So how to have real fun with Flash Powder ?

[Alireza]

I mean there's gotta be a bunch of creative tips and techniques about how to have MORE fun with Flash Powder, other than just burning it, right ? Like making very loud firecrackers, or simple rockets, etc.

 

I need some advice on how I'd better use my flash powder inventory. I live in Iran and FYI, the last tuesday of the year is when we pay special attention to fireworks !

 

First and the most important question: I need to make loud booms with this stuff

Can anyone tell me how I can make firecrackers ?

 

 

P.S.:

This is the stuff that I have:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4JwagKpSPw

Edited March 6, 2013 by Alireza

[nater]

Wow...

[BlastFromThePast]

Flash powder can be a lot of fun but it can also be extremely dangerous. I don't know how much experience you have with the stuff and judging the reaction in that video, that stuff seems pretty dangerous. It would be way safer to try to make some firecrackers using BP. Don't use anything else except for paper tubes. And DEFINITELY don't do what thay guy did and light it with your hand an inch away from that stuff. Use a fuse if you really want to mess around like that.

[Bobosan]

Alireza - was that you in the video? Looked like it may have cooked your hand a bit. You are lucky to still have your hand.

 

With good quality black powder you can produce very strong booms without the extreme danger of messing with flash.

 

Please be careful and at least use personal protective equipment if you continue to ignite materials in that manner.

[Alireza]

Flash powder can be a lot of fun but it can also be extremely dangerous. I don't know how much experience you have with the stuff and judging the reaction in that video, that stuff seems pretty dangerous. It would be way safer to try to make some firecrackers using BP. Don't use anything else except for paper tubes. And DEFINITELY don't do what thay guy did and light it with your hand an inch away from that stuff. Use a fuse if you really want to mess around like that.

I agree with you and I JUST found it out, myself I just made a firecracker with a paper tube and blew it a few minutes ago which made my family to rush upstairs, thinking I'm dead or at least seriously injured !

But I'm fine anyway.

Anyway, Thank you for your advice and I should go look BP up in the 'terminology' section of the forum

And by the way, it is me in the video

 

 

Alireza - was that you in the video? Looked like it may have cooked your hand a bit. You are lucky to still have your hand.

 

With good quality black powder you can produce very strong booms without the extreme danger of messing with flash.

 

Please be careful and at least use personal protective equipment if you continue to ignite materials in that manner.

Yes it was me !

Haha ! No it just costed me a bunch of hairs. I was VERY lucky that I used a tiny amount of it - almost 0.5 grams.

Of course I will use protective equipment later. In the video, I wasn't even sure that it was gonna work

Edited March 6, 2013 by Alireza

[NightHawkInLight]

This thread makes me groan...Please, just find something else to do. There are hundreds of better things to do with fireworks than be dumb with flash powder. Ridiculously dangerous sulfur laden magnesium flash powder at that.

[Shadowcat1969]

Try checking out this: http://www.amateurpyro.com/forums/topic/7149-the-young-captain-hook/

 

for some idea of what can happen with compounds like flash powder. We want you to be safe and playing with flash as a start to this hobby is NOT the way to do that.

[nater]

I hope you are a troll.

[pyroshell]

No, I don't think he is a troll. Just stupid.

 

PS: Did you light off that firecracker that you made (the one that caused your family to be concerned for your safety) inside your house?

Edited March 7, 2013 by pyroshell

[NightHawkInLight]

No, I don't think he is a troll. Just stupid.

There is a difference between stupid and ill informed, he could be either. It would be shame to accuse someone of the former before being sure they are not the latter.

[nater]

Call me mean, but lighting a pile of flash indoors with a grill lighter is, at best, uninformed to the point of stupidity. Edited March 7, 2013 by nater

[taiwanluthiers]

What kind of flash is that? Even .3 grams of standard 70/30 flash is enough to scare me when burned in the open.

[Bobosan]

Here is the thread on Alireza's flash.

 

Some things are just unbelievable.

 

http://www.amateurpyro.com/forums/topic/5059-flash-powder-not-igniting/page__st__20#entry108942

Edited March 7, 2013 by Bobosan

[flying fish]

That "inventory of flash" statement made me cringe. You really, really don't want mixed flash sitting around the house, even more so when you're sharing the house with other people who may inadvertently happen upon this "inventory". One little spark is all it takes. If you don't have a way to safely ignite it (which from the video seems to be the case) I would suggest dumping into a very large bucket of water (Potassium perchlorate has poor solubility, so excess water....) and dumping the water somewhere outside.

[pyroshell]

I am disappointed at the fact that a post I made enabled such foolish behavior.

I was trying to suggest to try making it into slow flash, not mix sulfur Al and KClO4 to make flash. (One thing readers might want to take into consideration when reading my posts is that even if i talk of something it does not mean at the slightest that I want you to try it. I am more for the science behind what happens and less the practical application. I might talk about mixing red phosphorous and chlorate it does not mean it is safe to use for anything practical. Most of what I do is experimentation with small quantities of pyrotechnic compositions)

 

From the performance of that flash, and from what I can gather your intelligence level. I have to ask; do you know the difference between perchlorate, and chlorate? Some newb's who don't know any thin about chemistry make that mistake, and it can cost them life and limb.

Further more do you know the difference between chlorate, chlorite, chloride,hypochlorite, and perchlorate?

 

If you have mixed chlorate, sulfur, and magnesium you would have made one of the most powerful, and sensitive pyrotechnic mixes known to man.

 

I hope you learn more before you hurt yourself, but if you need to be ignorant at least document your injuries (that is if you don't kill yourself).

 

Please just heed these warning, and take a step back for a moment and assess what you have done, and what you will do going forward. It could save you time, money, legal trouble, injury, death or worse the injury or death of one of your loved ones.

 

EDIT: I just watched the video of his on YouTube...First off he lives near a busy road, and second off that was more then half a gram.. he estimates it to be 16 grams.

Re EDIT: FYI that is about over half an ounce (28 grams to one ounce).

I hope for his sake that he f***ed up again and mistook grams for grains. (16 grains in approximately 1 gram)

Edited March 7, 2013 by pyroshell

[pyroshell]

That "inventory of flash" statement made me cringe. You really, really don't want mixed flash sitting around the house, even more so when you're sharing the house with other people who may inadvertently happen upon this "inventory". One little spark is all it takes. If you don't have a way to safely ignite it (which from the video seems to be the case) I would suggest dumping into a very large bucket of water (Potassium perchlorate has poor solubility, so excess water....) and dumping the water somewhere outside.

Depending on the grade of the mg it could react with the water heating up, and producing hydrogen gas. There is a small chance that with such large quantities it could ignite. ( I never have tested to see how much it would take or how likely it would be, but that is because I found it to be too dangerous even at my standards.)

[flying fish]

I do not think you would get a runaway reaction with potassium perchlorate/mg but I could be wrong. Using grossly excess water will disable the pyrotechnic mix, though at which point you won't have to worry. Magnesium on its own doesn't react vigorously with water at room temperature. At elevated temperatures it's a different story, which is why water only worsens Mg fires.

[Alireza]

This thread makes me groan...Please, just find something else to do. There are hundreds of better things to do with fireworks than be dumb with flash powder. Ridiculously dangerous sulfur laden magnesium flash powder at that.

Relax man ! I now know how dangerous this stuff is

And I cherish my life.

 

Try checking out this: http://www.amateurpy...g-captain-hook/

 

for some idea of what can happen with compounds like flash powder. We want you to be safe and playing with flash as a start to this hobby is NOT the way to do that.

Thanks for that. I've got a few problems opening that web page, but I'll watch it later soon.

 

I hope you are a troll.

Why ?

 

No, I don't think he is a troll. Just stupid.

 

PS: Did you light off that firecracker that you made (the one that caused your family to be concerned for your safety) inside your house?

 

Yes man, I did.

But NOT inside our house. There's a vacant apartment upstairs. I did it there. Still foolish but I had NO IDEA that a piece of paper and a few inches of tape could cause such a boom.

[Alireza]

Call me mean, but lighting a pile of flash indoors with a grill lighter is, at best, uninformed to the point of stupidity.

Just watch my vid again, please.

I had NO IDEA that it was gonna BLOW !

My previous efforts with FP resulted with a fast 'burning' powder.

Look how shocked I look afterwards.

 

What kind of flash is that? Even .3 grams of standard 70/30 flash is enough to scare me when burned in the open.

Honestly I have no idea !

My scale is not more accurate than 1 gram. First I measured 8 grams of KClO4.

Then added approx. 3 g of Mg powder. And 3 g of Sulfur.

The I tested it and it just burnt. There was no explosion!

Then I added another 1 or 2 grams of Mg.

