This list of compositions is not meant to be exhaustive. It is
just a list of ones that I have used or with which I'm currently experimenting
RED

Click on the above picture to see an example of the Red Klumac star
with a little Green Klumac at the end
Red (Klumac)
Strontium
Nitrate 50
KCLO4
15
Parlon
12
Red
Gum
8
Magnalium (200-400) 10
Dextrin
5
Boric
Acid
2
This is
harder to light. Use green meal with +10 silicon and +10 dextrin. Two step
prime it using 50/50 composition and meal/silicon for the first layer and
then the meal/silicon mix for the second. Total prime is about 1/16".
Gorski Independence Red (a variation)
Red Metallic Fueled Star:
Name: Screen-cut, Parlon Bound, Brilliant Red (see Gary Smith Parlon Stars
below for more on screen cutting)
Source: Variation of Independence Red
Strontium Nitrate 53
Magnalium, granular, -275 mesh 19
Parlon 17
Red Gum 11
NOTES:
add .85 oz acetone to 5.25 oz star batch for 4'' shell (added .16 acetone..)
3.4 oz for 21 ounce batch
4T of each prime for a 5.25 oz batch
One 5 oz cup of each prime for a 21 oz batch
sub BaNit for green
25 oz batch of green for 6'' shell
(green comp is crumbly,,treat it gently.)
21 oz batch of red for 6'' shell
25 oz batch of green for 6'' shell (BaNit is heavy)
Red
KCLO3
36
Strontium Carbonate 12
Charcoal
1
Red
Gum
4
Dextrin
1
Comments:
It
is a chlorate star so all safety warnings apply.
Laquer Red (Eric Hunkins)
|
|
|
Ammonium Perchlorate
|
41
|
Strontium Nitrate
|
|
20
|
Hexamine
|
|
|
12
|
Parlon
|
|
|
13
|
Sulfur
|
|
|
3
|
Red Gum
|
|
|
3
|
Magnalium 200 mesh
|
8
|
|
|
|
100
|
|
|
|
|
Burlhorse on UK Rocketry:
Here's another red thats fast, Good Color Depth, Easy to Make (only 4 Chems)
and Will light from a cigarette ash at 10 Paces.....
Pot Perc...........................70
Strontium Carbonate...........15
Red Gum..........................10
Air Float or Willow Charcoal..1
Dextrin...............................4
Bleser #1
Above reds are Bleser #1 with PVC
Color - Red
Organic (Bleser KP #1) (from Alan Yates with notes)
Name: Red
Organic (Bleser KP #1)
Source: David Bleser with comments
Composition:
70 Potassium Perchlorate
15 Strontium Carbonate (Creagan: works fine, easy enough to light if
well primed)
10 Red Gum
4 Dextrin
1 Charcoal (airfloat)
+10 PVC (not Bleser - added in by Creagan to lengthen burn time - it also
adds to the color)
Preparation:
Screen together well using a 60 mesh screen.
Dampen with water and cut or pump
Comments
(borrowed from Alan Yates):
Substitution of the Strontium Carbonate with other
metal carbonates for different colors works fairly well:
8 Sodium Bicarbonate: Yellow (Creagan: works as advertised -
burns fairly quickly)
10 Calcium Carbonate: Orange (Creagan:
works as advertised - nice Orange)
20 Barium Carbonate: Green (Creagan: did 20/10 Barium Carbonate and
PVC. It is a bit washed out but I also did Veline's Green (with Parlon) and it seemed almost
as pale - it is a bit harder to light so prime in three layers)
Bleser #1
burns quickly - almost too quickly. I added in +10 PVC to all the carbonate
mixes and that slowed it down a bit and added to the colors. The picture
above shows Bleser #1 with PVC with some sparkler stars and some strobes.
Notes from ukrocketry forum - a thread by BigG and others (see examples at::
http://www.ukrocketry.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=480&st=45 )
R1
Sr(NO3)2 65
Dark Al 12
Parlon 18
Red Gum 5
R2
Sr(NO3)2 60
Dark Al 12
Parlon 20
Red Gum 3
Sulfur 5
R3
Sr(NO3)2 62
Dark Al 12
Parlon 18
Red Gum 8
R4
Sr(NO3)2 65
MgAl* 12
Parlon 14
Red Gum 3
Sulfur 6
R5
Sr(NO3)2 60
MgAl* 12
Parlon 25
Red Gum 3
Red (Shimizu)
KClO4 66
Red gum 13
Strontium carbonate 12
Lampblack (or charcoal, I used charcoal) 2
PVC 2
Dextrin 5
bind with 25%/75% alcohol/water
Parlon Red Star
Source:
Lifted from Skylighter newsletter at:
http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=8)
Strontium
nitrate 50
Potassium perchlorate
8
Parlon
18 (PVC substituted successfully)
Magnesium/aluminum 12
Charcoal, airfloat
5
Sulfur 5
Red
gum 2
Total (parts by weight)
100
Dextrin +5
Notes: This one is
hard to light! It also has a bit of ash. I had it covered with Veline's Prime
and it just burnt the prime off leaving the star. Yeesh! However, this sucker
does have a strong red color and it lasts a long time (when you get it lit).
To be successful on ignition, I had to dust the bottom of the star board with
lightly dampened Veline, then 50/50 Veline/composition, then 25/75, then pure
composition, then press. I haven't tried it, but green meal with a little
silicon or aluminum should work as a prime, too.
Falling Leaves (Chinese colored fuse):

This is also made in green (see green stars below) and other colors. The red is fairly good
and the fuse burns slowly. See Skylighter (and cannonfuse.com) for prices. It comes in
96 foot rolls. Cut off 1" pieces and prime one end with NC or Ping Pong
Ball/Acetone mix and BP.
The image above links to a demo that used a Black Cat Exploding Comet rocket as the
lift platform. The Comets are cheaper Black Cats that can carry a star or two
for testing. In this case, it carried a half dozen or more Falling Leaves. Click
on the image to see the demo.
CHARCOAL
Chrysanthemum of Mystery
Original Source: Shimizu
This Source: bar talk
This is a slow burning sulfurless mix - ideal for high
altitude breaks (rockets).
Airfloat charcoal (try locust else pine): 50
Potassium nitrate: 45
Binder (dextrin, SGRS, etc): 5
Step priming has been recommended.
Willow Diadem
Willow Diadem often has a color core
Charcoal Airfloat 39.17
Potassium Nitrate 31.16
Sulfur 10.68
Dextrin 7.12
FerroTitanium, coarse mesh 4.45
FerroTitanium, finer mesh, 4.45
Titanium, sponge, 40-80 mesh 2.97
Golden
Chrysanthemum (PGI)
KNO3
30
AF
Charcoal
30
Sulfur
8
Titanium (40-100 sponge) 27
Dextrin
5
Firefly
Chrysanthemum (PGI)
KNO3
38
AF
Charcoal
40
Sulfur
7
Aluminum Flake (10-18) 8
Dextrin
7
Ferrotitanium
(PGI)
KNO3
30.3
AF
Charcoal
30.3
Sulfur
6
FeTi (40-100 mesh) 27
Dextrin
6.4
Bright
Spider
Meal D
(homemade OK) 62
Charcoal (80
mesh) 6.2
Charcoal
AF
12.4
Dextrin
4.0
Titanium (40-100 sponge) 15.4
FeTi
KNO3
32
Charcoal (pine)
40
Sulfur
11
Mixed FeTi
15
Dextrin
7.2
Comments:
Three
Different meshes of FeTi and Ti were used to make up the 15 parts of FeTi
Swisher Crossette Willow
Formula
|
|
Potassium Nitrate
|
|
53.69
|
AF Charcoal
|
|
22.82
|
Sulfur
|
|
|
13.42
|
Lampblack
|
|
4.03
|
Dextrin
|
|
|
6.04
|
Blonde Streamer

Source: Bleser
Potassium nitrate .............45
Sulfur ................................ 6
Charcoal (150 mesh) ....... 29
Dextrin ............................ 5
Ferrotitanium .................. 15
Notes: This is quite nice and the FeTi makes the sparks hang for a while.
Easy to light. This is a comet formula but it still works ok as a star - the
stars usually stream out quickly then a fire dust lingers for just a bit.
