you want to make rockets and make them well, a ball mill will make your life a whole lot easier (for the BP variety). Making a rock tumbler is not a difficult task, even if you do not have a lot of mechanical or building experience. And there's always the HF two-barrel models that many start out with that are small but functional with minor modifications. They're pretty inexpensive, though it was even cheaper before HF stopped putting out their 20% off coupons recently.

 

You probably don't want to get on poor terms with your cop neighbor...

[myfriendtheenemy]

All I'm using for a nozzle is a hole in the clay. Next time I go to Walmart I'll try to find the stuff, I haven't found it in any other fleet stores.

 

I received some sample saturn missile tubes (the small ones with only one end) when I bought fuse a month ago, but I haven't figured out how to propel them. Ideally I wouldn't have to core the rocket with a drill. Is there any way to propel one of them with no core in the fuel?

[mx5kevin]

Testing flash powders for homemade firecrackers (from the most known ingredients)

 

KClO4, KClO4, Ba(NO3)2, Sr(NO3)2, NaNO3, Na2S2O8, K2S2O8, BaSO4, KNO3, Magnesium, Magnalium, Aluminum based flash powders differences. Safety, stability, effects. Differences in particle size dark aluminum and Dark+Blue aluminum.

[mx5kevin]

I read a lot of wrong and misleading information on the internet. I've tried almost every combination in the internet for ground salutes, firecrackers, booster: KNO3, NaNO3, Na2S2O8, K2S2O8, KMnO4, Sr(NO3)2, Ba(NO3)2, KClO3, KClO4, Ba(ClO3)2, NH4ClO4, BaSO4. Nowhere does anyone write accurate enough information about the differences in strength. There is no safe alternative to the power of KClO4 Al S or Sb2S3. From the above written oxidizers for flash powder they power only weak imitation compared with KClO4. What brings the same quality in power and sound was KClO3, what are extremely sensitive for friction in presence of sulfur. Other flash powders do not even come close to this performance. Another misleading thing is that KClO4 is stronger with magnesium than with aluminum. If sulfur or Sb2S3 are used this is not true. The 400mesh Mg are not better than 3-7 micron Al and less brighter with KClO4. If it was weaker for someone, it was not used sulfur or Sb2S3, or the aluminum powder was not enough fine. KClO4 with Mg or MgAl are much more sensitive for friction than with aluminum and not louder if correctly used. Who looking for a similar alternative for KClO4 what give the same power, only wasting of money and time. If someone think that the listed chemicals she can made similar quality flash powder, she are wrong. After ten years of research, I can say this. They don't even come close to the strength of KClO4 or KClO3. The problem is that the big professional sites, and advanced amateurs do not tell this important thing. KNO3, NaNO3, Na2S2O8, K2S2O8, KmNO4, Sr(NO3)2, Ba(NO3)2, there are differences between them, but not a very drastic difference in power. If somebody want real power and performance, won't get anything like it from these oxidizers. It's pointless to compare them with a KClO4 or KClO3 flash powders with sound and power. The others only weak imitations in sound and power for firecrackers and ground salutes, boosters.

[Arthur]

Every powder that has ever been written down was "for a purpose". Sometimes there is a need but not the supplies, sometimes the need is for a flash of light sometimes it's a need for a sharp report.

[50AE]

Yes. Remember flash powders were also used for photographic and theatrical purposes. There are many ways to build a loud report, but fewer less for a certified flare torch, for example.

[mx5kevin]

The most illuminating white flash powder can made from barium nitrate with 3-7 micron dark aluminum (coated with 2% boric acid) for illuminating fire effects in presence of sulfur like Ba(NO3)2 Al S 6/2/2 my favorite for ground torches which illuminates the entire field, or 6/3/1 the fastest ratio. For illuminating white bright effects where brightness matters buying Ba(NO2)3 absolutely worth it. Barium nitrate are the king of the brightest white illuminating light.

[SharkWhisperer]

I read a lot of wrong and misleading information on the internet. I've tried almost every combination in the internet for ground salutes, firecrackers, booster: KNO3, NaNO3, Na2S2O8, K2S2O8, KMnO4, Sr(NO3)2, Ba(NO3)2, KClO3, KClO4, Ba(ClO3)2, NH4ClO4, BaSO4. Nowhere does anyone write accurate enough information about the differences in strength. There is no safe alternative to the power of KClO4 Al S or Sb2S3. From the above written oxidizers for flash powder they power only weak imitation compared with KClO4. What brings the same quality in power and sound was KClO3, what are extremely sensitive for friction in presence of sulfur. Other flash powders do not even come close to this performance. Another misleading thing is that KClO4 is stronger with magnesium than with aluminum. If sulfur or Sb2S3 are used this is not true. The 400mesh Mg are not better than 3-7 micron Al and less brighter with KClO4. If it was weaker for someone, it was not used sulfur or Sb2S3, or the aluminum powder was not enough fine. KClO4 with Mg or MgAl are much more sensitive for friction than with aluminum and not louder if correctly used. Who looking for a similar alternative for KClO4 what give the same power, only wasting of money and time. If someone think that the listed chemicals she can made similar quality flash powder, she are wrong. After ten years of research, I can say this. They don't even come close to the strength of KClO4 or KClO3. The problem is that the big professional sites, and advanced amateurs do not tell this important thing. KNO3, NaNO3, Na2S2O8, K2S2O8, KmNO4, Sr(NO3)2, Ba(NO3)2, there are differences between them, but not a very drastic difference in power. If somebody want real power and performance, won't get anything like it from these oxidizers. It's pointless to compare them with a KClO4 or KClO3 flash powders with sound and power. The others only weak imitations in sound and power for firecrackers and ground salutes, boosters.

Dang, amigo, this is a flash thread but I'm curious if you have any other fireworking interests or skills besides making boom-boom/flash-flash?

 

You seem like a smart and resourceful dude, so it'd be great to read your insights into other fireworking topics sometime, too.

Edited August 5, 2022 by SharkWhisperer