anyone here into pyrotechnics?

I've been into fireworks for awhile, but just buying the pre-made variety. I am going to try my hand at making some small shells myself. I just got back from a friends house who gave me a bunch of chemicals that he was getting rid of, as well as he gave me a ball mill. So what is your experience with fireworks? Do any of your guys make them yourself? Anyone missing fingers or toes here because of them?

My short list of things I now have chemical wise is: Lampblack 1 lb. Potassium nitrate. 20 lbs. Calcium carbide Zinc powder 1 lb. Iron filings 1 lb. Copper chloride 1 lb. Manganese dioxide. 1 lb. Strontium carbonate 1 lb. Dechlorane 1 lb. Copper (II) oxide 1 lb.

Andrew

I likes shadetree chemistry projects

In the years before age 10 I accomplished functional gunpowder. The first time from potassium nitrate I found in a cave and under a house, sulfer from the drug store, and charcoal I made. That mixture would burn rapidly but I never got it to explode. Later I got pot. nitrate from the drugstore which did explode. I also made small cannons, hand grenades, and finally a 4" tube filled with my mixture that cracked the wall of my parents carport. That wrapped up my experimentation with explosives.

Yeah sounds like you were quite dangerous with the stuff. Might be a good idea you stopped, lol.

Didn't every red blooded American teenage boy somehow get involved with fire and fireworks at some point of their lives?

I remember having many conversations on the best way to make a pipe bomb. My one friend used to tell me about evaporating a gallon of gasoline in his basement that would be equal to 2 sticks of dynamite.

Ten years ago I did a lot of fireworks making. I still have probably 50 pounds of chemicals in my shop. Wear heavy leather gloves and long sleeves. It isn't the explosions that will get you, it's the burns. I managed to make a lot of fire works without catching anything on fire or blowing myself up. Pay particular attention to safety gear. Glove, long sleeves, face shield, fire extinguisher, and so on. Also watch for static electricity. That is what gets most people. I never did any manufacturing with the humidity below 70%. I also never worked in the A/C.

Edit: Skylighter is where I used to get all my chemicals and fuse materials. They also sell shell making supplies and launch tubes. You will need to fill out a for to be registered with the BATF if you order from them.

PS. Don't make your launch tubes out of steel. Use cardboard. I exploded a three inch tube once when a shell got jammed. It exploded with enough force to shatter the 1/2 inch plywood it was mounted to. You don't want steel shrapnel flying if you have an error.

Safety, safety, safety. I can't stress that enough. Building them is a blast, pun intended. It is also dangerous.

I keep toying with the idea of getting my Pyro license so I can do it here in AC..

I sold fireworks to pay for my college. If you're bored and just sitting there, you can make the most amazing things out of cannibalized other things. Take lots of things and put them together MUCH BIGGER!

We quit when the concussion from one of our very colorful concoctions, that was planted in the ground and about 200 yds away, punched us in the gut strong enough to feel like a kick in the belly and knocked everything off the shelves in our fireworks stand. We were in the country so no cops were called, but you shoulda heard my mom screaming. Seems pics were knocked off the walls, bottle rattled and she thought the USSR had attacked. She'd closed herself up in a closet. This was the 60's and everyone just knew we were going to be attacked.

I really wish we'd have blown it at night because even in the day time the flash was quite colorful.

I wasn't into fireworks, but rockets. Similar chemistry. Most memorable Ooops was when my buddy and I were experimenting with a new rocket fuel idea. Potassium nitrate and sugar, heated to caramelize. Did the cooking on a hotplate in buddy's basement. We knew the mixture was temperature sensitive and slowly increased the heat. Got a nice caramel mix, and turned off the heat. It was sensitive both ways. Cooking off two pounds of rocket fuel in a coffee can make a LOUD roar, a tremendous amount of smoke, and badly scorched the wood above. I was banned from that house for years.

yeah potassium nitrate and sugar is fine, so long as you add stabilizers i'm told. I'm just looking to try some shells out, I'm thinking 6" shells to starts, they seems small enough. I have been using skylighter, just bought some chinese sky lanterns from them for $50 for 40. Damn good price if you ask me.

I've had a bunch of manuals for awhile, and have been collecting items to build things, cardboard tubes and such. I need to contact the BATF this or next week, to find an approved storage container. Gladly since I'm not doing this commercially I do not need my class 2 license.

I was pretty much born into this scene and got my pyro license the day I turned 18 and have been shooting ever since. I'll stop when they pry the hwy flare from my cold dead fingers.