Golden Kumora
(source rec.pyro through Jason Murri - original source is
not known at this time)
30.3 potassium Nitrate
30.3 charcoal, af, I used pine charcoal
6.1 sulfur
27.25 FeTi, 40-100 mesh
6.1 dextrin
Chrysanthemum #6
aka: Charcoal fire dust #1
3/8" Chrys #6 using film can shell (left) and a 4" shell (right)
Source: Takeo Shimizu
55 Potassium Nitrate
33 Charcoal (airfloat)
7 Sulfur
5 SGRS (Dextrin can be substituted)
Preparation:
Shimizu says to wet to get KNO3 into charcoal. You can also ball mill for a few
hours. After milling, I like to add a metal to make it even sparkier. 15% FeTi
is nice - however, when you add in metal, you start getting close to other
formulas - with the addition of +15 FeTi, Chrys #6 starts sounding like
Blonde Streamer (see below).
Charcoal Streamer Star
Name: Fireflies on Cocaine (Flaming Shit on Your Head)
Source: Bill Kimbrough
Potassium Nitrate 46
Charcoal, mixed 44
Magnalium, granular, 30-60 mesh 10
Sulfur 6
Barium Carbonate 6
Starpol 4.5
Total: 116.5
Transcribed from Passfire
Transcribed from
http://skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=146#firefly
(SL - Probably Ned Gorski): Bill Kimbrough developed the
recipe for this star a few years ago. I first saw it at Western Winterblast
as a heading in one of Doc Barr's black powder rockets. It was and is
spectacular. The effect is sort of like a rich silver twinkling kinda like a
firefly, but surrounded by really red glowing embers. Not charcoal orange,
but more red than that. The silver and red together are incredible. This is
truly a noble star. You learn to make this one, and the girls will throw
rocks at all the other boys. If all goes well, and everything burns up where
it's sposed to, it is ''Fireflies on Cocaine,'' Otherwise the star is
accurately called ''Flaming Shit Falls on You.''
A couple of notes. All parts are parts by weight; it doesn't matter what
they add up to. The pine charcoal is critical. Without it, you ain't got the
true Flaming Shit star.
''I like to take the [yellow] pine charcoal as it comes
out of the yard grinder, and put it in the ball mill for 10 minutes. Sift
out (remove) what doesn't fall through a window screen, and just use the
mixed granulation of the charcoal--Better charcoal effect. I mostly roll
mine with starpol as a binder, but I have made the formula into comets,
stars, and even tried it in lance. Pump, cut or roll, works good for me, but
never use starpol as the binder if it is to be the outside of a color change
star, as it will surely cause a driven in (moisture) problem.''
--Bill Kimbrough
BLUE
Bill Ofca Blue (from a longish discussion on Passfire)
39 Potassium Perchlorate
20 Potassium Chlorate
16 Lactose
10 Copper Carbonate
11 Parlon
4 Dextrin
Baechle 6
Potassium Perchlorate 30
Barium Nitrate 20
Parlon 20
Copper(II) Oxide, black 10
Aluminum, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 10
Hexamine 6
Red Gum 4
Nedski subs lactose for the hex and screen slices them.
(see Gary Smith stars for screen slicing information)
Blue
Bleser AP Blue #20
AP Blue
-------------
Ammonium Perchlorate - 68
Hexamine - 17
Copper Oxychloride - 11
Dextrin - 4
Comments:
AP star so do not mix with chlorates. Prime with AP
prime and not BP
KCLO3
65
Copper Oxy 12.5
Lactose
12.5
Dextrin
5
Saran (HCB) 5
Comments:
Cheap blue - It
is a chlorate star so all safety warnings apply.
Blue from Skylighter article on blues: http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=12
B10
Potassium perchlorate
38
Ammonium perchlorate
29
Copper carbonate
14
Red gum
14
Dextrin
5
Blue
49 (Shimizu)
KCLO4
61.2
Parlon
11.6
Red
Gum
9.0
Copper
Oxide
12.3
Dextrin
4.2
MgAL
(optional)
1.5
Blue Star #1 (not recommended!)
Source:
Skylighter: http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=12
(B2)
Potassium perchlorate
60.8 (much depends on the purity of the perc!)
Parlon
13.0 (Temporarily misplaced my Parlon - used PVC)
Copper carbonate
12.0
Red gum
9.0
Dextrin
4.8
Notes: This works ok - using more Parlon and no Dextrin and dissolving it in
acetone seems to make it better but harder to light. Potassium perchlorates
available in the U.S. have a good deal of foreign material in them - be sure you
use a fairly pure perc else the color will be washed to white.
Falling Leaves (Chinese colored fuse - get blue at Cannonfuse.com).
Click HERE for demo.
Blue Star #2
(not recommended!)
Source: I 'discovered' it in isolation while experimenting with colder star
compositions and
trying to get them to light easier. I have since found it on the UK Rocketry
Forum (or near enough).
KClO4 70
PVC 9
CuO 15
Red Gum 10
Dextrin 5 (additional %) (note: UK Rocketry Forum lists SGRS instead of Dextrin)
Blue Star
#3 (not recommended!)
Source (and comments from the source): Skylighter article on blues: http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=12
and from “Chemistry of the Elements" and reprinted in D. Haarmann's “Pyrotechnic Formulary"
and elsewhere.
Good ignition. This
potassium-perchlorate augmented ammonium perchlorate composition was in the
minority of tested AP formulae in regards to ignition (Ed. Meaning it was good,
not bad). Color saturation was very
good and bum rate was acceptable. A
good formula
B10
Potassium perchlorate
38 (get the purest ingredients!)
Ammonium perchlorate
29
Copper carbonate
14
Red gum
14
Dextrin
5
Comments:
This one was easy enough to make once you have the ingredients. It lights easily
and has a good review on Skylighter. It does seem a tad light but still good. I
rolled it and primed it with three layers.
Blue
Star #4 (recommended - CAUTION - THIS IS A CHLORATE STAR - DO NOT ATTEMPT IF YOU
ARE NEW TO PYRO - GET SOMEONE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND CHLORATE SAFETY BEFORE
ATTEMPTING)
These
are from page 216 of Shimzu's FAST - you can choose fast burning or a bit slower
burning. Both should be primed.
Blue Star
Faster Slower
(preferred)
Potassium Chlorate ... 66.5
60.8
Red Gum ...................
9.9
9.0
Cupric Oxide ............. 13.4
xx
Copper Carbonate......
xx
12.3
Parlon ....................
5.4
13.1
SGRS (Binder) ............ 4.8
4.8
Chlorate Stars
''In keeping with the
practice of remaining on topic for posts,
this is my favorite blue star comp (it is my modification of
a formula originally posted by Shimizu in FAST):
Blue Star
Star Lift*
Original from page 216 FAST (formula II) Slower version from same page
Potassium Chlorate ........ 64.5 % 66.5
66.5
60.8
Red Gum ................... 9.9
9.9
9.9
9.0
Cupric Oxide .............. 13.4 13.4
13.4
xx
Copper Carbonate.......
xx xx
xx
12.3
Parlon .................... 5.4 5.4
5.4
13.1
Charcoal .................. 2.0
2.0
xx
xx
SGRS (Binder) ............. 4.8
2.4
4.8
4.8
Lights easily, burns fast, good blue color.
Editor's note: This burns very
fast. Cut them larger than you normally would - start with 1/2" for a
3" shell. I didn't use a prime since they seemed to grab fire very easily.
No prime works but you might want to put on a thin one anyway just for
protection of the chlorate surface-to-surface contact.
*Experimental attempt at making a
blue lift for mines - the intent was to have a pure blue wall instead of getting
interference from the orange sparks of 2FA.
----------------------------------
Bill, I don't think Ofca's
blue is in the formula database, but here it is:
KClO3 .65
Cu Oxychloride .13
Lactose .13
Chlorowax .05
Dextrin .04
Dampen with water only
cut 1/2'' cubes (kinda messy)
or roll into round stars (rolls great)
ned
Blue Pyro Science
|
|
|
Potassium Perchlorate
|
66.1
|
Copper Oxide
|
|
13.4
|
Parlon
|
|
|
10.7
|
Red Gum
|
|
|
9.8
|
Dextrin
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
|
105
|
Blue Stars with Paris Green
from a post by Harry Conover on rec.pyrotechnics
Right out of Tenney Davis's book, here is the first one
for a 'non-
electric' star comp.,
Potassium Chlorate
48
Paris Green
18
Barium Nitrate
16
Dextrin
3
Shellac
10
This comp produces very intensely color saturated blue
stars, but
other than for test shells, I've never use it in preference to the
following composition, which for many years was mainstream fireworks
suppliers. The following formulation gained popularity when the cost
of powdered aluminum rapidly decreased. It is the 'blue electric
star'. Davis lists this formulation, which he attributes to which he
attributes to Allen F. Clark.
Potassium Chlorate
32
Aluminum
8
Paris Green
16
Dextrin
2
Shellac
1
John Reilly's Blue (revisited)
After rereading Shimizu's "Fireworks From A Physical
Standpoint" about a year ago, I dropped the PVC component in the mix
to only 5% and upped the chlorate and shellac.
Potassium Chlorate 62%
Black Copper Oxide 20
PVC
5
Shellac
9
Dextrine
4
Chinese Blue (works best in small stars. Fades as
you go bigger)
46 KCLO4
26 CuO
15 S
5 HCB
3 MgAl
5 Phenolic Resin (looking for substitute - maybe shellac or red gum and then
wet with alcohol)
PURPLE
Purple (from Mike S. and others)
Potassium chlorate 24
Strontium carbonate 3-3/4
Copper oxychloride 2-1/2
Shellac 4
Hexachlorobenzene 2
Dextrine 1-1/2
"This gives a very clear pure lavender-purple
color and is useful for making
wafers for married comets or for pillbox stars. If you don't have HCB, Saran
might be the best substitute."
<from LK>
To speed this up but with less color saturation, use the following formula:
lbs
4Kg
% (rounded)
Potassium chlorate 24
2543
63.6
Strontium carbonate 3-3/4
397.35
9.9
Copper oxychloride 2-1/2
264.9
6.6
Shellac
2
211.9
5.3
Red
Gum
2
211.9
5.3
Saran
2
211.9
5.3
Dextrine
1-1/2
158.9
4
Purple
(Steve Majdali)
KCLO4
50
Strontium
Nitrate
8
Copper
Oxide
13
Parlon
15
Magnalium (200 mesh) 3
Red
Gum
7
Dextrin
4
Purple Shimizu
KP #2
64 Potassium Perchlorate (note that you can substitute KCLO3 and get better
results but then you have a chlorate star)
9.5 Red Gum
8.7 Parlon
7.8 Strontium Carbonate
5.2 Copper Oxide (black)
4.8 Dextrin
Purple Pyro Science
|
|
|
Potassium Perchlorate
|
70.9
|
|
Strontium Carbonate
|
|
5.45
|
|
Copper metal
|
|
3.65
|
|
Red Gum
|
|
|
10.9
|
|
Parlon
|
|
|
9.1
|
|
Dextrin
|
|
|
5
|
|
Copper Oxide
|
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Purple Star (John Reilly)
This is
a very nice chlorate "violet purple" Giovanni Forli sent me
some time ago and I like it a lot:
Potassium Chlorate 1
kilogram
Black Copper Oxide 220 gms.
PVC (very fine dust) 160 gms.
Strontium Carbonate 160 gms.
Red Gum 100 gms.
Gum Arabic 60
gms.
Damp with water and cut
or roll. Makes a fast burning, easily lit
star. I prime lighly with fine meal. If you use Parlon instead of
PVC, it may change the color and burn slightly. Also, this is more on
the blue side of "purple" than the red. Hardt also has some very good
compositions for purple using chlorate as well as perchlorate.
John Reilly.
Yes. As Pyrotec said, gum arabic (acacia gum) can be substituted with
dextrine with little noticable difference. I'd probably go to 4.0 or
4.5% dextrin though and adjust the red gum and pvc down 1% total. You
can also make a nice blue chlorate star with this kind of mix:
Potassium Chlorate
60%
PVC
10%
Copper Oxide (black or red) 20%
Shellac
6% (red gum can be used also)
Dextrine
4%
Damp w/water and cut or roll. Light BP prime. This isn't quite as
good as the KClO3/Paris Green,HCB, with stearine, or lactose and
shellac and dextrine but it's better than many in my opinion and lights
easily.
John Reilly
GREEN
Green
(Klumac)
Barium
Nitrate
50
KCLO4
15
Parlon
12
Red
gum
8
Magnalium (200-400) 10
Dextrin
5
Boric
Acid
2
This is
harder to light. Use green meal with +10 silicon and +10 dextrin. Two step
prime it using 50/50 composition and meal/silicon for the first layer and
then the meal/silicon mix for the second. Total prime is about 1/16".
Green star #1
Veline's Green and Bleser #1 (substituting Barium Carbonate and PVC (20/10) for
the Strontium Carbonate) have been tried. Both are pale. Bleser #1 is
explained under RED. Veline's green is:
Barium Carbonate ............. 15
Barium Nitrate .................. 24
Potassium Perchlorate ....... 30
Magnalium ........................ 11
Red Gum .......................... 5
Parlon .............................. 15
Dextrin ............................ 5
I dampened with 35% alcohol and primed in three layers
Green star #2
Bright Green (Best of AFN III, p. 115, seen first in Tom Perigrin's Book
"Introductory Practical Pyrotecnics")
Potassium Perchlorate ... 30
Barium Carbonate .......... 19
Magnalium ...................... 30
PVC ................................. 12
Red Gum ......................... 4
Dextrin ............................ 4
Comments: Triple primed. This is harder to light and is certainly Bright
Green.
Falling Leaves (Chinese colored fuse) Click HERE for
demo.
This is probably the best substitute for green stars (as long as you buy the
green Falling Leaves!). You don't have to worry about Barium compounds and it is
fairly cheap. See Skylighter (and cannonfuse.com) for prices. It comes in 96
foot rolls. Cut off 1" pieces and prime one end with NC or Ping Pong
Ball/Acetone mix and BP.
Green star #3
Source: Composition from Shimizu
Preparation:
Barium nitrate....................................28.3
Potassium Perchlorate.............................47.2
Parlon............................................4.7
Red Gum...........................................14.2
Soluble Glutinous Rice Starch.....................5.6 (I substituted Dextrin)
Comments: This one is easy enough to make and lights easily, too. I
rolled it and primed it with three layers. It might be the best of the
non-metallic greens
I've tested so far and might qualify as a 'good enough' based on an 'ok' color
and ease of ignition. The break above ( a 1 3/4" Easter Egg) was almost 100%.
Green
KCLO3 22
Barium Chlorate 43
Barium Nitrate 9
Red
Gum
22
Dextrin
4
+10 water
Comments:
This
is the brightest non-metallic green I have seen. I have only observed this -
I haven't made it. It is a chlorate star so all safety warnings apply.
Tim's Green
Barium Nitrate 60
Magnalium 12
Parlon 23
Dextrin 5
YELLOW
Yellow
Barium Nitrate
60
Dark aluminum 16
Cryolite
8
Parlon
5
Sulfur
4
Dextrin
6
Boric Acid
1
Comments:
I
found a yellow star that is completely awesome. It is intense, medium easy
to light, and medium speed. It easily stands with
the green and red metallics. I'm considering a
three color rolled star with all metallic colors. This formula is down here
because I have only observed it but not actually made it. This is Jim Widman's
formula.
See Veline (again) and also see the Bleser #1
comments under the 'Red Star' section
Yellow Shimizu
KClO4 68
red gum 18
NaNO3 7
charcoal 2
dextrin 5
bind with 25% alc
Gold
Flitter??
Source: Visser
Comments: The particle sizes of aluminum powders will markedly affect the
result. If Al bronze is available, you can use all 16 parts of it instead of the
two different Al powders.
Preparation: Add water and proceed as usual.
Potassium nitrate, fine...........................16
Sulfur............................................3
Charcoal, powdered................................2
Sodium oxalate or Ultramarine.....................4 or 2
Fine, grey aluminum powder (preferably pyro Aluminum).....11
Flake Aluminum or medium Al powder (Al bronze works well).....5
Dextrin...........................................4
Notes: Lots of ash but it does look gold and it does flitter
Falling Leaves (Chinese colored fuse - get yellow at cannonfuse.com) Click
HERE for demo.
WHITE
white star
Potassium nitrate 59%
Sulfur 30%
black powder 11%
Silver Star
kno3 : 60
Al spherical 200 mesh : 20
Sulfer : 14
Charcoal : 6
boric acid : 1
dextrin : 5
OR
Potassium Nitrate..........50
Sulphur..........................30
Aluminium......................20
Binder...........................+5
(Boric Acid.....................+1)
This composition makes a bright golden white. I think a true silver is probably
reserved for barium nitrate or potassium perchlorate compositions, but this one
is pleasing enough. For a binder I have used NC laquer (this was just added
until the composition was cuttable, and was not exactly 5%) and dextrin (this
was 5%). It will need an intermediate prime. In my experience, BP just burnt
off, leaving it unignited.
