6squirrels Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So i was watching this video on youtube, and within the first 30 seconds or so they start to tell about a dark report, that is a report that is made of some composition that does not produce light. later in the video (not too much, but a minute or so) they show it and it looks really cool. and by looks cool i mean i can't see anything. does anyone know what this might be? here's the vid: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaMtnBkr Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 It is a dangerous mix of chlorate and sulfur and maybe even some trisulphide. Not for a beginner or the faint of heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allrocketspsl Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So i was watching this video on youtube, and within the first 30 seconds or so they start to tell about a dark report, that is a report that is made of some composition that does not produce light. later in the video (not too much, but a minute or so) they show it and it looks really cool. and by looks cool i mean i can't see anything. does anyone know what this might be? here's the vid: I would avoid mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ofpyro Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 He is a good friend of mine. SO precise. Always testing. Probably one of the best in the world. Was with him when a father & son that own a fireworks company from China came over just to meet him. So willing to share all he knows. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Great guy. Dave is taking the video, he doesn't make anything but the maker of the rockets "T" is a master and uses a flash composition we don't talk about much here and is considered by many to be too hazardous to use. Chlorate and Antimony Trisulfide are the key ingredients. Much more risky then 70:30 flash. -dag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 There are other ways to make these sorts of effects. The real key is to avoid the use of metals. This is an issues that occasionally comes up when making crossettes. Having a bright flash with something relatively dark like charcoal streamers can be kind of distracting. For this reason these potassium chlorate/sulfur/antimony trisulfide mixes are used. They're more hazardous than more traditional mixes. However for certain applications you can reduce the danger by using relatively small amounts. A few grams will make a lot of crossettes. The mixture actually does put off some light. If you're close up you'll see it clearly, but at a distance it's quite dim. If I were trying to make insert sized salutes for a shell I'd use something else. Mixtures of whistle mix and BP are known to work quite well for crossettes. There are additional things like sawdust and gilsonite that are known to further disguise the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaMtnBkr Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 A friend brought some rockets to a club meet that had headers made with a gilsonite report comp. I don't remember the exact formula but it was chlorate and gilsonite and no metals. They were far from dark. Almost like a mini lampare as it produced a rolling orange fireball. I would be curious if there is a dark formula that uses gilsonite. It is pretty cheap stuff and I would be interested in any formulas that use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The devil is in the details of course. Large amounts of gilsonite will make the fireball look. You take advantage of the same properties though. Adding smaller amounts results in the production of that same black smoke, which is what obscures the light. The following is a quote from Mike Swisher. It came about sort of in passing from a discussion on passfire about a beraq video. There are some beraq that make dark clouds. http://pyrobin.com/f...collection2.wmv They're around 2min. "So-called dark report or fulminating compositions preceded flash powder. A good example is a 1:1 mixture of potassium chlorate and antimony sulphide. This composition does not actually explode without producing light, it just produces very little compared to a flash report. It also produces some smoke. The smoke may be increased by the addition of a carbon-rich fuel such as rosin or asphaltum. Examples might be potash 7, antimony 4, rosin 2; potash 7, antimony 3, asphaltum 2; etc. The resultant smoke further obscures the low light output and would be seen as a black or dark grey puff against broad daylight. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaMtnBkr Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I just got my notebook and the formula my friend used was 7 KClO3, 3.5 antimony, 2 gilsonite. So basically what Mr Swisher mentioned. I wonder if it may have been because we were right under the rocket. Maybe from a distance it would be different. While it wasn't a huge fireball, it was still fairly good sized with decent light output. I will have to email him and ask if he has experimented more and with similar results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 It very well could be size as well. I think Mike was talking in terms of crossettes, and trying to extrapolate to larger shells. In the tiny shots in crossettes you'd never see a fireball. Even if it is visible it'd blend right in to the charcoal streamers or glitters commonly used. Smoke salutes are certainly cool things. You've kind of got me wanting to try the gilsonite salute formula now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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