Ubehage Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I am thinking of ways to make salutes without flash, preferrably salutes that does not require a ton of confinement.I was thinking about using copper-thermite, since it will make a nice bang even when unconfined. And this brings me to this question:Does anyone have experience with the sensitivity of this composition? I am considering to press it, as the end of a gerb. Please tell me if this belongs in the box of worst ideas, or if I should proceed (with caution, obviously). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddewees Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 i was playing around with this recently, and found it to be quite interesting. I didn't realize it behaved the way it did. Others I talked to didn't like it, and said it scared them. So from that, I gathered it was something that was potentially dangerous... so I haven't messed with it since. I don't know anything about it, so don't take my information as a "yes or no"... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OblivionFall Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I've seen Dornier on youtube make nano-thermite that explodes unconfined if that helps 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maserface Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 If you are afraid of flash you should really be afraid of copper thermite! Granulated bp will give you a nice "happy ending" in the bottom of your gerbs, I would forget about exotic report mixtures for now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Stuff scared the shit outta me a few years back wanting to cut a hole in a steel drum. BOOM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 It basically is a flash powder itself. Flashes work on similar principles as thermite. CuO/Al is noted to be somewhat more sensitive compared to 70/30. It's not always as loud, and gives interesting smoke, but it's still for all intents and purposes a flash powder composition. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 The best you can say about copper thermite is that SOMETIMES it will go high order, sometimes it will produce a pile of molten copper, sometimes it will spray molten copper around. Very little protects against molten metal except distance. NO it's not suitable for fireworks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubehage Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 It basically is a flash powder itself. Flashes work on similar principles as thermite. CuO/Al is noted to be somewhat more sensitive compared to 70/30. It's not always as loud, and gives interesting smoke, but it's still for all intents and purposes a flash powder composition. That was the answer I needed Thank you.I'm not scared of flash, but it's unobtanium to me at the moment due to EU restrictions. The thing about Cuo/Al being more sensitive than normal flash, is this also a thing when making dragon eggs?What I really want to ask is, if flash can be stabilized with NCL in the same way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schroedinger Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 NCL? Do you mean sodium chloride? If yes then the answer is no. Sodium chloride also is discussed to increase sensitivity of flash due to enhancing the decomposition of perc. But I'm not sure if that got proffed to be right or wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Or NCL = Nitro Cellulose Lacquer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddewees Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 i believe he meant Nitro Cellulose Lacquer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiwanluthiers Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Dragon egg is somewhat sensitive too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrokid Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I can't imagine why we would want to stabilize flash with nitrocellulose. Furthermore, CuO/Al thermite is very expensive compared to flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddewees Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 he said he can't get the materials to make flash... so I imagine these were available. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felixthecat Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I made cu/dark al thermite for the first time a couple of yrs ago,i lit 3g sitting in an open bottle top with vith visco,the deep boom was neither expected or wanted.it made a cloud of dark brown smoke and sent sparks in all directions that were clearly visible in daylight,i was about 15m away.it was only after several weeks of weathering that I noticed that the side of my shed which was aprox 3m away from the action now looked like it had green measles. I think its safe to say that this spray of copper was omnidirectional and anyone standing within 3 or 4 m would have been seriously hurt....this is a very dangerous composition and I wont ever be making it again..if you don't have access to perchlorate then nitrate flash may fit the bill but this also needs dark al(stabilse with +2% boric acid to counter nitrate/al reaction) and I have also read about sulphate/mg flash but I have never made any so I cant comment on its suitability for your needs stay safe and have fun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I have nomex PPE that says not for molten metal hazards, which is exactly what copper thermite produces. The problem is that copper thermite MAY go steadily and produce molten copper OR it may go high order like flash but more so. You may get away with it a few times before it tries to kill you. Very little PPE that's retail is suitable for molten metal hazard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubehage Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 I can't imagine why we would want to stabilize flash with nitrocellulose.I am just being curious, as to what people have experience with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddewees Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) It is definitely interesting, and in small quantities, relatively harmless... Try for yourself, and see what you think. From what I remember, it does smolder for quite some time... before "letting go". I'll see if I can find the video I took. Edit: No luck... all I could find was me trying to light it, and backing away very quickly, over and over again... it definitely keeps you on edge. I think I used NC to make small stars with it too, trying to get something like a dragon egg. They ended up being too difficult to light, and would smolder for too long (for me anyways). When they did finally pop, they were decent though. Edited June 24, 2015 by ddewees 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickmaslo Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) I made cu/dark al thermite for the first time a couple of yrs ago,i lit 3g sitting in an open bottle top with vith visco,the deep boom was neither expected or wanted.it made a cloud of dark brown smoke and sent sparks in all directions that were clearly visible in daylight,i was about 15m away.it was only after several weeks of weathering that I noticed that the side of my shed which was aprox 3m away from the action now looked like it had green measles. I think its safe to say that this spray of copper was omnidirectional and anyone standing within 3 or 4 m would have been seriously hurt....this is a very dangerous composition and I wont ever be making it again..if you don't have access to perchlorate then nitrate flash may fit the bill but this also needs dark al(stabilse with +2% boric acid to counter nitrate/al reaction) and I have also read about sulphate/mg flash but I have never made any so I cant comment on its suitability for your needs stay safe and have funI have been reading into this method using nitrate. I am new to the community and I do not want to attempt making flash but I am curious to the boric acid comment. Nitrate and Al causes a reaction? Is this why people prefer perc to nitrate because of the stability? Edited July 2, 2015 by Nickmaslo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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