Formula for glitter-fountains

[Pyrostar]

hi all


Do you know some glitter formulas for fountains???
Or some formulas like in this video here:



Materials I can get are:

KNO3,Al( shavings, but NOT that much), magnesiumshavings, sparklerpowder,
charcoal( willow) kmno4, etc.

Any good formulas there???


Thanks for advices,



Pyrostar :D

[Tyneman]

I mostly just use BP/Meal or KClO3/sugar, with added about 10% coarse Al or Mg and some coarse charcoal.
Mostly gives nice mingled sparks.

Gr33tZ

[mr.stijntje]

Yeah, I use meal powder (or worse, non-milled meal) with Al added. Mg will work too, but you need bigger particles. For Al, even 250 mesh powder works fine.

For perfect glitter you can use D1 glitter, but I heard that it doesn't work that well in fountains. That's to be tested.
Composition:
53.00% Potassium Nitrate
18.00% Sulfur
11.00% Charcoal (airfloat)
07.00% Aluminium (-325 mesh, spherical)
07.00% Sodium Bicarbonate
04.00% Dextrin

[deadman]

That actually was not a glitter fountain. It was just meal with Mg chips placed randomly in it. Goes to show how simple things can be. I don't think glitters would work very well in close up. Part of the glitter is due to how far away they are. Starmines with glitters are pushing it even I think. Kind of how stars lose their characteristics of twinkling when there only a few million miles away compared to trillions. I believe D1 is a promising fountain comp but would not glitter with the adjustments needed for the thrust. You'd have to get rid of most if not all the bicarbonate and maybe up the nitrate. Meal+metal works fine in the beginnings.

[Pyrostar]

hi

I have made some magnesiumshavings( say 0,3mm thick and 3mm long) with a drill machine and a bit for it.
I have anothe formula:( by myself)

50% Magnesium(aluminium)shavings
40% KNO3
10% Sulfur

Would that be a good composition, too???
PS: I will try to make some MgAl myself today by using a hairdryer, coalfire and a turkish coffeepot, but I dont think that I am succesful in making magnalium, since
the coal fire won´t be hot enough for even melting the Al.
The coffeepot is made from thin stainless steel. I´ll make a 100g batch
Pyrostar

[Tyneman]

When you build a good furnace a coalfire can melt your Mg and Al. I't's all in the oxygen supply.

50% Metal is toooo much for a fountain, I am afraid you'll get like a ultrabright torch.

Gr33tZ

[Pyrostar]

I have made some roadflares now, with my homemade fountain mix and some aerial effects.
I´ll record them tonight and I am open for every advices.

And Tyneman, I have mixed some KNO3 with aluminium, and magnesiumshavings, pressed that into a tube and it was a good light-show.

PS: I have made some Caso4/Mg/S flashpowder!

And I haven´t made any MgAl, it failed!

[flamekeeper]

And I haven´t made any MgAl, it failed!!!!!

You do have to make sure the temperature is right and the oxygen can't get to the MgAl so it won't burn whilst melting. You can do this by putting inert gass on top or making sure you have an airtight seal. There is a topic about making MgAl somewhere, just can't remember if it's English or Dutch because I have never tried this before.

[deadman]

There is a magnalium post in the english section so I guess any further posts on that should be placed there.

Yes your composition is defninitley going to be too slow and hot(temp) for a fountain. I tried a comp a little bit ago.

KNO3--------------65
Sulfur--------------15
Al Atomized-------15
Charcoal-----------5

Well what happened was it was TOO slow. Had a nice white portfire with some sparks shooting up randomly and then it burned throught the tube wall. A loose pile burning had a strobe effect, that was cool. I think it would work well for a cake insert comp though. Remember a fountain needs thrust to expel the effects out of it. Many times effects are:
metals
charcoal chunks
largish sulfur prills
dragon eggs
very small stars
as well as other things.

Keep on working out your plans and figure out why some things work and others don't and you'll be able to fix and modify many comps to your liking. Patience and practice are THE key.

[Pyrostar]

I have my roadflare( cause I cant get any clay at the moment)!!!

I used this composition:

50% KNO3
40% large magnesiumshavings
10% aluminiumpowder,

It was rammed very hard in a tube, i used 20g of the composition, it was nice.

here is the link: