I dont live with my parents anymore, so I dont have to worry about that...

Around here, people are more likely to call the cops on a smoke bomb rather than a salute. Most dont care about salutes, but if they saw smoke they would freak out thinking it was a fire. If it is like that around where you live, I would just go ahead and make the black powder. Then KClO4/charcoal, and finally flash powder.

If you can't melt your smoke mix but still want the same results you can use a method called recrystallization. You dissolve it in water and let the water evaporate.

Oh cool, so I put the mix in water, then I just let it dry in the sun ?

And what would be a good mixture to do this ? Ie: use the 60/40 micture for the smoke compostion then how much water should I use ??

just add enough to get the mix into a slurry paste.

K can do, and how long do you let it bake in teh sun... if its a hot sunny day out (85 degrees) ??

Oh yea, I just finshed making my fisrt batch of flash powder. I used 7 grams percholrate and 3 grams AL and mixed it up in a small tupawear container. I just closed the lid and gently mixed them around, not shaking up and down, but left to right. And I used static guard all around to keep any electric shocks at bay.

So after I finshed making the flash powder, I took one of my tubes (had already put the fuse in and glued one end cap down, I poured the flash into the tube. After I used about 7 grams I sealed it off, and went outside to light it (yea I know 7 grams is alot, but that was 3/4 filled). So I put it on the ground, about 25 feet away from my house and lit it. 3 seconds later it goes BOOOOM !!!!! And I feel the wind from the blast inside my house (with a screen door). The thing was so lound I jumped on the floor (it scared the bejebus out of me lol) and then my dad and neighboors came out complaining lol.

But I just told my dad it was alot of small salutes put together, and he said... well don't do it again.

So theres my little story and first experience with flash powder. All I can say, is that was amazing, and I can't wait to start making 100 grams at a time... behind my blast shield and 4 foot dowl.

Now you see why we want everyone to be as safe as possible. Soon, light a few grams of loose flash powder, and even without a confinment it is still powerful.

I know, I mean that one 7 gram or so m-80 would have taken off my hand, imagine what 100 grams can do :O

Anyway, tommaro I will mix up another batch, this time a big batch (100 grams), and maybe I can take some pics of what mine look like and everything.

Oh and the thing made a crater the size of a basketball in the ground, and obliterated all the (long) grass in the proccess.

Hey, what happens if I bury a M-80 ?? do you think it will work the same as a crater maker, or do I need the co2 cartridges to really take full advantage of the crater making possiblities ?

Once you make a 3-1/2" or bigger salute then you'll really start understanding the power of flashpowder :-)

I'm working on a 12" salute now. It's inner diameter is 1.25" and it's 12" long, so that's probably gonna be over 200 grams. We'll see what happens.

I have a video of us blowing up a quarter stick (3.5") in the ground. Maybe I'll post that if once I transfer it to my friend's computer.

quote:Originally posted by And1Drew:

I know, I mean that one 7 gram or so m-80 would have taken off my hand, imagine what 100 grams can do :O

Anyway, tommaro I will mix up another batch, this time a big batch (100 grams), and maybe I can take some pics of what mine look like and everything.

Oh and the thing made a crater the size of a basketball in the ground, and obliterated all the (long) grass in the proccess.

Hey, what happens if I bury a M-80 ?? do you think it will work the same as a crater maker, or do I need the co2 cartridges to really take full advantage of the crater making possiblities ?



Please exercise greater caution in mixing 100 grams of flash, as that is well above the critical mass of flash powder.

Any friction, spark, or static charge will cause the powder to explode unconfined.

The m80 will do fine in the ground.

The shrapnel of a 'cratermaker' has nothing to do with the said crater-making capabilities.

Be sure to bury the m80 at least partially, instead of just placing it on the ground. The difference is dramatic.

Yea, I know... I just placed one on the ground yesturday and the thing made a huge ass crater for such a small salute.

And I just finshed making 25 grams of Flash, I think im going to wait, and get more experiecned before I start making 100 gram batches.

ALl I do is measure out 7 grams of perchlorate and 3 grams of AL, then I put it in a small container. Then I repeat the procedure once more, and then mix all taht together. So it was a total of 6 grams Al and 14 grams perchlorate (plus the 5 grams of flash I already had made). Then I just spray some static guard in (very little) and put on the lid and gently shake is back and forth (left to rigth), and never up and down (to much friction).

Is that a good method for just doing small 20 gram batches at a time ?

Yeah, its fine.

7 grams for your first salutes was way too much. Im very experienced, but I rarely make salutes over 3 grams becuase the threat of getting cuaght right now is pretty high. I havent even lit a single firework since the 4th of July, and I rarely make any exploding devices now.

Im not trying to scare anyone, but with all this war and terrorist shit going on, more people are most likely to call the cops.

Yea I get what you mean... my neighboors called the cops on me Twice now !!!

And I was just lighting off regular little fireworks. Imagine what they would do if I lit off 5 5 gram m-80's :O

I actually just tried to fill the tube up 3/4 filled, tahts why I used so much flash, but I did not mean for it to get to 7 grams. The blast was just so loud... I really just could not believe it made that big of a boom lol.

Cool sounds like you know what you are doing as far as safety and the cops go. Keep up the good work.

[I was stupid]

[This message has been edited by deadsexy (edited 07-25-2003).]

I"d be very careful if i were you, word could get to your neighbors that your making fireworks in the nieghborhood then if they tell the cops this you will be royally screwed. It might take 6 months to a year for word to get around but trust me people like to open their mouths. just be careful if cops come over things can get real bad real quick.

Yea I know, so I will be lighting them off from about 10 miles plus from my house... so I don't think that shoulod be too much of a problem