Before you start:

There are many kinds of smoke formulas.

• Color smokes use special dies that vaporize in the air when burning at a certain temperature. If these smoke formulas burn too hot the smoke will appear dark, off-color, or brown. The easiest way to achieve good colored smokes is to purchase smoke mix from Skylighter. If you have all of the components, you can purchase die and make your own, but most of the components in smoke mix don't have many other uses in pyrotechnics.
• HCE smokes are what the military used and are used for many professional and industrial purposes EG testing for leaks in buildings. HCE stands for hexachloroethane, a pungent smelling chemical whose odor cannot be mistaken. HCE compounds form zinc chloride gas which is potentially deadly, but requires huge exposure (IE you would need to be in an enclosed space with lots of generators) to cause health problems. These mixtures are very hard to ignite and require very hot ignition systems, like thermite.
• HCE smoke compositions usually consist of zinc oxide, hexachloroethane, and a fuel. The ZnO and HCE are mixed in equal amounts and then a fuel (%5-15) is added to the mixture. Aluminum is a good fuel to use, the finer the better. Burn rates can be controlled by adjusting the fuel ratio, more fuel causes the compo to light more easily and burn faster, less fuel creates a longer burn time. I have heard of, but not tried compositions containing zinc dust, ZnO, and HCE. The HCE composition that I use contains KClO3, added about 7-40% (adjust to burn rate).
• Ammonium Chloride smokes are not quite as hard to ignite as HCE smokes. I have used an ammonium chloride smoke with naphthalene, but I don't like the smell of the nap so I don't use this composition.
• Black Smokes - Black smokes generate a tiny particles of carbon. This is achieved with oxygen negative formulae and coaltar derivatives like naphthalene and anthracene. I'll have videos of these when I get my anthracene from Tijana's mom.

I've noticed from personal experience that smoke compositions perform well, or only perform when the ingredients are incorporated well. Smoke mixtures are not sensitive, I usually grind the fuels/oxidizers in a coffee grinder and then screen together. For very insensitive mixtures I might even mix them together (don't do this).

Part of the focus of this tutorial will be the appropriate manufacture and use of priming compositions to ignite your smoke mixes. There are several things to consider when choosing a prime. The prime you use should ignite the entire exposed surface of the smoke so it immediately starts burning at a consistent rate. Primes that are too hot will cause colored smoke compositions to generate brown/off color smoke until they reaction cools down. You may need to use multiple primes, for example dipping a fuse in a hot prime to ignite a thermite composition that holds the fuse in place (thermite will not ignite from Visco alone.

What you'll need:

• A Tube - Select a tube that is appropriate for your application. I make colored smoke bombs in very thin walled tubes because the composition tends to leave ash behind that is larger than the original size of the compo. Thin walled tubes will disintegrate easily. HCE smokes work well in thick walled tubes that have a hole drilled at each end. The hole can be sealed shut with paper that will burn through during the reaction. You may also wish to use a metal canister so as not to damage the surrounding environment. Coin wrappers work well for thin walled smoke bombs. A traditional method for small smoke bombs is to roll a small amount of composition in a cup set around in sodium silicate and sawdust to create a cherry bomb like casing.
• Dowel/Mallet - To compress the composition in the tube
• Fuse/Prime - Regular Visco works fine. As for the prime, I use on of two different primes that I mix into a slurry and pour over the composition or dip the fuse in.
• Jeff Grey recommends the following hot prime. It burns very hot and will light almost anything. You can dip a fuse in this prime and then use a thermite slurry to attach the fuse to the composition to light HCE smokes. You may be able to light the HCE smoke with just a slurry of this hot prime. Here is the formula:
• 65% KClO4
• 10% Al (400 mesh)
• 20% Charcoal, ball milled
• 5% Red Ferric Oxide
• Mix with 10% Nitrocellulose dissolved in acetone
• The next prime is a much cooler (lower temp) prime, a good one to light colored smokes. It takes a longer time to dry because it uses dextrin to bind together. Use this prime slurry to both ignite composition and hold fuse in place.
• 70 Parts KClO4
• 18 Parts Charcoal (airfloat)
• 12 Part Sulfur
• 05 Parts Dextrin
• Mix with high proof alcohol (190 proof is what I use, store bought rubbing alcohol is usually 30% water)
• Clay - To plug one end of the tube (if that's what you're using). You will not need a thick end plug, just a small one to hold the compo in while ramming.
• Coffee Grinder/Ball Mill/etc. - Anything to incorporate the ingredients very well. A quick 10 second zap in a coffee grinder works great for me.

Manufacture:

Method 1, for an open ended burn. Produces smoke faster, but may over-oxygenate it causing it to catch fire or over volitalize the smoke gasses.

			First pour all of the chemicals together that are required for the composition you are using. Only do this if you are using a very insensitive composition (like the above HCE composition).
			Pour the ingredients in a coffee grinder and zap 'em for 10 seconds or until homogenous. If you are composition that is sensitive to ignition (even slightly) mix the fuel/oxidizer separately and then screen together. If all of the compo won't fit in the grinder, screen together first and then zap in the grinder to ensure a homogenous mixture.
			Here is what my HCE mixture looks like after it has been ground in the coffee mill. The particle size is very fine and the ingredients are incorporated very well. If this is your first time mixing HC, added potassium chlorate slowly until you get the correct burn rate for the powder, the more KClO3, the faster it will burn.
			Pour a small section of clay in the bottom of the tube and then ram. They section of clay does not have to be large, just enough to close off the end. It does not have to withstand pressure from gasses.
			Pour the smoke into a tube using a funnel. You probably won't need to ram in increments unless your tube is very long. I am filling this 3.5" long tube up all the way before ramming.
			Gently ram the smoke compo into the tube. There is no need to greatly compress it, and the consistency of the density of material in the tube is not very important. MAKE SURE to leave space in the tube for the smoke to cool. You don't want the compo to catch fire, just smolder. If you wish, a clay piece can be rammed and a choke drilled. This doesn't work well for some smokes because the composition expands when burning.
			Rev. Lancaster recommends a hole be drilled in the center of the compo.
			Now mix together your priming composition. This is the KClO4/C/S prime, but I prefer the one from Jeff Grey.
			Mix your prime together and make sure it is homogenous.
			Insert the fuse into the fuse hole and squirt some prime around it covering the whole surface of the smoke compo. If a solvent like acetone is used, the slurry can just be poured from the container it was mixed in instead of using the syringe.
			Wait for it to dry and it will look like this when finished. This is a color smoke bomb with around a 2-3 minute burn time.

Method 2, designed specifically around an HCE generator, works for color smoke as well.

			First process your composition as described above. After you have a working smoke composition that burns to your liking, proceed here. Select a tube and insert an endplug into one of the ends. Your tube does not have to be as blurry as the one that I am using in the picture (-:
			Fill the tube up completely with powder. I am using the funnel/wire method, but you may use whichever method you wish.
			Now compress the mixture. I do this by hand because density is not crucial to the project. You sould have a couple of centimeters of space left in the tube, if you have to much space, go back to the previous step and proceed.
			Now fill the tube up again, but don't compress the mixture.
			Press an end cap into the other end of the tube. Make sure you note (and don't forget!) which end has the section of loose powder.
			Drill a whole into the section with the loose powder. This will need to be big enough for your primed fuses (see below). The smoke will come out of this hole.
			Mix up some prime (use the aluminum based prime mentioned above for HCE generators) and dip a piece of fuse into the slurry. The fuse should have a coating like the picture.
			I place my fuses on a rack to dry, it only takes about five or ten minutes for them to harden.
			Insert the fuse into the hole and viola! A finished smoke device. This design takes a few seconds to really get going, but produces a lot of smoke for a long time.