Fireworks Information

by Vic Chaney Want to roll your own stars? This is how to make a star rolling machine. I have read about using a Harbor Freight cement mixer, but they are kind of pricey and rather big. Where would I...

THIS KIT CONTAINS: 50 RESISTANCE ELEMENT CHIPS 50+ FT TWO CONDUCTOR LEAD WIRE 1 BOTTLE CARBON BASE "A" MIX 1 PACKET "B" OXIDIZER 1 MIXING STICK Also required (not supplied) M.E.K. or Acetone and soldering supplies WARNING: Mixture(s) may be...

Originally published in Best of AFN III: When an aerial shell bursts, those stars that fail to burn are often said to be "blind stars", or more descriptively as having been "blown blind." This detracts from the beauty of the...

Here is a collection of different formulas for making (mostly) stars using magnesium powder. The information is a little stingy. It was all gleaned from The Wizard's Pyrotechnic Formulary. This is a collection of more than 2600 different fireworks formulas...

By Ned Gorski I've covered many safety issues involved in making fireworks in my introductory essay to Kyle Kelley's The Pyrotechnist Survival Guide, Bill Ofca's Fireworks Safety Manual, and Dr. Takeo Shimizu's treatise on Preventing Accident. Much physical suffering on...

Chemical milling, that is, reducing the particle size of powdered chemicals is part of fireworks making. No matter how fine and free flowing chemicals are when you first buy then, many of them can and will turn to stone like...

Although the Chinese are making bigger and better assortments of festival balls (also called “shells,” “artillery shells,” or “reloadables”), they are still being stingy with mortar tubes for them. If you only have one or two mortar tubes, you end...

Make Sure You Never Have a Bad Batch of Stars Again I get really excited every time I'm about to start making any new kind of stars. Of course, I always wanna jump in and start making them right away....

Ramming clay – Step by step When you're ramming clay nozzles or bulkheads into paper tubes, here are 3 things you need to know: Always ram your clay dry—never wet. Make nozzles as thick as the ID of the tube....

Fireworks Safety Practices by Ned Gorski At the beginning of his book, Fireworks - The Art, Science and Technique, Dr. Takeo Shimizu relates a bit of the early history of fireworks making in Japan. He includes this anecdote: "In 1810...

Skylighter's electric match heads are made comparable to Davey Fire electric matches, each has a thin nichrome wire wrap to convert electrical energy to heat. A minimum of 0.5 amperes will cause the nichrome wire to heat and then break...

Chlorine donor percentages calculated maximum by molecular weight or from manufacturers data. Chlorine Donor Percentage of Chlorine Ammonium chloride 66 Chlorowax 30-70 Dechlorane 78 HCB 75 HCE 90 Lead chloride 25 Lindane 73 Mercurous chloride 15 Parlon 64-68 PVC 57...