How To Make Fireworks Strobe Pots

Learn formulas and basic techniques for making strobe pot fireworks.

Materials Needed

These strobe pot formulas were lifted from the PML and used with the author's permissions. Some of the ingredients may not be available to everyone, but it’s a worthwhile project anyway.

All parts listed are by weight and do not necessarily add up to 100.

Ammonium perchlorate	60
Magnesium, atomized, -100 + 200 mesh, coated with potassium dichromate	30
Potassium sulfate	10
Potassium dichromate, milled dust	additional 2-3%

Ammonium perchlorate	60
Magnalium (magnesium-aluminum alloy) -60 mesh, coated with potassium dichromate	25
Barium sulfate	7.5
Strontium sulfate	7.5
Potassium dichromate, milled dust	additional 3-4%

The blend of sulfates gives a nice clean white with no greenish cast. (For a nice star substitute 10% of the 60 mesh Mg/Al with -200 mesh. Adding a tiny bit of medium mesh titanium makes a fun star.)

For strobe pots, dampen lightly with nitrocellulose solution and tap or press into a thin wall tube with a wood or aluminum rod. Prime as is normal for ammonium perchlorate mixes.

To learn more about strobe fireworks read these:

"Blue Strobe Rockets"
"White Strobe Rockets"