I thought I'd give it a shot, how hard can it be?
I'm not talking colours or anything, just an 8 shot cracker, as in it bangs, 8 times
My plan is to get a bunch of those tiny little throwdown bangers kids throw on the ground and step on, lol
empty the gunpowder out of them, and put it into a pringles containers, one of the 500g large round cylanders
then
use cradboard (or mdf or something strong), to devide the pringles container into 8 sections
fill each section with some gunpowder and make sure each section has a gap between it and the next, so they dont all go off at once
then, pout the fuse straight down the middle, but coil it so it gets to each section pretty slowly, so each section discharges seperatly
and hey, presto, an 8 shot candle barrage
in case u dont get my layout, it looks like this



(top of container, S = fuse, G = gap to delay next shot)
..........S.........
----------------------
|..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
|..........S.........|
----------------------
|..........G.........|
----------------------
|..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
|..........S.........|
----------------------
|..........G.........|
----------------------|
..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
|..........S.........|
----------------------
|..........G.........|
----------------------
|..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
|..........S.........|
----------------------
|..........G.........|
----------------------
|..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
|..........S.........|
----------------------
|..........G.........|
----------------------
|..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
|..........S.........|
----------------------
|..........G.........|
----------------------
|..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
|..........S.........|
----------------------
|..........G.........|
----------------------
|..........S.........|
|..(gunpowder)..|
----------------------

and with a bit of luck, that = 8 shot barrage
what do u guys think, do I need to make any adjustments? I dont want to blow my hand off making this, or lighting it, lol

hatrickpatrick,

Well, to tell you the truth, I know very little of this topic. However, all I can tell you is to be careful when doing this!

Regards,

Trav.

hatrickpatrick,

your plan will not work for several reasons and you are likely to get injured if you do what you describe. First of all, what you are describing is not a Roman candle - it is more of a multiple banger with delays. You could achieve the same result with a string of firecrackers which I suspect are legal in your country, particularly if throw-down snaps are. The main problem is that the throw-down bangers you want to take the "gunpowder" out of do not, in fact, contain any gunpowder at all! They do, however, contain a tiny amount (around 1 to 2 thousandths of a gram) of a dangerous explosive called silver fulminate. If you managed to remove enough of this then you would be in danger of blowing your hand off since it is extremely sensitive.

If you want to learn how to make a real Roman candle, go over to http://skylighter.com/mall/books.asp and take a look at BK0050 Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics by Tom Perigrin. OK, you might say, I have to spend money to learn how to do this but I would say "how much are your hands and fingers worth?". You can never read too much before experimenting with pyrotechnics. It is a fascinating hobby, but one which will bite you very hard if you don't take the utmost care. Just talk to some of the permanently maimed or widows of people who didn't take care.

Paul.

well I tried it out before reading this, and basically I took the silver fulminate (which at the time I thought was probably nitro gliscerine) and filed an aluminium ball with it, some copper sulphate for blue sparks, and some sparkler scrapings for white stars. however, when I lit it, the thing just caught fire and crackled a few times, and ended up as a charred piece of junk
what a waste of time
thanks for the heads up, anyway

oh and sorry, I accidently posted that without using my name, LOL

hatrickpatrick,

Make sure you follow Paul's advice. I know little about making any kind of fireworks, but I do know the that the threat is there ALL the time when dealing with pyrotechnics. Just remember to keep safe.

As for your name, I recommend becoming an official member!

Trav.

Hatrickpatrick

Here is a link to read about roman candle making
http://www.apcforum.net

it stand for amateur pyrotechnics and chemistry fourm

Hi,
i have some of these silver fulminate bangers and want to make some sort of bomb/banger from this but because they come in small form i wanna still use em (cause i got em now) but make them bigger and more spektacular when i combine them together! any thoughts cheers
Nick . UK

Lol sorry about the spelling its just you get used to chat sites and msn etc. lol sorry

eh
that pyrotechnics forum: has it moved, or gone or what? URL no longer works...

I took the silver fulminate (which at the time I thought was probably nitro gliscerine) and filed an aluminium ball with it, some copper sulphate for blue sparks, and some sparkler scrapings for white stars. however, when I lit it, the thing just caught fire and crackled a few times

If you were able to handle it, it wasnt silver fulminate. SF has no practical applications because it is much to unstable to use. It has been knows to detonate spontaneously, and can detonate underwater. The "bangers" usually contain flash powder.

Sorry about my spelling, this key board is crap.

I should also point out that fulminates will not "catch fire". SF has DTD point of less than one ten thousandth of a gram.

i have some of these silver fulminate bangers and want to make some sort of bomb/banger from this but because they come in small form i wanna still use em (cause i got em now) but make them bigger and more spektacular when i combine them together! any thoughts

Id use some flash powder.

-Potassium perchlorate
-Aluminum (600 mesh)

Mix them is a 70/30 ratio by weight. Its friction/heat/shock sensitive, so be careful. It should make a bang you can hear from a mile away. (DONT USE MORE THAN HALF A TEASPOON AT ONE TIME)

A small warning about flash powder: As little as 4 ounces, if detonated in your hand, will dismember your torso. Dont mix a lot. Avoid static electricity.

Just a couple of points of information:

Throw-down snaps do contain silver fulminate, approximately 1 milligram. The rest of the "snap" is packaging.

As little as 3g of flash powder will remove a hand or worse. 100g will leave nothing but small chunks. Half a teaspoon is way too much - commercial firecrackers contain only 50mg which is about 1/100 of a teaspoon. It is seriously powerful stuff. Even many very experience professional pyrotechnicians avoid making it at all.

Paul.