Diwali 2021 Celebration!

[BengalFlair]

Hi guys,

It’s being quite hard to make fireworks these days because of corona lock down situation and local chemicals retailers are being forced to stop their business due to various banning of the government. I am also getting old and my energy level is decreasing gradually to spare some free time. Still then, have made some fireworks and celebrated Diwali this year which I would like to share with you.

The rockets are about 4/5 years old and most of the stars are from my old stock.

 

[PRANAB]

Nothing to say ..

Awesome as usual...

I am a great fan for you...

Muscle power is nothing in front of vital power...And I think you know it very well...

Thanks...

[SeaMonkey]

Beautiful Rockets!

 

Beautiful lift and burst of your shells!

 

I agree with the observer who said "Beautiful, beautiful!"

 

Very nicely done!

[deepakpyro]

Nicely done.. agreed on the bans. I will be difficult to get Barium nitrate, cupric and lead oxide in next one or two years. stronger bans coming on these chems. I will buy some pile of these chems and store for future. Edited November 6, 2021 by deepakpyro

[msantosh1989]

You have made some good fireworks even though the ban in Bengal was nullified by the Supreme court at the last moment. Good job.

 

Can't agree with you more w.r.t bans. It's difficult even to find chemicals here in Andhra Pradesh too.

[sora]

Fantastic fireworks as usual. BengalFlair has always been a great source of inspiration for me and I guess many others particularly from Bengal. I learnt many techniques from him.

 

However the recently imposed ban on Barium nitrate has put the future of amateur fireworks making on shaky grounds in West Bengal and other places in India. Hope there'll be a strong movement to restore this ancient tradition and art

[BengalFlair]

First of all thanks a lot to all you guys!!

Sometimes "muzzle break" turns out very nice if it will not hurt any one or start a bonfire.

Here is one on Diwali night-

[justvisiting]

BengalFlair, can you tell us more about the stars in the first rockets? They performed very well!

[BengalFlair]

Thanks!!

After sorting out the larger granules I have about eight years old leftovers (-20 + 30 mesh) of crackling micro-stars. I had a plan to re-granulate it in larger granules but it was not done due to unavailability of free time. On Diwali I changed my plan and primed some to put it in my little can shell headers.

Once, I made a detail discussion of my crackling micro-stars in this forum and here is the link-

https://www.amateurpyro.com/forums/topic/7796-an-easy-way-to-make-dragon-flowers/

 

[Zumber]

Very Nice...!!

[BengalFlair]

Wow!! After a long time!!

[Zumber]

Yeah reall long brake.

I think more than 4 years.

Actually I losted password

YesterdayI reset it

[msantosh1989]

Thanks!!

After sorting out the larger granules I have about eight years old leftovers (-20 + 30 mesh) of crackling micro-stars. I had a plan to re-granulate it in larger granules but it was not done due to unavailability of free time. On Diwali I changed my plan and primed some to put it in my little can shell headers.

Once, I made a detail discussion of my crackling micro-stars in this forum and here is the link-

https://www.amateurpyro.com/forums/topic/7796-an-easy-way-to-make-dragon-flowers/

 

Hi Bengalflair... One question. You have left overs many years old. Never had a problem storing the finished compositions? What are your tips for storing.

[BengalFlair]

Usually I store the finished stars in a ziplocked bag and in a completely air tight container and I haven't noticed any deterioration of my DE after years of storage.

[msantosh1989]

Have anyone tried coating magnesium powder with linseed oil? I have some 80mesh magnesium powder, want to coat it with linseed oil, gonna use it for the upcoming Deepawali 2022. So... Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

[BengalFlair]

Use 4% boiled linseed oil diluted with mineral spirit or paint thinner to evenly distribute throughout the Mg powder granules. You must screen your metals while drying otherwise it will turn into hard lumps.

[msantosh1989]

Use 4% boiled linseed oil diluted with mineral spirit or paint thinner to evenly distribute throughout the Mg powder granules. You must screen your metals while drying otherwise it will turn into hard lumps.

Raw linseed oil is not gonna work?

[BengalFlair]

It works but, as far as I know, the difference between raw linseed oil and boiled linseed oil is that there are some drying agents added in order to quicken curing (drying) time.

Edited September 18, 2022 by BengalFlair

[msantosh1989]

People from Bengal... Is barium chlorate available in the state of west bengal? If yes, what is the cost of a kilogram of it?

[BengalFlair]

As per "Indian Explosives Act", all chlorates are banned right here!!

[msantosh1989]

As per "Indian Explosives Act", all chlorates are banned right here!!

Hi BengalFlair... I know the official stand of the government. Chlorates are banned all over for civilian use. But I know that you guys in Bengal are able to get hands on Barium and use it for deep greens instead of Baryta. Because of covid and ban on fireworks last year, there was some difficulty. Since it is not the case this year, I wanted to know if you guys are able to get it this year.

In any case I am still running from pillar to post in Andhra pradesh to get some Potassium chlorate. You know better than me that without Potash its difficult to make coloured stars.

[BengalFlair]

But I know that you guys in Bengal are able to get hands on Barium and use it for deep greens instead of Baryta.

I think you have got wrong information or confused with barium chlorate and barium chloride.

I do believe very few pyro people in Bengal after 1970/1980 have at least seen barium chlorate themselves, far from used it. IIRC in 1970/1980 the lab grade (illegal) price was INR 2000/2500 per Kg.

 

that without Potash its difficult to make coloured stars.

I strongly disagree!! Any acceptable star colours are practically feasible to make without chlorate or per chlorate but blue or nearest to blue. I never used chlorate or per chlorate for my stars except blue.

[msantosh1989]

I think you have got wrong information or confused with barium chlorate and barium chloride.

 

Barium chloride is useful in fireworks?

 

I have someone I know who used to reside in Bengal, they have permanently shifted here. He told me that there are Barium and Baryta available in Bengal and Barium is generally costly. He did not know what is Barium and what Baryta is. I assumed Baryta to be Ba(NO3)2 and Barium to be BaClO4.

 

And BengalFlair, its difficult to find even PVC or any other chlorine donor here, without which even greens not possible unless we add some KClO3. Yes, reds are possible without KClO3 or any chlorine donor. Anyway my experience in fireworks not much. So any inputs are valuable for me. And Thanks for replying each and every question of mine.

 

If you can suggest some good formulas for green without the need for chlorates or chlorine donors, I will be more than happy to try them.

[sora]

Hello Santosh,
I'm from Bengal. Just curious why PVC and other stuff are hard to get in APradesh, being not very far from Sivkasi, the fireworks capital of India?
I've used Barium CHLORIDE in torches, but one still needs PVC to intensify color.

Back in the 90s, I synthesized some amount of KP , using double decomposition of HCLO4 and KCL, the process has some risks, particularly disposal of waste liquids, but I had the luxury of a fully equipped chemistry lab then. Again, even with KP, you need a chlorine donor to get good colors.

I think its practically impossible to make good green or any good color for that matter, without a chlorine donor. There are some recent Boron based formulations which might work, but probably expensive and even harder to get. Another alternative is Zinc based stars, which are much paler compared to standard greens.

BengalFlair can tell you more on this