Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Flash powder help!

Ham1113 - 12-1-2019 at 11:11

I’ve been experimenting with flash powder and if anyone over here knows anything about Potassium persulfate and magnesium and how sensitive it is and if it is usable for pyrotechnics because I’d like to try it out but I want to keep my fingers source:https://youtu.be/_iiUd5SUWOw

I’m new to this website aswell so :(

FeedMe94 - 12-1-2019 at 13:11

It's more sensitive than the classic KCLO4 70/30 but not more sensitive than the KCLO3 mixtures. The thing is that you need really fine MG, which you will have to make your self , for it to react so violently

Ham1113 - 12-1-2019 at 13:29

Thanks I’ll test it in different situations and see the friction and impact sensitivity since it would be safe to loud into a pyrotechnic device if you have no idea what it’s capable of and how sensitive it is. Thanks!

FeedMe94 - 12-1-2019 at 14:35

Don't try more than few milligrams. It is really powerful also you cannot store it. Use in the same time you made it. If you want a powerful and safe option go for KCLO4 / Al

Ham1113 - 12-1-2019 at 17:06

Yeah true and thanks for that advice but the problem is that I cannot get my hands on potassium perchlorate in the UK and it’s a pain in the bum to make it so I’d have to go with Potassium persulfate and I’m going to try 0.5 and see how it is but the downside is that I can’t use this as normal KCLO4/AL flash powder because when I’m making firecrackers or salute rockets I normally use 100-400g of flash powder and I cannot possibly do that with potassium persulfate and Magnesium:(

FeedMe94 - 12-1-2019 at 17:22

400g of Flash is a bit too much for firecracker or salutes. What flash powder you were using till now ? KNO3 based ?

Ham1113 - 12-1-2019 at 19:45

I used to take apart fireworks to make fireworks XD got a bit too expensive

snooby - 12-1-2019 at 22:43

If you were using 400 grams of flash in one firecracker in the recent past, I do no think this is the moment to start with sensitive magnesium based flash powder. I would start to make blackpowder first then KNO3/AL flash.

Ham1113 - 12-1-2019 at 23:52

I have also tried black powder 250g it wasn’t that significant so that’s why I moved on to commercial flash powder but then it got expensive and I could not make KCLO4/AL because you need a license to get potassium perchlorate in the UK so I’m kind of stuck that’s why Im going to test exotic flash powders

Sulaiman - 13-1-2019 at 01:19

very fine Mg powder is available via eBay uk, as is potassium permanganate,
which can be ground to a fine powder and mixed with the magnesium powder.
This mixture makes a BANG even if not confined.

FeedMe94 - 13-1-2019 at 01:38

I think that the KMN04 + MG is way more dangerous than the KCLO4 + AL. Also you cannot store it because MG oxidizing too fast.
KCLO4 is still available in the UK

Ham1113 - 13-1-2019 at 01:45

Do you know where I can get KCLO4 without any kind of licence? Since it pretty difficult to get.

unionised - 13-1-2019 at 01:49

Quote: Originally posted by Ham1113  
... when I’m making firecrackers or salute rockets I normally use 100-400g of flash powder ...(

Am I the only one hoping that he's working in grains, rather than grams?

Ham1113 - 13-1-2019 at 01:51

Grams dude and I do know what I’m doing (since I’ve still got my hands) and I’ve been working with flash powder since I was a kid so I’ve got some experience with it

[Edited on 13-1-2019 by Ham1113]

[Edited on 13-1-2019 by Ham1113]

Sigmatropic - 13-1-2019 at 02:09

*Jaws theme song plays in my mind*

FeedMe94 - 13-1-2019 at 02:24

Probably you are confused. When you say 100 to 400 grams you mean the mix in fireworks, all of it with colors and sparkles, right ?

unionised - 13-1-2019 at 02:56

There was a young man from Herne bay
who was making explosives one day
till he dropped his cigar
in the gunpowder jar
There was a young man from Herne bay

Ham1113 - 13-1-2019 at 09:34

Let me give you all a little more detail, when I make ground salutes I normally put in 50-100 grams of flash powder when I’m making rockets I normally put in around 100-300 grams of flash powder (no other colours and stars just flash powder) when I’m making shell I normally put in 300-500 grams of flash powder (and sometimes titanium salutes) so yeah.

Laboratory of Liptakov - 13-1-2019 at 12:57

I didn't heard about such heavy charges for a long time. You will send some on orbit trajectory?.....:cool:

XeonTheMGPony - 13-1-2019 at 13:19

Quote: Originally posted by Laboratory of Liptakov  
I didn't heard about such heavy charges for a long time. You will send some on orbit trajectory?.....:cool:


Those are actually pretty moderate size, I've seen larger where the salutes where in pounds.

So those sizes are well within normal fire works sizes.

Get your self some platinized electrodes and start electro-chemicaly making it.

FeedMe94 - 13-1-2019 at 15:03

Quote: Originally posted by Ham1113  
Let me give you all a little more detail, when I make ground salutes I normally put in 50-100 grams of flash powder when I’m making rockets I normally put in around 100-300 grams of flash powder (no other colours and stars just flash powder) when I’m making shell I normally put in 300-500 grams of flash powder (and sometimes titanium salutes) so yeah.


Do you have any videos you can show us ? It would be interesting

Ham1113 - 14-1-2019 at 02:05

I used to have recordings on my phone with rockets and shells and ground salutes but when I reviewed the footage you could not even hear the report going off so I just deleted them although my friend has a pretty damn good camera he may let me borrow it.

woelen - 14-1-2019 at 02:23

Hundreds of grams of pure flash powder in a single shell? That sounds ridiculous to me. If you have good flash powder, you can blow up a complete house with a single charge :o

If you work with that kind of quantities, then I only have one suggestion: Try to get a license and use safe and well-tested materials, based on KClO4. Playing around with KMnO4, Na2S2O8 and Mg may be quite interesting from a chemical point of view, but that best can be done at grain-scale, not gram-scale and certainly not 100g-scale if you value your limbs and life. I also sometimes do little experiments with exotic highly energetic materials on a small scale, but I seldomly use more than 100 mg in a single charge.

bullshit

Laboratory of Liptakov - 14-1-2019 at 10:14

To Ham 1113 : Is time for your show some videos with your huge flash powder experiments. On YouTube or else platform.
Because it seems, that this thread are only words, respectively bullshit....:cool:

Ham1113 - 14-1-2019 at 11:55

Quote: Originally posted by Laboratory of Liptakov  
To Ham 1113 : Is time for your show some videos with your huge flash powder experiments. On YouTube or else platform.
Because it seems, that this thread are only words, respectively bullshit....:cool:


True, I’ll record and put my pyrotechnic experiments on here so everyone can understand visually aswell!

Laboratory of Liptakov - 14-1-2019 at 23:27

OK....we are curious, thanks for positive reply........:cool: