The traditional Chinese method of making small firecrackers is a neat, laborious process that is supposed to be hypnotic. The process outlined below utilizes a lot of the traditional Chinese methods and adds some of my own twists to spice up the project. Even though these guys are little, and pink, they can pack a punch depending on how hard you charge them. Extreme caution needs to be exercised with this project because flash powder is a very sensitive powder that can explode violently when unconfined. You should only make very small batches of this stuff and exercise extreme caution when using it.
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Post-It Notes - You can probably use anything similar, but I prefer post-it notes because they are free from work (-:Make sure to get the pink ones, otherwise you can't call 'em pinkies. | |||
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Sodium Silicate - You can order this from Skylighter for a reasonable price. This stuff is a cool substance that you will think of millions of uses for after you use it. | |||
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Bamboo Stick - You will need a bamboo stick that is the right size for ramming the clay plug end. | |||
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Bentonite Clay - Can be mixed with grog (2:1 clay:grog) to help grip casings walls. This will be used for the end plug. | |||
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Flash Powder - Choose your favorite formula, mine is 70:30 KClO4:2mic Al. You can find a suitable one in the formulary. | |||
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A Knife - The Post-Its are wide enough to make two tubes, after they are rolled you will need to cut them in half. This speeds up the process slightly as well. | |||
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String - The tubes will need to be tied so that they are self standing when you work with them. | |||
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1) The first step is to manufacture the tubes. Get a flat surface (piece of cardboard) that you can get dirty and peel of a post-it note. Start by making a little loop using the adhesive properties of the Post-It to help hold it in place. You don't want the adhesive to be on the inside of the tube, so roll accordingly. | |||
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2) Put a large drop of sodium silicate on the Post-It and slowly roll. While you roll spread the solution across the width of the Post-It with your finger. If the tube gets dry, drop a little more solution on the tube. | |||
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3) Now that you have a tube, rub some solution across the outside of the paper. There should be enough sodium silicate left over from rolling to spread across the outside of the tube without reapplying. | |||
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4) Now that the tube is rolled cut it in half with the knife. If this pinches the tube work it with your fingers until it is circular again. Repeat steps 1-4 for as many tubes as you want. | |||
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5) After the tubes have dried for about 10 or 20 minutes you can start working with them. Group all of the tubes you made together standing on end into a hexagonal or similar shape and tie them loosely with the string. If you tie them to tight it will constrict the still soft tubes and make the process difficult. | |||
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6) Put the tubes on a sheet of paper or in a container to catch spillover and carefully pour your clay mixture into the tubes. The hard part is getting a good amount in each tube. About halfway full is a good measurement. | |||
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7) Now that there is clay in each tube, tamp each tube with the bamboo to compact the clay. Be careful not to loose your place! After they are all compacted, dump the loose clay out of the tubes. | |||
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8) Now for the dangerous part. Pour flash powder in each tube. You will need to be very careful because it is illegal to use more than 50mg of flash in a firecracker in the United States. MAKE SURE TO USE LESS THAN 50 MILIGRAMS OF POWDER!! If you live in a different country, find out your country's laws and use the appropriate amount of powder. | |||
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9) As with all of these pyro projects you will need an ignition device. I use Visco, but you can use firecracker fuse if you wish to chain these together. Insert the ignition device into the filled tube. | |||
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10) Now pour clay into the open end of all the tubes and tamp the other end plug. BE VERY CAREFUL! Flash powder is sensitive to impact and friction Just push gently on the clay. If you wish to use glue or something that does not need to be pressed I would highly recommend it. | |||
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11) Finally dip the un-fused end into the sodium silicate to reinforce, and drop some sodium silicate into the fused end to reinforce. The sodium silicate will help reinforce the clay that you could not press more than gently. In the picture I am just dipping them in the sodium Silicate. Now that they are finish, put them on a rack to dry overnight and they will become rock hard. | |||
This project is very forgiving and easy to modify, it can accept a variety of substitutions. If you don't have sodium silicate, try using plain old glue. And if you don't have Post-Its, you can use any kind of paper. If you can't get fuse, a sparkler or other creative ignition device will work, and if you don't have clay for the end plugs you can use almost anything. If you wish to make a very sturdy and easy to make firecracker, use the materials presented in the demonstration.
A Finished Cracker
The Rack of Drying Crackers
Download the Video - The first clip is a head of cabbage. The firecracker was placed in a hole drilled into the center of the cabbage. The second clip demonstrates the limits of the firecracker's power by showing its effects on a watermelon. The third clip is an orange. The orange was completely pulverized, no fruit was left on the blast site. The final demonstration shows the flammability of sugar. A bag of sugar was placed on top of the firecracker. When the firecracker exploded it scattered the sugar, increasing its surface area dramatically. The quick flash from the firecracker was enough to ignite a fireball in the airborne sugar. The fireball is hard to notice in the video, but you should be able to see it after watching it a few times. If you think this is a waist of food-you are an idiot.
Check the test shoots section for more videos of these.
