119 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
119 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
|
PYROTECHNIC MANUAL 1986
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Sysop : this manual may posted on any bbs or a.e. as long as this material
|
|||
|
|
remains unaltered.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Disclaimer : Turbo jr. and Alcove town sysops take no responsibility on how
|
|||
|
|
accurate this information is, and we are not liable for any accidents or usage
|
|||
|
|
of these documents.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Section one : making elementry gunpowder.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Obtaining the materials ;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To make a form of gunpowder you'll need to first obtain some pottasium nitrate
|
|||
|
|
(better known as Saltpeter ), flowers of sulfur ( also known as just sulfur),
|
|||
|
|
and for our purposes, crushed charcol briquets.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To get saltpeter you must visit a local drugstore, they should have some on a
|
|||
|
|
shelf someplace, if they don't try another drugstore. If the pharmiscist won't
|
|||
|
|
sell it to you, tell him that you cat is throwing fits, or you need it for an
|
|||
|
|
indothermic science project. Saltpeter is used as some kind of an diuretic and
|
|||
|
|
is used on horses alot, meaning that if you can't get it at a drugstore, try a
|
|||
|
|
local farm supply store, or a vet. You can also sometimes get it from a
|
|||
|
|
chemistry teacher or a chemical supply company, I wouldn't count on it though,
|
|||
|
|
since they usually have had 100's of others ask for the same thing and they
|
|||
|
|
have an idea what you're going to use it for.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Sulfur is fairly easy to obtain, almost every drugstore stocks it,
|
|||
|
|
if they don't have it they probably ran out of it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Charcol is the easiest to get, what you need is plain charcol briquets ( the
|
|||
|
|
kind you use on your grill !!! ) You can get charcol from any good supermarket
|
|||
|
|
or hardware store, sometimes a drugstore will also have it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Making the mix
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The proportions for our gunpowder varies greatly, depending on what results
|
|||
|
|
you wish. For example, if you add alot more of a substance than another, you
|
|||
|
|
might create a very fast burning powder, while if you mix just more of one
|
|||
|
|
subtance than another, you might get a long burning, flare type of powder. The
|
|||
|
|
results also depends on the quality of your substances.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Before you start to mix the chemicals, you must crush the charcol briquets
|
|||
|
|
into a fine dust, the more crushed it is the faster the powder will burn. I
|
|||
|
|
usually crush a single briquet at a time by placing it into a heavy duty
|
|||
|
|
plastic bag ,closing the opening shut, and pound it with a hammer until it is
|
|||
|
|
crushed. If a hole forms in the bag, pour the dust,and chunks of charcol into
|
|||
|
|
another bag and continue crushing until it is all a dust.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The usual proportion to go by is ;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3 parts saltpeter
|
|||
|
|
1 part charcol dust
|
|||
|
|
1/3 part sulfur
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Of course as mentioned earlier, you should try different amounts to discover
|
|||
|
|
different results. Always keep a record of your tests for future reference.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A 'part' can be any measurement - cup, teaspoon, gram,
|
|||
|
|
onces, etc., even though going by weights is the best.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Besure to mix well.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10,9,8,.....,zero IGNITION
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To ignite the mixture, it is best to buy some fuse. I buy mine from a local
|
|||
|
|
hobby store. You can make your own (very low grade, el cheapo) buy saturating
|
|||
|
|
(dissolve a substance until no more dissolves) some warm water with saltpeter,
|
|||
|
|
then soak a piece a paper toweling or linen in it. Take it out a allow to dry.
|
|||
|
|
Once dry it should be brittle, be sure not to break it or cause the dried on
|
|||
|
|
saltpeter to fall all over the place. Test it by igniting a small piece with a
|
|||
|
|
match, it should burn very slowly, and might even go out (a sign of
|
|||
|
|
cheapness).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To test it, you can either;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1...Pour the mixture into a paper cup, insert a wick, and light.
|
|||
|
|
2...Pour the mixtute into some paper toweling, crumple it around the mix, and
|
|||
|
|
light.
|
|||
|
|
3...Do it anyway you want, I really don't care
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
USE of the gunpowder.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Putting the gunpowder to good use really depends on your imagination. For
|
|||
|
|
instance you can pour some of the mix into a glass container with a screw top
|
|||
|
|
lid. Add a firecracker (not nessecary, only if your mix is a slow burner.) Cut
|
|||
|
|
a hole in the lid ( just big enough for a fuse ). Insert a fuse long enough to
|
|||
|
|
reach the mixture. Screw on the cap. Seal off any small openings with glue.
|
|||
|
|
Light it, and BOOMIE.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Another thing you can do is, cut a small hole in a tennis ball ( big enough
|
|||
|
|
for
|
|||
|
|
fuse ) , pour in some mixture, insert fuse, Light and you have a sort of a
|
|||
|
|
sparkling founting or a torch.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Of course there are all kinds of other things ( evil or good ) you can do,
|
|||
|
|
I'll
|
|||
|
|
leave the thinking up to you.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Substitute
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For an interesting flare effect or a faster burn, you can replace the charcol
|
|||
|
|
with a very fine dust of a metal. I haven't tried this often, but using a
|
|||
|
|
powdered aluminum creates an amazingly bright flare. But of course, there are
|
|||
|
|
problems with that, it goes out rather quickly. Alot of the newer store bought
|
|||
|
|
gunpowers use a zinc powder, I think. I can't tell you where to get powdered
|
|||
|
|
metal other than chemical supply companies or a chemistry teacher, sometime
|
|||
|
|
you
|
|||
|
|
can get some out of a metal working shop, but the metal from there is usually
|
|||
|
|
not fine enough. If any one has any suggestions or interesting effect leave me
|
|||
|
|
some e-mail about it, or write an article about it !!!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Also adding different salts and/ or chemicals to the mix can create a
|
|||
|
|
different color flame, if used as a flare. Salt causes a yellow color. I will
|
|||
|
|
include a list of the different effect in my second article, maybe.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The End
|
|||
|
|
|