Note that today, true "white stars" are credited for the metallic
addition of Magnesium, or the organic (more common) inclusion of antimony
trisulphide. You can also use Antinomy Metal powder. Formulas containing KNO3,
Sulphur, and Antinomy will burn with a brilliant white much better then the
white posted in the quote.
For Example:
Davis: (Creagan note - this is great and is listed at the top of this
composition listing as a 'tried and true' formula)
KNO3: 62
Antinomy (III) sulphide: 17
Sulfur: 17
Dextrin: 3
Lancaster:
KNO3: 51
Sulfur: 18
GP: 15
Antimony Metal: 10
C (+150 mesh): 3
Dextrin: 3
Working many years with white formulas that utilize KN03, S and C (with or
without AL), I had to redefine my understanding of “White" after using
Davis
formula.
White #1 (source: E. Hunkins)
Potassium Nitrate 61.53
Sulfer 20.51
Antimony Trisulfide 10.25
Meal 3.84
dextrin 3.87
White
Antimony (Davis)
KNO3: 62
Antinomy (III) sulphide: 17
Sulfur: 17
Dextrin: 3
Comments: This is a nice star. It lights fairly easily (I used a good
single coating of Veline's Prime), and it is not terribly expensive except for
the antimony. The white is bright and pretty and it burns a medium amount of
time.
White Strobe

Click on the above picture to view the .wmv movie of a White
Strobe test (500k)
Source: United
Nuclear White Strobe Stars (from:
www.unitednuclear.com/stars.htm
- since removed - probably stolen from Bleser )
Barium Nitrate
.................51
Potassium Nitrate ............7
Sulfur ..............................19
Magnalium ......................18 (60 to 100 Mesh)
Dextrin ............................5
Comments: This seems to be a
really easy star formula - it rolls exceptionally well and it definitely
strobes. I primed it with three layers - but it lights ok - it's just that I
have a hard time getting Barium Nitrate so the cost is pretty high and I want
the stars to work. Click on the image
above to see a test flight (using one of the high reliability 3/8" rockets
with titanium delay - see rockets.html). The
payload is two 5/16" strobe stars. The strobe stars almost hit ground - but not
quite. They definitely last a good long time. I like 'em!
Chinese Strobe Stars (from a post by John Reilly on Passfire)
"Red Blinking"
Strontium Nitrate 58%
Potassium Nitrate 5
HCB 15 (or Saran)
Mg/Al alloy powder 18
Sulfur 4
Nitrocellulose "paste" additional 25% to damp
"Green Blinking"
Barium Nitrate 65%
Potassium Nitrate 13
Mg/Al alloy powder 17
Sulfur 5
Shellac "paint" 20% solution in alcohol addl. 14%
Rosin "paint" 40% solution in alcohol addl 4%
Falling Leaves (Chinese colored fuse - get white at cannonfuse.com) Click HERE
for demo.
WHITE STAR
Formula #1 (modified)
Potassium Nitrate 63.59
Sulfur 20.63
Antimony Trisulfide, Dark Pyro, 325 mesh 10.13
Dextrin 5.06
Charcoal Airfloat 0.56
This is what we used for white in red-white-blue-report 3-break shells at the
All-American display at last year's PGI convention. It is a nice neutral white
and doesn't overpower the non-metal red and blue chlorate stars used in the
other breaks. It is only slightly modified (by adding dextrine in the modern
manner) from the composition used for white stars by Southby at Woolwich c.
1850.
-Mike Swisher
SMOKES
Black Smoke Stars (Daylight Stars - Shimizu)
Potassium chlorate 44
Antimony 24
Napthalene 26
Dextrin 6
Use quickly else keep very tightly sealed. The
Napthalene will evaporate if the stars are left in a device or left
unsealed. The resultant star would be very sensitive. Always press these
mixtures.
Another version by Ken Miller:
potassium chlorate - 60 %
napthalene, - 20 mesh (crushed flakes or mothballs are just fine) - 40%
antimony sulphide, dust - +4%
This mix was meant to be safer than the Shimizu
version - and looks like it should be. Put this in a 1" tube with
1/2" nozzle or no nozzle. Light with a slight bit of comp and
blackmatch. Always press these mixtures.
An Easy Black/Gray Smoke (military formula) that
produces volumes
Hydrochloroethane 45 (get it on eBay)
Zinc Oxide 45
Dark Aluminum 10
Prime using 50/50 smoke mix and meal then 100 meal.
Using dyes for smokes
First off, get good dyes - they are quite expensive so
be prepared. Here is an edited version of Ken Miller's comments about how
to make good smoke cartridges
The basic formula is:
50% dye
30% KCLO3
20% sugar (confectioner's sugar works)
1) In a 2'' ID, we use, most commonly, a 3/4'' vent hole
but 3/8'' would be a bit better.
2) The mix should be pressed. We use line pressures anywhere from 500 to 1100
psi on 2'' items. Not sure if that helps.
3) Any fine sugar sugar will work. For most items, we use confectioners dust.
Ideal is anhydrous dextrose. Scam a free sample and ball mill.
4) Dampen yer smoke comp with NC/solvent as making pulverone. Press by hand into
the bottom of the container and cover air-tight. Let sit 30 minutes. Granulate
as pulverone. Granulate again. Let dry.
Now you have dust-free, fast/faster burning granules that are a joy to handle
and easy to press. The additional mixing helps as the dye soaks into the chems.
If you really want to see the goodness, add a little 2-3% antimony sulfide to
the mix. This was common during WWI and don't worry, it won't blow up in yer
face. Just handle it as you would any friction sensitive mix, in other words,
the same way you should be handling this stuff anyway. Do not add more than 3%
antimony sulfide else the mix will become too energetic.
OTHER
Winokur Silver C
Glitter Star:
Name: Win Silver C Glitter Star
Source: Modified Winokur gerb formula by Ned Gorski
Convert from Meal
Meal Powder 65
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese needle 13
Barium Carbonate 10
Aluminum, atom, spherical, 325 mesh, 32 micron 7
Dextrin 5
Oglesbys "Better
Pearl"
47 KNO3
10 Ba(NO3)2
10 Al [i used the cheap 50µ Al]
18 Sulfur
10 Charcoal [I used coffee grinder- milled willow
charcoal]
5 Dextrin
from UK Rocketry forum: "Its a very cheap star, but it spreads blinking bits everywhere
"
Freeman Aqua (Source: Jim
Freeman from a Passfire post)
My favorite is a chlorate
star.
BaClO3 - 32
KClO3 - 32
red gum - 16
BaCO3 - 8
PVC [or other chlorine donor] - 6
dex - 4
copper oxychloride to get
your best version of aqua. My recommendation is somewhere around 2 to
2-1/2%. If you get to 3%, it likely will be a very expensive, but beautiful,
blue.
Sometimes the aqua color is
better using lactose, rather than gum, or half and half. The lactose burns
cooler and that makes a better blue. For cutting, lactose often sticks to
the knife. For rolling, it might be an advantage. I have not tried it with
stearin.
Orange
(Joel Baechle)
KCLO4
53
Strontium Carbonate 20
Sodium
Oxalate
7
Potassium
Benzoate 3
Rosin (sub. red gum)
13
AF
Charcoal
3
Dextrin
4
Special Effects Star:
Name: Flash Core
Source: David Bleser (as listed on Passfire)
Barium Nitrate 66
Aluminum, flake, dark, German Blackhead. 3 micron 27
Dextrin 6
Boric Acid 1
Preparation: Must use flash core igniter formula as a prime (see igniter
prime below). Roll with 50/50 water/alcohol, not exceeding 3/16'' diameter and dry. Roll at least 1/32'' thick igniter
prime before rolling on next layer of star comp. Star must be moving through the
air to accurately test for proper operation. Click on the above picture to see
a short movie of the flash core in action.
Glitters
Buttered Popcorn Glitter (Lloyd Sponenburgh)
Buttered Popcorn Glitter
(posted once before but this is an update with comments from Lloyd... posted
with permission)
5lb......Meal-D
....
6oz..sodium bicarbonate
....
9oz..antimony sulfide -325 mesh
....
8oz..Fine spheroidal Al (service X-fine)
....
6oz..dextrin
"Work the bicarb up and down by 1% amounts (1% of the bicarb amount) to increase or decrease the spritzel delay.
It's simple, and will work properly with from 3% to 8.5% moisture when pressed; use JUST enough to make it cohere well at the pressure you're using.
For granulating, usually about 800-1000ml of water per 16lb batch works out just right.
Linda named it ''Buttered Popcorn Glitter''. The spritzel puffs are roughly 3/4'' in diameter, and a rich buttery gold.
I roll it into stars, press it into comets, and granulate it for pressing.
SOP is that all my formulae contain binders. Even with granulated comps, the binder makes it less dusty to press, and easier to granulate with less moisture -- and too much moisture is the enema .. ur... eneMY... of glitters.
BTW... the amount of water used to granulate is usually considerably higher than that used to press. The 800ml is roughly 11%. But it doesn't seem to hurt the glitter, probably because I dry granulates rapidly in very shallow layers, preventing the sort of reactions that might cause them to deteriorate."
Editor's note: I asked Lloyd for permission to post this, he added the
following:
Danny, that's fine. You might also add "(late comment -- as little as
200ml of water per 16lb batch works well for high-pressure pressing into
comets, crossettes, etc.)
You might note for the readers that the batch represented is NOT a 16lb
batch.
<G>
LLoyd
Gold Glitter (from Eric Hunkins)
Gold Glitter
50% Potassium Nitrate
20% Sulfur
6% Sodium Bicarbonate
4% Dextrin
10% Magnalium
10% Charcoal
Gold Glitter (PGI Bulletin)
Here is the gold glitter formula from the PGI bulletin number 148:
KNO3
48
Air Float Charcoal 9
Sulfur
9
Sb2S3
10
Al Atomized 12 mic. 14
Sodium Oxalate
7
Barium Carbonate 1
Dextrine
5
I bound these stars with home made flour paste, as made from the passfire
site directions. I used enough paste to get the material so that it was stiff
dough and shiny, but not runny. The stars burn about as fast as a chlorate color
star, so you can cut them pretty large if you want. They light very easily with
a flash bag provided you use a good amount of BP prime so that they have a
little time to slow down before they ignite, insuring their continued burning.
Winokur Glitters
Winokur Glitters (formulas only - not
completely sure these are all accurate so double check if you don't get what
you want on a test batch)
Winokur #1
Potassium Nitrate 35
Strontium Nitrate 15
Charcoal Airfloat 13
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Sulfur 10
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Dextrin 5
Pinkish glitter. Hygroscopic, but useable.
Pinkish glitter. Hygroscopic, but useable.
Winokur #2
Potassium Nitrate 40
Strontium Nitrate 10
Charcoal Airfloat 13
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Sulfur 10
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Dextrin 5
Pinkish glitter. Hygroscopic, but useable.
Winokur #3
Potassium Nitrate 50
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Sulfur 9
Charcoal Airfloat 8
Strontium Carbonate 6
Dextrin 4
Pinkish glitter. Hygroscopic, but useable.
Winokur #4
Potassium Nitrate 50
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Sulfur 9
Charcoal Airfloat 8
Sodium Oxalate 6
Dextrin 4
Pinkish glitter. Hygroscopic, but useable.
Winokur #5
Potassium Nitrate 40
Sodium Nitrate 10
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Sulfur 9
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 9
Sodium Oxalate 8
Dextrin 4
Pinkish glitter. Even more hygroscopic than win 1-4, but useable.
Winokur #6
Potassium Nitrate 53
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 16
Charcoal Airfloat 13
Sulfur 9
Aluminium, Flake, bright -325 mesh, 36 micron 4.5
Dextrin 4.5
A white glitter with a rather high percentage of antimony trisulfide.
Winokur #7
Potassium Nitrate 35
Barium Nitrate 20
Sulfur 14
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 9
Sodium Oxalate 8
Dextrin 4
Gold glitter that uses sodium oxalate to enhance the glitter without the use
of antimony trisulfide. Sodium bicarbonate may replace the oxalate with
similar results.
Winokur #8
Potassium Nitrate 37
Barium Nitrate 15
Sulfur 15
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 13
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Iron (III) Oxide, red 6
Dextrin 4
White glitter that uses iron oxide and sulfur to replace antimony trisulfide.
While the effect is inferior to antimony, the formula is still useable.
Winokur #9
Potassium Nitrate 35
Barium Nitrate 20
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Sulfur 10
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 9
Dextrin 4
Good white glitter that uses barium nitrate as both the oxidizer and the
''retardant.''
Winokur #10
Potassium Nitrate 35
Barium Nitrate 20
Sulfur 17
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 14
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Dextrin 4
Excellent white glitter with long tail, fine grain and dense
Winokur #11
Potassium Nitrate 40
Barium Nitrate 20
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 14
Sulfur 10
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Dextrin 5
Excellent white glitter with long tail, fine grain and dense.
Winokur #12
Potassium Nitrate 40
Barium Nitrate 20
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 14
Sulfur 10
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Dextrin 5
Iron (III) Oxide, red 1
Excellent white glitter with long tail, fine grain and dense.
Winokur #13
Potassium Nitrate 50
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Charcoal Airfloat 9
Sulfur 9
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 6
Dextrin 4
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 3
Off-white glitter with attractive lacy effect.
Winokur #14
Potassium Nitrate 50
Sulfur 11
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 8
Dextrin 5
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 5
Sodium Bicarbonate 5
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 4
Off-white glitter with attractive lacy effect.
Winokur #15
Potassium Nitrate 48
Magnalium Granular -325 mesh 14
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Charcoal Airfloat 9
Sulfur 9
Sodium Bicarbonate 7
Dextrin 4
Gold magnalium glitter. Large flashes, good delay and long tail.
Winokur #16
Potassium Nitrate 48
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Charcoal Airfloat 11
Sulfur 9
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 9
Sodium Bicarbonate 7
Dextrin 4
Gold glitter almost identical to Win 15, with large flashes, good delay and
long tail.
Winokur #17
Potassium Nitrate 47
Charcoal Airfloat 13
Sulfur 13
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Dextrin 5
Similar to Win 15 and 16 except white in color instead of gold.
Winokur #18
Potassium Nitrate 50
Sulfur 15
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 13
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 7
Dextrin 5
Similar to Win 15 and 16 except white in color instead of gold.
Winokur #19
Potassium Nitrate 50
Sulfur 20
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 10
Sodium Bicarbonate 6
Dextrin 4
Coarse gold glitter with short tail and moderate density. The advantage is
that it doesn't contain antimony trisulfide, making it a cheaper glitter
comp.
Winokur #20
Potassium Nitrate 48
Sulfur 17
Magnalium Granular -200 mesh 12
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Sodium Bicarbonate 5
Iron (III) Oxide, red 4
Dextrin 4
Gold glitter similar to Win 19, with very long delay creating more of a gold
strobe effect. Note the absence of antimony.
Posted by: blindreeper Posted on: February 4th, 2005, 6:28pm
Winokur #21
Chemical Name Parts
Potassium Nitrate 52
Sulfur 15
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, Flake, bright -325 mesh, 36 micron 6
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 6
Sodium Bicarbonate 6
Dextrin 5
Medium grained dense gold glitter using baking soda as a burning inhibitor
and glitter enhancer.
Winokur #22
Potassium Nitrate 50
Sulfur 18
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, Flake, bright -325 mesh, 36 micron 8
Sodium Bicarbonate 6
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 4
Dextrin 4
Medium grained dense gold glitter using baking soda as a burning inhibitor
and glitter enhancer.
Winokur #23
Potassium Nitrate 50
Sulfur 20
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, Flake, bright -325 mesh, 36 micron 8
Sodium Bicarbonate 8
Dextrin 4
Medium grained dense gold glitter using baking soda as a burning inhibitor
and glitter enhancer. Note the absence of antimony.
Winokur #24
Potassium Nitrate 52
Sulfur 21
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, Flake, bright -325 mesh, 36 micron 6
Sodium Chloride 6
Dextrin 5
Produces a good gold glitter with excellent color and good delay.
Unfortunately, it is quite hygroscopic.
Winokur #25
Potassium Nitrate 52
Sulfur 17
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, Flake, bright -325 mesh, 36 micron 6
Sodium Bicarbonate 5
Iron (III) Oxide, red 5
Dextrin 5
A silver glitter with fairly large flashes and a medium short tail. No more
than 8% water can be used when mixing. The low usage of expensive metals
makes this a very cheap formula ideally suited for comets.
Winokur #26
Potassium Nitrate 52
Sulfur 21
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Aluminium, Flake, bright -325 mesh, 36 micron 6
Iron (III) Oxide, red 6
Dextrin 6
A silver glitter with fairly large flashes and a medium short tail. The low
usage of expensive metals makes this a very cheap formula ideally suited for
comets.
Winokur #27
Potassium Nitrate 50
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Charcoal Airfloat 9
Sulfur 9
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 9
Sodium Bicarbonate 9
Dextrin 4
A fine grained off white glitter that produces small but symmetrical
flashes. Fallout with this formula is large enough to pose a potential
problem
Winokur #28
Potassium Nitrate 50
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Charcoal Airfloat 9
Sulfur 9
Sodium Bicarbonate 9
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 6
Dextrin 4
Aluminium, Flake, Dark, American Dark, -325 mesh 3
A fine grained glitter that produces small but symmetrical flashes. Dark
aluminium is added to solve problems with fallout and increase flash
density.
Winokur #29
Potassium Nitrate 50
Sulfur 15
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 7
Sodium Bicarbonate 7
Dextrin 4
Aluminium, Flake, Dark, American Dark, -325 mesh 1
A fine grained glitter that produces small but symmetrical flashes. Dark
aluminium is added to solve problems with fallout and increase flash
density.
Winokur #30
Potassium Nitrate 50
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 10
Charcoal Airfloat 9
Sulfur 9
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 8
Sodium Bicarbonate 6
Aluminium, Flake, Dark, American Dark, -325 mesh 4
Dextrin 4
A fine grained glitter that produces small but symmetrical flashes. Dark
aluminium is added to solve problems with fallout and increase flash
density.
Winokur #31
Potassium Nitrate 45
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 12
Barium Nitrate 10
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Sulfur 10
Dextrin 5
Iron (III) Oxide, red 4
Barium Carbonate 4
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #32
Potassium Nitrate 38
Barium Nitrate 14
Sulfur 13
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 12
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Iron (III) Oxide, red 8
Dextrin 5
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #33
Potassium Nitrate 43
Barium Nitrate 13
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 13
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Sulfur 10
Iron (III) Oxide, red 7
Dextrin 4
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #34
Potassium Nitrate 40
Barium Nitrate 16
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 12
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Sulfur 10
Dextrin 5
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #35
Potassium Nitrate 36
Barium Nitrate 16
Sulfur 13
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 12
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Iron (III) Oxide, red 8
Dextrin 5
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #36
Chemical Name Parts
Potassium Nitrate 43
Barium Nitrate 16
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 12
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Sulfur 10
Iron (III) Oxide, red 10
Dextrin 4
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #37
Potassium Nitrate 40
Barium Nitrate 14
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 12
Sulfur 11
Charcoal Airfloat 10
Iron (III) Oxide, red 7
Dextrin 4
Barium Carbonate 2
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #38
Potassium Nitrate 40
Barium Nitrate 13
Sulfur 12
Charcoal Airfloat 12
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 12
Iron (III) Oxide, red 7
Dextrin 4
White glitter with medium size flashes. Charcoal is the burning retardant.
Taken from Pyrotechnica II.
Winokur #39
Potassium Nitrate 51
Charcoal Airfloat 19
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 12
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 8
Barium Carbonate 5
Dextrin 5
Excellent, cheap white glitter with medium sized flashes.
Winokur #40
Potassium Nitrate 51
Charcoal Airfloat 19
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese Needle 12
Aluminium, atom, spher, 120-325 mesh, 20 micron 9
Barium Carbonate 5
Dextrin 4
Magnalium, granular, -60 mesh 2.5
Use 2% barium carbonate for first prime layer.
Swisher Glitter (can be cut)
24 lbs. home made meal powder 384 oz, 65.3 %
4 lb. 8 oz. antimony sulphide 72 oz, 12.25 %
3 lb. Reynolds No. 120 atomized aluminum 48 oz, 8.1 %
1 lb. 8 oz. strontium carbonate 24 oz, 4 %
1 lb. 8 oz. sodium oxalate 24 oz, 4 %
2 lb. 4 oz. dextrine. 36 oz, 6.1 %
Sieve chemicals individually once through 40 mesh. Blend by hand and sieve 3
X through 20-mesh.
Aq. 3 lbs (48 / 588 = 8.1) to pump, 5 1/2 lbs (88 / 588 = 15) to cut
With a hobby mill, it is common to make 1000 grams of home made meal. If you
do that then, the following are the ratios:
Meal - 1000 grams
Antimony Sulfide - 187 grams
Atomized Aluminum - 124 grams
Strontium Carbonate - 61.4 grams
Sodium Oxalate - 61.4 grams
Dextrin - 93.4 grams
Water to cut - 230 grams (Ed: water varies according the charcoal used - my
test batch took over 350 grams)
Gold Twinkler Glitter from Ned Gorski (on
Passfire and on Skylighter)
Black powder meal 0.68
Atomized aluminum 0.08
Antimony trisulfide 0.08
Sodium oxalate 0.11
Dextrin 0.05
Pumping is best. Use just enough water to bind in a star pump (5%?)
Eric's Silver Flitter (Eric Hunkins) #1
|
|
Potassium Perchlorate
|
60
|
Dark Aluminum
|
|
21
|
Aluminum Flitters
|
|
10
|
Charcoal
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
|
|
Dextrin
|
|
|
7
|
Silver
Flitter (PGI)
KCLO4
39.1
Red
gum
7.6
Atomized Al (-325) 36.6
Magnalium (200 mesh) 6.3
Sulfur
4.4
Boric
acid
1.3
Dextrin
4.4
Gold
Glitter (from PGI bulletin but probably Degn)
KNO3
48
AF
Charcoal
9
Sulfur
9
Antimony
sulfide
10
Aluminum 325 atomized 14
Sodium
Oxalate
7
Barium
Carbonate
1
Dextrin
D1 Glitter
Source: Tom Rebenclau/Jack Drews and from Alan Yates
Composition:
53 Potassium Nitrate (corrected from 58 on some forums)
18 Sulfur
11 Charcoal (airfloat)
7 Aluminium (-325 mesh, spherical)
7 Sodium Bicarbonate
4 Dextrin
Preparation:
The composition designer suggests dampening with 6% plain water with 1 part of
boric acid dissolved in it when pressing comets or pumping stars. It need not be
ball milled if your components are already sufficiently fine, just screen
together, moisten and granulate through a coarse sieve ready for
pressing/pumping.
Comments
I used it as delay for a 3/8 rocket. It was about 50% slower than RP. It didn't require priming
for a light burst but priming would likely be necessary for a hard break..
Ofca's Gold Twinkler etc (source Passfire - Ned Gorski in response to
questions about using Meal-D):
Rob, in BAFN III, Bill Ofca
has a Chrys 6 formula based on meal D. ''The Beautiful 4'' Spider Web
Shell'' uses, in one of the formulae:
Meal D 10
KNO3 7.5
Airfloat 7.5
Sulfur 1
Dex 2
If you do some calculating, you'll see that this is a hot mix with the
same proportions as Chrys 6.
My favorite Glitter is Ofca's Gold Twinkler, and as it's base I use a
homemade granulated meal, which would probably work with commercial meal,
too.
Meal 65
atom.al. 8
ant sulf 8
sod ox 11
dex 5
( 3 parts of boric acid are specified, but I don't use it.)
I like this one best if it is only very slightly dampened and then pumped
as pumped stars or comets.
Have fun,
And another Ned quote: And,
years ago, Charley Wilson turned me onto the fact that in many
glitter-type comps, using a somewhat granulated BP as the base, to which
the other chems are added, really changes and enhances the effect.
