Safe Procedures for Fireworks

by Global Dominator

The following essay is my way of repaying the countless favors done for me by people I have yet to meet. When I started dabbling in fireworks as a child, my only materials were shotgun powder, model rocket fuse and any container I could lay my hands on. Knowledge was only gained by trial and error. Many experiments, and years later I think there may be a few things I could pass on to save someone else needless effort and grief.

Unlike years ago, nowadays there are countless books available on the manufacture of fireworks. I won’t bother going into which flash powder formula is better, your standard 2-1-1 mixture works just as good as any other (oxidizer to flammable solid to moderator. For you chemists out there, I know. Moderator? This was meant for the layman/novice to fireworks manufacture. By moderator I infer that flash powder made with Sulfur is better, albeit slightly, from that made without. It helps the aluminum to generate the maximum heat necessary to incinerate the oxidizer quickly and evenly). I use 2 parts Potassium Perchlorate to 1 part German Black Pyrotechnic Aluminum to 1 part Sulfur Flour.

For those that have never used it, German Black is the be all, end all for the pyrotechy. It doesn’t float when you’re using it and it makes a superior product to metal flake aluminum (it has the appearance of dark grey/black flour). Granted, you don’t get the bright flash like you do with metal flake, but the increased shock wave and cratering potential more than makes up for it. Never skimp on your chemicals, if you go cheap, you get cheap.

You can always save money in other areas to make up for the increased cost of primo chemicals. I don’t recall the last time I actually paid for tubing to make maroons, but it was at least 10 years ago (for those of you not in the know, that’s the official name for a big firecracker. Sure, you can call them M-80’s, Quarter-sticks or salutes, but when they were first thought up, they were called maroons). You can find free tubing everywhere, for instance: the white tubing off of pants hangers is great for fingerlong salutes, at 3 inches long you get 5 per hanger, if you know someone who works in a place that uses the big rolls of plastic wrap for wrapping skids of boxes the tubes from the center of the roll are perfect for so-called Quarter-sticks, some adding machine/cash register paper tape comes on rolls perfect for M-80’s, etc., etc., etc. Just keep your eyes open and let a couple of people know by giving them freebies and tubing will come to your door.

As far as equipment and other material goes, of all the things I have used for end plugs, nothing was as easy or cheap as a hot glue gun. Yes, it gets hot, but numerous tests and countless years of use and it never set off the flash powder. An easy way to test yours is to plug it in and leave it on for half an hour, by then it should be as hot as its going to get. Place an amount of flash powder in a small bowl (1/2 tsp.) and stick the tip of the glue gun in the middle of it, if it doesn’t go poof! you should be ok. On small firecrackers like fingerlongs and M-80 types you can use just hot glue or a little shot of hot glue and a small piece of wooden dowel. If you use just hot glue shoot it around the inside of the rim then a small shot in the middle and then stick it end down on a sheet of plexi-glass or smooth plastic. When the glue cools you can use the plexi for loading the powder, it holds all the tubes end up for filling. When filled (halfway to two-thirds full, you need to leave an air space) a slight sideways pressure or a little twist and they pop loose so you can glue the fuse in the other end. End fused or side fused work equally good, I always use end fuse on the small ones and side fused on the big ones. On bigger salutes (Quarter-sticks), broom or mop stick works good for plugs. You’ll need a plug rammer (like a potato masher, only smaller) to seat the wood plug fully, hot glue sets awfully fast. If you decide you want to use end fuses on big salutes, seat one end plug, then drill a hole for the fuse, and then cover the hole with a small piece of masking tape. After you’ve filled it with flash powder and seated the other end plug, turn it over and take off the tape, then run the fuse down the hole. A little dab of hot glue to hold the fuse and you’re done.

For mixing my powder I use a rock tumbler, they’re made to run for weeks at a time and they do a very good job of mixing. Mine has room for two rubber tumbling containers and each one has the capacity of approximately a quart container. The rest of my fireworks apparatus consists of wood, plastic, brass or paper, most was made by me.

Never use steel or iron instruments of any kind, if you do you probably won’t live to regret it. A good scale is probably the most important piece of equipment you will ever buy, don’t skimp here either. I have a four-beam Ohaus, but a standard triple-beam is more than enough. If you get the type with a large plate on top you can set your tumbler containers on it then set the proper weight and just add your components until you balance. Absolute accuracy isn’t that important, a few grams off here or there won’t really make a difference if you’re mixing say, 6 or 8 ounces, but if you get into any of the technical stuff like making blasting caps and the like, accuracy is everything.

Among the other things you are going to need are sifting screens (NOT window screen), 400 and 600 mesh for starters, some plastic measuring spoons, two mortar and pestles (one for oxidizers, one for everything else), NEVER use a piece of equipment for both oxidizers and flammable solids, even a single granule of oxidizer in a mortar with some flammable solid will wreck your day. Paper funnels can be made out of scrap paper and then thrown away, airtight plastic bottles to store your chemicals in (I recommend Nalgene), a large footlocker type of box that light can’t penetrate for storage, and quite a few chemicals and do-dads like cannon fuse. This is where the hard part comes in, most of the chemicals you want are getting harder and harder to find. When you can, go to the place that’s selling them and pick them up, mail order starts a paper trail. Don’t walk in and ask for oxidizer, aluminum and sulfur, you’ll get “THE LOOK”, those people are not idiots. There are a few places to get aluminum (paint store, etc.), and sulfur isn’t that hard, nobody will look at you twice for just that, but the oxidizer can be a pain sometimes. You can only get German Black through a chemical supply house. The last time I found it they would only sell you 8 ounces at a time, and then you had to wait 6 months before you could order more. You may just wind up having to use metal flake, 400 to 600 mesh.

Other things you’ll need are: equivalency charts that show the old name of the chemical and what they call it today. A good chemistry dictionary if you haven’t had at least a high school chemistry class. Safety glasses, a filter mask, maybe some gloves, and a quiet, out of the way place to work.

Safety is paramount, don’t be in a hurry, don’t smoke while working, don’t work anywhere there may be an open flame (stoves, water heaters, furnaces and a few other things have pilot lights), and NEVER forget that friction is your enemy. Damn near any two things rubbed together with flash powder between them can wreck your day.

Don’t ever think that since you made a few good batches of flash powder that you’re ready to run with the big dogs and maybe make a batch of Composition M (civilian plastic explosive), or grab a bag of ice and mix up a little nitro, you’re not ready by a long shot. Don’t rush things, have a little fun with the fireworks first, then in a few years, if you’re still here and you can count to ten without taking off your shoes, maybe you can step up to picric acid and lead oxide or something like it. The only book I recommend for the beginner is: The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives by Tenney L. Davis. It covers the manufacture of anything you will ever want to make and a few other things besides. Although it is more of a textbook than the pamphlet-type fireworks books I’ve seen, it is understandable to anyone with at least high school chemistry 101, just don’t look for it at your local library.

In closing, please remember that safety is THE most important thing you have to think about. When you are playing with the kinds of chemicals we are talking about here your first mistake most often is your last. When it comes to fuse, better a foot too long than an inch too short (I can’t take credit for that one, I read it somewhere and found it to be too true). And don’t try to make the “biggest firecracker ever”, you’ll only waste powder. Be safe, have fun, and pass on what you learn so others won’t make the same mistakes.