How to make colored smoke bombs using Skylighter's Smoke Mix
Take just 20 minutes to read this article, print it out, and use it to make this firework. You will be amazed at how well it will work as long as you follow the steps we give you here. Try this project today and see if you don't agree.
You should use protective gloves when making colored smokes, and cover all
surfaces with newspaper or some other covering to be thrown away later.
Working with smoke mix can be very messy no matter how careful you are. The
dyes will stain anything they come in contact with, so lay down newspaper
over your work surfaces and protect your hands with rubber gloves.
Skylighter's smoke kit is already pre-measured and ready to go. If you mix
all of the dye mix and oxidizer provided in your kit, you'll end up with
about 1.25 lbs. of finished smoke composition. Just mix the smoke mix with
the potassium chlorate oxidizer.
Mix the chemicals
An easy method for mixing small amounts of insensitive composition is called
"bag milling."
Use a plastic bag big enough so it is not more than half full
after adding all the chemicals. If you are going to mix the whole
kit at one time, dump all of the smoke mix and the potassium
chlorate oxidizer into the bag. Use your fingers to break up any
lumps while mixing the composition. Once mixed, the material should
be a consistent color and have no sign of any lumps. If you're not sure
if it's mixed enough, keep mixing. The more you mix, the better the
generated smoke will be.
If you want to mix less than the contents of the whole kit, the
proportions should be 27% potassium chlorate and 73% smoke mix
by weight. You must use an accurate gram scale to weigh them.
Once mixed, your smoke is basically ready to go. It will actually burn just fine in
the open without any containment. This is a good way to test how well it's mixed.
The composition should light easily with a match or fuse, and burn with little or no
visible flame. But to use your smoke for anything practical, you’ll need to build a
container for it. In the instructions that follow, that canister will be a paper tube
with cardboard end plugs.
Build a smoke canister
Place a small bead of white (Elmer's or carpenter's) glue around the inside lip of
the paper tube
and press the plug into place. Using your fingertips, seat the plug flush with the
end of the tube. You can insert the plug either way into the tube. Once this is done,
set the tube aside to dry for several hours.
Make a fuse cap
Holding a paper plug between your fingers, poke a hole large enough to slide a length
of visco fuse through. The fuse should be cut long enough so that you can push the
fuse through the
cap and all the way to the bottom plug. Set the fuse cap assembly aside for now.
Load smoke composition and cap the tube
Using a small scoop, loosely fill the tube with smoke composition up to
about one-quarter inch from the top. There is no need to compact the smoke
composition. Keeping it loose and fluffy will increase the burn rate and
also improve the color of the smoke produced.
In the same way that you glued the end plug in, place a small bead of glue
around the inner lip of the canister and slide the fused plug in place.
Once done set the canister aside to dry for a couple of hours until the glue
is dry.
Once it's dry, just light the fuse and let her smoke!
Enjoy.
Suggestions & troubleshooting:
Q: After lighting, the bottom or top plug pops out. A: Be sure your plugs are thoroughly glued in and that the glue
is dry. If they still pop out, increase the size of the smoke vent. Bigger smoke
devices need larger orifices for smoke to vent. Try punching several holes in the
top plug.
Q: How can I make the smoke comp burn faster? A: In some instances you may want to generate a lot of smoke very
quickly. The best method is to add 5% dextrin and dampen the mixture slightly
until it just holds it shape when you squeeze it in your hand. If water comes out
when you squeeze it, it's too wet. Then press the dampened composition though a
10-20 mesh screen to granulate it. Once dry, load the granules loosely in a smoke
canister.
Q: The smoke is vivid in color for awhile, but then fades to gray. A: The ash is trapping the sublimed dye. You can either make a
smaller or shorter device or mix 15% fine sawdust (-40+60 mesh) into the smoke mix.
Either should resolve the problem.
Smoke Bomb Kits:
Smoke bomb is the name most often used to describe various shapes and sizes of tubes or other containers which emit colored pyrotechnic smoke once they're ignited. Skylighter's Smoke Bomb Kits contain everything you need to make 15 or more smoke bombs.
Smoke bomb kits are a super deal. These kits can save you a lot of money and time. You don’t need to buy books and videos to learn the complexities of making smoke. You don't need to buy $225 worth of items just to get started. You don't even need to buy a scale (typically another $100-$200)! If you know how to glue paper together, you can be making your own big smoke bombs in minutes.
There's one Smoke Bomb Kit for each of the smoke colors we carry. Each kit contains:
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