INDY
COLORS (from the Internet - not tried)
Indy formulas (in %)
RED (SrN 50, MgAl-325 18, Par 16, RG 10, Dex 5)
RUBY (increase SrN to 62, reduce MgAl to 12, divide
chlorine donor into equal parts of saran and parlon)
Emerald (exact same as ruby, sub BaN for SrN)
Note: to deepen a color, increase colorant oxidizer and
reduce metal
BLUE (KP 66, CuO 14, Par 5, Saran 5, RG 10, Dex 5)
you can make mauve/magenta by adding SrN for some of the
KP
ORANGE (SrN 42, MgAl 12, KP 10, Na Ox 10, Par 9, Sar 9,
RG 8,
Dex 5)
you can vary color by ratio of SrN to NaOx
TURQUOISE (BaN 30, CuO 16, KP 14, MgAl 11, RG 9, Par and
Saran 7.5 each, Dex 5)
WILLOW DIADEM Airfloat 66, Potassium Nitrate 52.5, Sulfur
18, Dextrin 12, FeTi 30-60 60:40 7.5, FeTi 40-325 60:40, 7.5, Ti Sponge
40-80 5
PRIME
My Favorite Prime (Recent change from the Ti prime)
Name: Silicon Prime
Source: Dan Creagan (and others)
Reactive Charcoal (willow, pine,
etc) ..... 15
KNO3
...................................................... 75
Sulfur
........................................................10
Silicon
.......................................................+10
SGRS (preferred) or Dextrin
.....................+5
(you can also put it on with a 10% solution of Gum Arabic instead of water or
water/alcohol)
Mix the first three ingredients
thoroughly. Do not wet. All ingredients should be airfloat except the silicon.
Additional benefit can be had by adding +10 diatomaceous earth or some 7F to get
it 'bumpy' so it will take fire easily.
My next Favorite Prime (liberally applied to a color core, it has a titanium tail
that then turns to the color)
Name: My Favorite Prime
Source: Dan Creagan
Charcoal (airfloat willow): 15
KNO3 (airfloat): 75
Sulfur (airfloat): 10
FeTi or Ti: +15
Dextrin: +5
Hot Igniter Prime:
Name: Flash Core Igniter
Source: Takeo Shimizu (as listed on Passfire)
Barium Nitrate 34
Potassium Perchlorate 33
Aluminum, flake, dark, German Blackhead. 3 micron 10
Antimony Trisulfide, Chinese needle 9
Red Gum 8
Dextrin 5
Boric Acid 1
Veline's priming
Source: Robert Veline
Comments: The wood meal in this prime makes the stars a little 'fuzzy', making the
prime easier to take fire. Without the wood meal prime the stars are often blown blind.
Potassium perchlorate.............................55
Charcoal, air float...............................20
Wood meal, 70 mesh................................6
Red Iron Oxide, Fe2O3.............................5
Magnalium (50/50).................................5
Potassium dichromate..............................5
Dextrin...........................................4
Lloyd Sponenburgh's Pinball Prime
Hot Igniter Star Prime:
0.71 pot perc
0.14 airfloat
0.09 redgum
0.06 magnalium
Use alcohol as the wetting agent. You can sub dextrin
for the redgum and use water if you wish.
Changing Relays
Shimizu Changing Relay #1 and #2
From page 187 of FAST
Changing
relay I
KP 35%
KNO3 35%
Hemp Coal (or Paulowina coal) 24%
SGRS 6%
Changing Relay II
KP 81%
Accroides resin 13%
SGRS 6%
Gary Smith Parlon Stars (with
permission)

Above image courtesy of Lee C. Bussy. All formulas by
Gary Smith.
A summary of Gary's comments about the above chart: The
formulas for the above stars are nominal. The stars are NOT going to burn
at exactly the same speed but they are close. The silver will be the
slowest but can be speeded up with finer MgAl. (Edit: I use 60 KCLO4 and 100-200
mesh MgAl)
The above stars are meant to be wetted with lacquer thinner or
acetone and sliced through a 1/4" - 1/2" screen - depending on what size stars
you want. You can prime them after they have dried a short while.
Use a good thick prime.
Another way of making them is to roll the mix out between two
pieces of plastic so they are a bit thinner than the ending star size you want.
Ned Gorski developed this technique. Here are his instructions:
As opposed to Gary who slices the stars with the screen, and
then lets them dry prior to priming them, I dust the star patty with a version
of Lloyd's pinball prime, on both sides of the patty, prior to slicing them
through the screen.
Hot Igniter Star Prime:
0.71 pot perc
0.14 airfloat
0.09 redgum
0.06 magnalium
Then, pushing the star patty through the screen starts to embed the prime into
the surface of the stars.
After the stars have been sliced, I tumble them in a tub,
spritzing them with denatured alcohol to further take up the loose prime, and I
put in another dose of the hot prime with some more spritzing.
Then I roll on a 50/50 mix of hot prime/BP prime (bound with redgum), using the
same tub/spritzing method.
BP prime:
0.67 KNO3
0.14 airfloat
0.09 sulfur
0.05 magnalium
0.05 redgum
I then finish the priming by rolling on a layer/dose of the BP prime.
This ends up being a nice step-priming system, applied when the stars are fresh
from the slicing.
The tumbling and priming produces stars which are almost spherical.
The total prime layers end up being about 1/16" thick.
I'm getting good ignition out of the stars, even in a hard-broken shell.
Gary and I have noticed that the acetone-parlon-bound stars seem to dry even
more quickly with the primes applied, as opposed to drying without primes
applied.
Other notes by Ned:
add .85 oz acetone to 5.25 oz star batch for 4'' shell (added
.16 acetone..)
3.4 oz for 21 ounce batch
4T of each prime for a 5.25 oz batch
One 5 oz cup of each prime for a 21 oz batch
20-25 oz for a 6" shell
Robert Veline created this system and intentionally put
it in the public domain. When you look at it, you can see that it uses very
similar ingredients and proportions for many of the different colors, making
this an extremely versatile color set: you can create any color you want
using only ten chemicals!
When you look at the part called "Now the Fun Stuff" you
can even see how to mix an almost limitless palette of colors by mixing the
different primary colors shown in the table. A word to the wise: These
colors are well balanced in terms of color brightness and intensity. So,
Veline's colors seem to appear most pleasing when they are used with each
other any given device (shell, mine, etc.). Here's the original paper
published by Veline, but formatted differently to fit our newsletter.
A Compatible Star Formula
System for Color Mixing
By Robert Veline
|
Red |
Orange |
Green |
Blue |
Super
Prime |
Strontium carbonate |
15 |
|
|
|
|
Calcium carbonate |
|
15 |
|
|
|
Barium carbonate |
|
|
15 |
|
|
Copper oxide, black |
|
|
|
15 |
|
Barium nitrate |
|
|
24 |
|
|
Potassium perchlorate |
55 |
55 |
30 |
55 |
55 |
Parlon |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
|
Red gum |
9 |
9 |
5 |
9 |
|
Magnalium
(50/50 -200 mesh |
6 |
6 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
Dextrin |
+4 |
+4 |
+4 |
+4 |
4 |
Charcoal, airfloat |
|
|
|
|
20 |
Wood meal, -70 mesh |
|
|
|
|
6 |
Iron oxide, red |
|
|
|
|
5 |
Potassium dichromate |
|
|
|
|
5 |
A Few Notes About These Formulae
The numbers are in percent by weight. The potassium
perchlorate is a fine powder. The Swedish stuff is what I used. The parlon
was Hercules brand, but Superchlon brand from Ishihara Co. Ltd. also works.
Nothing special about the red gum, just fine powder. The best barium and
strontium carbonates are obtained from Barium and Chemicals of Steubenville
Ohio. The calcium carbonate was -200 mesh 'Whiting'. Copper carbonate may be
used rather than black copper oxide without much change in performance. I
have tried finer more pure forms and found they have slowed the burn rate, and
degraded the color... Note that all of the proportions are the same for the
different colors, the exception being the green. The idea is to have as many
characteristics, burn rate, brightness, flame size, color purity, and density
of powder, common between the different powders, as is possible. While these
formulas do not excel in any one characteristic, they are all part of a
matched set. The green: I was unable to get a suitable green star for this
family without using barium nitrate. So, in order to compensate for the
reduced oxidizing ability of the nitrate, a more energetic fuel mixture was
used.
Now the Fun Stuff:
YELLOW 55
green 45 orange
CHARTREUSE 80 green
20 orange
AQUA 80
green 20 blue
TURQUOISE 55
green 45 blue
MAGENTA 50
red 50 blue
MAROON 85
red 15 blue
PEACH 60
orange 25 red 15 blue
PURPLE 5 orange 15
red 80 blue
Copyright: Robert Veline
Well, that's it! These stars are the results of a
couple of years of hard work, they are offered as some form of repayment to
the many people who published information which I have feasted on all these
years. THANK YOU!!!! Robert Veline II
Japanese NC Star
Patent (posted by Tom S. on Passfire)
amount (parts by weight)
|
|
star
|
star
|
star
|
star
|
star
|
star
|
lance
|
lance
|
lance
|
|
|
blue
|
red
|
green
|
yellow
|
green
|
purple
|
red
|
yellow
|
green
|
potassium perchlorate
|
|
46.40
|
44.00
|
40.00
|
50.50
|
25.00
|
40.00
|
45.00
|
42.00
|
40.60
|
ammonium perchlorate
|
|
|
|
|
|
25.00
|
|
|
|
|
hemp coal
|
|
3.60
|
3.60
|
3.60
|
2.00
|
2.30
|
1.60
|
3.00
|
2.10
|
3.20
|
Combustion agent BL
|
vinsol
|
6.80
|
6.80
|
6.80
|
6.60
|
6.00
|
5.00
|
7.60
|
6.50
|
6.00
|
chlorinated rubber
|
|
6.80
|
6.80
|
6.80
|
6.60
|
8.00
|
5.00
|
7.00
|
6.50
|
6.00
|
phenolic resin
|
novolac
|
2.40
|
2.80
|
2.80
|
2.10
|
1.60
|
0.90
|
2.50
|
1.50
|
2.10
|
strontium carbonate
|
|
|
16.00
|
|
|
|
11.00
|
16.40
|
|
|
sodium oxalate
|
|
|
|
|
14.70
|
|
|
|
21.40
|
|
copper oxide
|
|
14.00
|
|
|
|
|
11.00
|
|
|
|
barium nitrate
|
|
|
|
20.00
|
|
15.10
|
|
|
|
24.60
|
nitrocellulose
|
|
4.00
|
4.00
|
4.00
|
3.50
|
1.20
|
10.00
|
6.80
|
3.50
|
3.50
|
nitromethane
|
|
|
|
|
|
15.80
|
|
|
|
|
nitroethane
|
|
|
|
|
14.00
|
|
|
|
16.50
|
|
nitropropane
|
|
|
|
16.00
|
|
|
|
11.70
|
|
|
dinitro toluene
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15.50
|
|
|
14.00
|
nitrobenzene
|
|
16.00
|
16.00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
The directions are to make a gel with the nitrocellulose and solvent and use it
to bind the mix. II really don't think the nitrate solvent is necessary and any
ester of ketone could be used. The fuel / chlorine donor combo is interesting.
They seem a little lighter in "parlon" than most US formulas and the vinsol/novolac
blend would be lower in cost than red gum.
Glusatz - long time delay mix
(approximately 30 seconds per inch??)
Source: APC forum and rec.pyrotechnics (Frank Rizzo and Richard Ogden)
Glusatz
Barium nitrate 75.5
Charcoal (AF) 10
Sulfur 10
Meal 3
Cab-O-Sil 1
CMC 0 .5
Dist. water +6 (dissolve CMC first then add remaining ingredients)
Must be rammed into spollette tubes.
Poisonous!
Dark lance composition (Dead Lance)
Source: Mike Swisher on rec.pyrotechnics and attributed to Hardt
A composition using meal
D 47% and strontium carbonate 53% is given, No. 5 in Table 15-4, p. 122
of Hardt's "Pyrotechnics." I have used this mixture and it works well.
Wheel Driver:
Name: Purple Driver
Source: John Glasswick (Passfire Database)
Strontium Nitrate 25
Potassium Perchlorate 25
Parlon 20
Magnalium, granular, -200 mesh 20
Titanium, sponge, 40-80 mesh 15
Red Gum 10
Copper(II) Oxide, black 10
Total: 125
Fountain Formulas
Borrows Heavily from John Glasswick's Gerb Formula Article
Do not tamp any of these. You can hand press them damp and let
them dry (takes a few weeks) or you can press them in a hydraulic press.
Mr. Glasswick hand presses them dry and they seem to work for him - I
would be uneasy with that - especially if I was mixing different
effects. Start with chokes that are 1/2 the diameter of the tubes for
these mixes.
Chemical |
Red |
Yellow |
Orange |
Green |
Blue (rec.pyro) |
Blue-Green (Chertier) |
Lime |
Purple |
Turquoise |
Red Gum |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
|
|
8 |
10 |
7 |
Charcoal |
|
|
|
|
|
16 |
|
|
|
Parlon |
18 |
18 |
18 |
18 |
|
|
18 |
20 |
14 |
Magnalium |
18 |
18 |
18 |
18 |
|
|
18 |
20 |
14 |
Titanium |
13 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
|
|
13 |
15 |
11 |
Zinc Dust |
|
|
|
|
|
45 |
|
|
|
Strontium Nitrate |
43 |
|
28 |
|
|
|
|
25 |
|
Sodium Nitrate |
|
18 |
15 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
Potassium Nitrate |
|
|
|
|
|
39 |
|
|
|
Barium Nitrate |
|
25 |
|
43 |
|
|
42 |
|
36 |
Cupric Oxide (black) |
|
|
|
|
10 |
|
|
10 |
18 |
Stearin |
|
|
|
|
20 |
|
|
|
|
Shellac |
|
|
|
|
5 |
|
|
|
|
Potassium Perchlorate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 |
|
Ammonium Perchlorate |
|
|
|
|
65 |
|
|
|
|
Blue
Fountain (from wreck.pyro)
"The granulated mixture below burns with with a wonderful deep blue
in
a tableau format."
Source: rec.pyrotechnics, posted by EFFECTS <effe...@aol.com
Comments:
Preparation: Granulate the mixture with a small amount of alcohol. Let
dry and press into tubes. Very slowly burning mixture. Don't substitute
shellac with red gum.
Ammonium perchlorate..............................7
Stearin...........................................2
Copper(II)oxide...................................1
Shellac...........................................0.5
Go Getters
This section from an archived United Nuclear Page
Go Getters are
essentially rocket propelled stars. They are used in an aerial shell or in
the head
of a rocket and when ignited, they burn with a brilliant color (brilliant
because the formulas all contain Magnesium powder) and shoot across
the sky. Lit on the ground or in the air, they will fly off in a random
direction with their bright tail fire. The Magnesium in these formulas
will not degrade because of the unique solvent used.
|
RED
|
GREEN
|
YELLOW
|
ORANGE
|
Strontium Nitrate |
50 %
|
-
|
-
|
37 %
|
Barium Nitrate |
-
|
50 %
|
44 %
|
-
|
Potassium Perchlorate |
5 %
|
5 %
|
4 %
|
12 %
|
Magnesium Powder |
13 %
|
13 %
|
11 %
|
12 %
|
Parlon |
17 %
|
17 %
|
15 %
|
17 %
|
Hexamine |
9 %
|
9 %
|
8 %
|
8 %
|
Cryolite |
-
|
-
|
12 %
|
8 %
|
Red Gum |
3 %
|
3 %
|
3 %
|
3 %
|
Boric Acid |
3 %
|
3 %
|
3 %
|
3 %
|
Comments:
The chemicals are
first finely powered (if they are lumpy or coarse crystals) then mixed
well together.
For the next step, you'll need a small squeeze bottle, similar to
those plastic squeeze ketchup bottles you find in a restaurant. Take
the mixed formula and slowly add Acetone (while mixing) until it has
the consistency of pancake batter. The Acetone will melt the Parlon in
the mixture making it plastic & gooey. Be sure to test the squeeze
bottle you are going to use first by putting some Acetone in it.
Acetone will also melt many plastics, so make sure your squeeze bottle
isn't going to melt too. The melted Parlon in the mixtures will also
coat the Magnesium Powder and prevent it from degrading. The Parlon
here not only binds the mixture together, but it boosts the color of
the flame by providing Chlorine to the burning mixture.
Next, stand some M-80 tubes up end on a sheet of Aluminum Foil. Pump
the mixture into them until they are about 80% full. If they are to be
used in shells or rocket heads, insert a piece of Black Match (that's
Quickmatch with the outside paper removed) all the way to the bottom,
leaving about 1" sticking out the top. You can also insert a
piece of Visco Safety Fuse, but the ignition delay will be longer. Let
them dry for 3 to 4 days.
When lit, they will burn with a brilliant colored flame and shoot off
in a random direction. Be very careful if you light one on the ground.
It can launch in an unpredictable direction... and with its burning
hot Magnesium flame, ignite whatever it lands on
|
Dragon's Eggs
from Passfire
Discussion On How to Prime
(prime with melted paraffin wax)