I tested it and you can see it in the video

 

That "inventory of flash" statement made me cringe. You really, really don't want mixed flash sitting around the house, even more so when you're sharing the house with other people who may inadvertently happen upon this "inventory". One little spark is all it takes. If you don't have a way to safely ignite it (which from the video seems to be the case) I would suggest dumping into a very large bucket of water (Potassium perchlorate has poor solubility, so excess water....) and dumping the water somewhere outside.

8 grams of it is all I have right now. Its in a saucer, upstairs, on the kitchen counter of a vacant apartment.

There's no need to worry. I can dump it in open fields around the city.

[taiwanluthiers]

I don't know if someone in Iraq playing with pyro would get in legal trouble... the government is probably too busy with other stuff to care.

[Alireza]

I am disappointed at the fact that a post I made enabled such foolish behavior.

I was trying to suggest to try making it into slow flash, not mix sulfur Al and KClO4 to make flash. (One thing readers might want to take into consideration when reading my posts is that even if i talk of something it does not mean at the slightest that I want you to try it. I am more for the science behind what happens and less the practical application. I might talk about mixing red phosphorous and chlorate it does not mean it is safe to use for anything practical. Most of what I do is experimentation with small quantities of pyrotechnic compositions)

 

From the performance of that flash, and from what I can gather your intelligence level. I have to ask; do you know the difference between perchlorate, and chlorate? Some newb's who don't know any thin about chemistry make that mistake, and it can cost them life and limb.

Further more do you know the difference between chlorate, chlorite, chloride,hypochlorite, and perchlorate?

 

If you have mixed chlorate, sulfur, and magnesium you would have made one of the most powerful, and sensitive pyrotechnic mixes known to man.

 

I hope you learn more before you hurt yourself, but if you need to be ignorant at least document your injuries (that is if you don't kill yourself).

 

Please just heed these warning, and take a step back for a moment and assess what you have done, and what you will do going forward. It could save you time, money, legal trouble, injury, death or worse the injury or death of one of your loved ones.

 

EDIT: I just watched the video of his on YouTube...First off he lives near a busy road, and second off that was more then half a gram.. he estimates it to be 16 grams.

Re EDIT: FYI that is about over half an ounce (28 grams to one ounce).

I hope for his sake that he f***ed up again and mistook grams for grains. (16 grains in approximately 1 gram)

 

Obviously you didn't force or even recommend me to do that. For the thousandth time, I was desperately testing my compositions, thinking none of them would work when I accidentally found a mixture which works.

 

I don't know much about chemistry, that's because I study master of information technology. but fortunately and tactfully enough, I make at least a basic research on what I'm about to make. and I DO wanna do everything safely. But you never know what could happen.

 

And about the video, who estimates it to be 16 grams ?? It is ME in the video and I'm sure it wasn't even 1 gram and most definitely not 16 grams !!!!

 

I don't know if someone in Iraq playing with pyro would get in legal trouble... the government is probably too busy with other stuff to care.

It's IRAN actually

[pyroshell]

 

And about the video, who estimates it to be 16 grams ?? It is ME in the video and I'm sure it wasn't even 1 gram and most definitely not 16 grams !!!!

 

 

In the comments you said you mixed 8 grams of perchlorate with 4 grams of magnesium with hardly 4 grams of sulfur. I just assumed that was the amount you mixed for your test.

[Alireza]

In the comments you said you mixed 8 grams of perchlorate with 4 grams of magnesium with hardly 4 grams of sulfur. I just assumed that was the amount you mixed for your test.

Thats right! The whole inventory I have might be about 14 grams right now. but as for a test I just burnt a half of a gram. You know that if I had used the whole thing, it would definitely have catastrophic consequences for me !!

[Mumbles]

I'm going to lock this. The thread has probably run it's course, and everyone has probably gotten their say in.

 

Alireza, flash is really not something to be playing around with. As I'm sure you're now very aware, it can be rather unpredictable. While I'm not trying to completely scare you off, this is not a topic we take lightly here. If you're going to only be interested in flash and salutes, you should go elsewhere. This is a topic that gives the hobby a black eye. If you're not going to take the hobby and safety seriously, you might as well just leave and save me the trouble of banning you.

 

Also, vacant or not, indoors is not the place to be storing or testing compositions. I speak from experience when I say it can go very poorly.

 

 

Pyroshell, don't try to pull that bullshit of "just because I talk about it, doesn't mean I suggest doing it". That's an idiotic thing to say. If you talk about how powerful something is, do you really think they're going to think to themselves about the safety risks that might be incurred? It's just dangling a carrot that could lead them down a very dangerous path. If it would be unwise for them to try it, don't talk about it.