Which is your favourite pyrotechnic composition?

[Pirotecnia]

Considering the chemicals i have access to, my favourite is D1 Glitter:

 

 

53 Potassium Nitrate

18 Sulfur

11 Charcoal (airfloat)

7 Aluminium

7 Sodium Bicarbonate

4 Dextrin

[Lance]

D1 glitter and Winokur 20. Probably W20 because it has a similar effect to D1 but it is much cheaper.

 

D1:

 

53 Potassium Nitrate

18 Sulfur

11 Charcoal

7 Aluminium

7 Sodium Bicarbonate

4 Dextrin

 

 

 

 

 

W20:

 

48 Potassium nitrate

17 Sulphur

12 Magnalium

10 Charcoal

5 Sodium bicarbonate

4 Red iron oxide

4 Dextrin

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2012 by Lance

[californiapyro]

I may be missing something, but how is w20 cheaper?

[Lance]

Maybe it is in my case only. I make Magnalium myself, It costs me about 10 USD to make 2 Kilograms. However, Aluminum powder is very expensive in my country and will cost you 60 USD for one kilogram.

 

It seems like a minor difference but when you're making large amounts it certainly counts.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Lance

[californiapyro]

oh, that makes sense. Here in the USA, magnalium is about 3x the price of aluminum

[taiwanluthiers]

Emerald Green and Ruby Red

 

Ruby Red

 

Strontium Nitrate 50

Potassium Perchlorate 8

Parlon 18

Magnalium 325 mesh 12 (I used 200 mesh and it didn't make any difference)

Charcoal (airfloat) 5

Sulfur 5

Red Gum 2 (I used shellac)

Dextrin 5

 

Makes a really nice red. I at first just mixed Strontium Nitrate with Magnalium and a chlorine donor and was going to make that formula when by a stroke of genius I decided to use Ruby Red (the formula was similar so it was close enough, I had only mixed the strontium nitrate and the Chlorowax). I tested the batch and the red was much better than just strontium nitrate and Magnalium and a chlorine donor alone... I don't know why, perhaps the Perchlorate intensified the flame and the rest of the stuff (charcoal, sulfur, red gum) made it easier to ignite. In fact I find these gemstone comps to be fairly easy to light, a simple bp prime is usually sufficient.

 

Emerald Green (pretty much the same as Ruby Red except for the oxidizer)

 

Barium Nitrate 50

 

Potassium Perchlorate 8

Parlon 18

Magnalium 325 mesh 12 (I used 200 mesh and it didn't make any difference)

Charcoal (airfloat) 5

Sulfur 5

Red Gum 2 (I used shellac)

Dextrin 5

 

When I tested this one I was disappointed, for some reason it wasn't as green as the first time I made it, I do not know why. I added a small spoonful (1/4 tsp) of Magnalium and mixed it in and it fixed the color issue and the green is as good as ever. This comp like Ruby Red is really easy to light, maybe the charcoal and sulfur has a lot to do with it. Bound both comps with water/alcohol, but I guess you can add acetone to bind it with Parlon if you like... just don't use acetone based star comps in your plexiglas star plate unless you don't want the star plate anymore. Acetone will soften the plexiglas enough to ruin it!

 

It goes without a saying DO NOT substitute Potassium Chlorate for Perchlorate... I really would love to but the sulfur makes that impossible. If you want to use something like H3 to burst the shell make sure you fully prime the stars with a sulfurless blackpowder mix or something to isolate the sulfur from the chlorate.

 

I have no idea why dark Al and MgAl is so expensive in the US... a look on skylighter revealed that their prices are much higher than even Pyrostuff.com (and that's a fairly pricey supplier), is it due to some kind of a regulation/tariff on the stuff? I don't know how hot is the dark Al from pyrostuff.com (its a really good deal) but I ordered some and will see if I can use the dark Al instead of MgAl for the metal fuel in star comps.

Edited July 23, 2012 by taiwanluthiers

[Mumbles]

Don't use skylighter as a benchmark of the going price of chemicals in the US. Their prices are high compared to some of the smaller one or two man retail operations.

[Zumber]

This is my best star.

It could be flying fish or go getter don?t know because i am not punching any hole in it.

Formula-

KNO3-55

sulphur-15

aluminium(-325,fine flake)-20

dextrin-5

boric acid(in solution form)-2

the star composition is wetted and pressed in 8mm diameter cardboard rolled tube of 1.5'' long.

One end of tube is closed with

clay(3mm) and other end is closed with bp +aluminium hot prime(5mm layer).

[Potassiumchlorate]

It depends. Barium chlorate green is very simple and nice:

 

Barium chlorate 84

Shellac or red gum 10

Chlorowax or stearine 2

Dextrin 4

 

You can skip the chlorowax/stearin, it is mostly to enlarge the flame and/or making it easier to pump them.

 

For blue:

 

Potassium chlorate 68-70

Paris Green 20-22

Shellac or red gum 10

Dextrin -4

 

Though I'm almost out of Paris Green and might not ever get any again.

 

For bright red:

 

Strontium nitrate 53-55

Magnesium <63µm 28-31

Parlon 10

PVC 6-7

 

or:

 

Potassium perchlorate 30

Strontium nitrate 20

Magnesium <63µm 30

Parlon 18

Lampblack 2

[taiwanluthiers]

Anyone's favorite formula is going to involve some magical unobtainium that while it will produce the best possible result with relative ease, getting them is the problem.

 

So my favorite formula is anything that I can reasonably get which will achieve the best result. In this case its the gemstone series of red and green. Getting MgAl might be a problem if I want to produce a good star without ordering anything from abroad, and in that case I will have to use magnesium in place of MgAl. Spherical aluminum will never produce the desired result, the only thing it's good for is making white stars. Protecting them might be a problem but I might have to simply use linseed oil to coat the magnesium.

 

Blue and red is probably the only color I can produce without using any materials from abroad because while red gum is used, I can always get hexamine or lactose as fuel and a hot metal fuel is usually not desired. Red can be easily produced with strontium nitrate, even if you just mixed the material blind (without weighing them and just measuring them by eyeball) The MgAl/Mg does enhance the color but even in that case Mg could be used...

 

So I think you will find that everyone's formula is going to depend greatly on what is available. For someone who has access to cheap source of AP, Paris Green, etc. then any formula that contains these two chems are going to be his favorite formula, while that same formula is not going to be very appealing when AP is expensive and hard to get, and Paris Green is impossible to obtain.

[dagabu]

Anyone's favorite formula is going to involve some magical unobtainium that while it will produce the best possible result with relative ease, getting them is the problem.

 

All the chems I have seen posted so far are available world wide... Which are the unobtainium listed on this thread?

 

-dag

[taiwanluthiers]

For many people, Paris Green which is pretty hard to get and really toxic to boot.

 

For me I can't get barium chlorate, as no chem supplier stocks them and no one outside of Taiwan would ship them.

 

So I say they're fairly unobtainium for me...

[Lance]

Same here, just can't get my hands on all kinds of perchlorate s, Paris Green and Barium chlorate .

[dagabu]

Sorry guys! I like Winikor 39 best but with TR's fix making it 39-J, it is the ultimate comp IMHO.

 

-dag