Gun Powder Flash

[Worker 11811]

Use Goex instead of Pyrodex. Make sure you get the "FFFF" grade.

Pyrodex is not black powder. It is smokeless powder formulated to measure the same as black powder. The grain size is not as consistent.

Black powder comes in four common grades which indicate the size of the grains. The more "F's" the finer the grade. "FFFF" (or "4-F") is the finest grade. The finer the grade, the faster the burn rate. Of course, you want the fastest burn rate you can reasonably get.

You can get Goex at any hunting and sporting goods store like Gander Mountain. You might have to sign for it, depending on the laws in your locality but it SHOULD be fairly easily available.

My second idea would be to look for binary flash powder from a stage and theatrical effect supplier.
Binary flash powders come in two parts that must be mixed together before it can burn. This is much safer and is legal to transport in most areas because, technically speaking, it is not an explosive until the two parts are mixed. Once mixed, it is explosive and legality of transport is restricted. What you do is mix up only the amount you need for a specific task. What you do not use, you either burn up or mix with water and dump down the sewer.

I would recommend using binary powder if you are working indoors or near flammable substances. Black powder is smoky and can shoot sparks which might ignite things nearby. Binary powder would produce less smoke, what smoke it does produce would be less noxious. (Black powder smells like rotten eggs when it burns!)

Just Google "binary flash powder" or "A/B flash powder." You should be able to find what you need.

[Bill Burk]

I know that this thread is useful for archiving information about the real thing. But what would you get if you illuminate a mist or fog with electronic flash? Could this achieve the goal photographically and in terms of ambiance? It would be safer.

[Two23]

What if I mixed some powdered aluminum in with the 4F gunpowder?


Kent in SD

[goamules]

Kent, the guy in your photo doing flash work is Race Gentry. He's a nice young man who does a lot of unusual things, including daguerreotypes. I talked to him about a flash tray I bought once. One thing I'd get you guys off of is the idea you should use Black Powder. Nope, that will just give you a weak, yellow flash and a billowing mushroom cloud of smoke. You want to research flash powder, or contact Race. No I don't have his number anymore.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1196444...7612298623479/

[Worker 11811]

Aluminum ought to work but I'm not 100% sure. I have always used magnesium for my stage effects.
I use a tablespoon full of 50/50 Goex+Mg in an old tuna fish can, touched off with an Estes rocket igniter. If I want it to fizzle instead of going "Poof!" I mix in a little less Goex and add in some Hercules Red Dot smokeless. If I want the flame to look more red, I add less Mg.

As I said, that is what I do for stage effects. (e.g. The "evil magician" who can disappear in a puff of smoke and flame.) I hide the flash pot behind some scenery and run the wire off stage to a stagehand armed with a six volt lantern battery. It works great and the smell of sulfur from the Goex adds a little "fire and brimstone" to the effect.

I don't see why aluminum shouldn't work. Al and Mg are neighbors on the periodic table.
I have heard of aluminum being used but I have always used Mg.

Goex isn't too expensive. It's about $20-$25 per 1 lb. can. At 1 to 2 Tbsp. per flash you've got a lot to experiment with.

Just experiment outside lest you fill the house up with sulfurous smoke... or worse, catch something on fire!

And, yes, I do understand about the difference between black powder and flash powder. If you notice, I did recommend using binary flash powder in my last post but the O.P. wants to experiment with gunpowder flash. I agree that black powder will billow more than it flashes but, for my purpose as a stage effect, that's exactly what I want. It's up to the O.P. to decide if that's right for his purpose.

[E. von Hoegh]

Any one reading this thread and considering experimenting, or worse, following some of the suggestions, should first learn a good deal about safe handling of the flammable and explosive substances mentioned..... so far I see several recipes for disaster.

[Two23]

.. so far I see several recipes for disaster.

That's what makes it so enticing! I once read about a guy who wanted to light up a steam engine at night, and put a string of flash powder in a gutter that was attached to a shed paralleling the tracks. It produced a flash well enough, but also burned down the shed. This is something I'd only do outdoors, of course, and only when the ground is wet.


Kent in SD

[E. von Hoegh]

That's what makes it so enticing! I once read about a guy who wanted to light up a steam engine at night, and put a string of flash powder in a gutter that was attached to a shed paralleling the tracks. It produced a flash well enough, but also burned down the shed. This is something I'd only do outdoors, of course, and only when the ground is wet.


Kent in SD

Perhaps they'll decorate your room in the burn ward with photos.

[Brian C. Miller]

That's what makes it so enticing!

"The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us."
-- Henry Thoreau, Walden. (last paragraph)
(Thanks, Heroique!)

The light that puts out our eyes, burns off our eyebrows and eyelashes, chars our hair and skin, is called, "too much flash powder."

Kent, do you have a "black box" recorder in your truck cab? Will your final words be, "Watch this!" (National news: good ol' boy dies while jumping two hay stacks and a cow while setting of world-record magnesium flash in the back of his truck.)

[E. von Hoegh]

It amazes me, that someone so poorly informed that they propose using either type of gunpowder as flash powder, believes themselves competent to asess the risks to themselves and others.