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First, a
reinforcing sleeve is made from an 8.5 inch length of 3/4 inch CPVC. This
pipe has an inside diameter of 11/16 inches even though its name implies
that it should be 3/4 inches. A coupler is glued to one end to act as a
crude funnel for adding the sparkler comp. Now take a coupler for 1/2 inch
CPVC and hot glue it to a handle stick as in the picture. This is your
high tech scoop.
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The next step is
to make a simple rammer from a 12 inch length of 5/8 inch diameter dowel.
Sand it to remove any rough edges and imperfections and seal it with some
kind of sealer. If your not a perfectionist, you don't even need to bother
with the sanding and sealing. This ram will be quite loose in the tube so
precision is not a major concern.
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The composition
mix comes from the Desert Blast formula for a 90 second waterfall. The
list of chemicals follows:
- Potassium perchlorate ......................50 parts
- Aluminum, bright ..............................15 parts
- Aluminum, 50-150 mesh, granular.....35 parts
- Dextrin.............................................+8 parts
This mix, when dry, is similar to a very slow flash. It should
be treated with due respect, but no special mixing procedures are
required. Enough water is added to just barely activate the dextrin. This
means it will just stick together when squeezed, but is still quite
crumbly and loose.
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Now a common piece
of 8.5 by 11 inch copy paper is rolled around the rammer dowel to form a
tube 8.5 inches long. The dowel, with the paper rolled around it, is
inserted into the sleeve tube and the paper is released. The dowel is
removed and the sleeve tube is tapped and bounced a few times so that the
natural spring in the paper will cause it to expand to fit snugly inside
the sleeve. Next, the paper tube is pulled about half way out of the
sleeve, just enough to get some glue under the free end of the rolled up
paper tube. The paper is then pushed back into place inside the sleeve.
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An end plug can be
made by ramming about 1/2 inch of bentonite clay into the bottom of the
tube. A better alternative is a paper end plug from Skylighter (item
#198), but the drawback is that you have to buy 500 of them at a time.
That would be enough to last me about 49 years. I suppose you could make
your own paper end plug, but I'm too lazy to even consider that option.
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Once the end plug
is secure, it's time to start charging the tube with the moistened
sparkler mix. The scoop is first filled and then dumped into the end of
the sleeve with the coupler on it. The scoop will fit inside the coupler
and prevent any spillage as it is gently tapped a few times to encourage
the mix to fall out into the paper tube.
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Then the newly
added composition is compacted by insertion of the wooden rammer. It may
be rammed a few times by hand pressure or tapped a few time with a light
mallet. Extreme pressure is not necessary because the dextrin binder will
do the job of holding everything together just fine. This cycle is
repeated until the tube is full to within 1/16 inch from the end of the
paper tube. Then the loaded tube is pushed out of the sleeve with the aid
of the rammer. At this point the filled tube will still have an unsecured
paper flap which will need to be glued down to keep it from unraveling
with handling.
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The above
procedure is repeated exactly as above, with one exception. No end plug is
placed in the bottom. Just start right out filling the tube with the
moistened sparkler comp. This is easily done by holding the end of the
sleeve against the surface of your work table as you add the first charge.
After ramming, the composition will stay securely in the tube without an
end plug. The remainder of the tube is now charged to within 1/2 inch of
the top. At this point, you have two charged tubes of sparkler mix whose
paper walls are beginning to feel a little bit damp. They are somewhat
delicate until they dry out and become hard. This will take at least three
days, so be patient and set them aside while they dry.
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When dry and hard,
the tubes are ready for joining and mounting on a stick. The 1/16 inch
cavity in the end of one of your charged tubes must be filled with a
joiner mix that is sticky enough to adhere to the ends of both tubes. I
use a little sparkler mix which has been moistened with 10% nitrocellulose
lacquer to make a tacky paste. This will assure that the first tube will
ignite the second tube before it burns out. This end is butted up against
the end of the other tube where the sparkler composition is flush with the
end. The ends of the tubes are held tightly together with a turn of wide
masking or packing tape.
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These sparklers
are quite difficult to ignite unless you have a good igniter system to get
them going. I can offer several alternatives which work very well. The
first one uses what I call my universal igniter mix. It was given to me by
Jim Farrell. Here is the list of chemicals:
- Strontium Nitrate.......................50 parts
- Parlon........................................18 parts
- Potassium Perchlorate..................8 parts
- Magnalium, 150-200 mesh.........12 parts
- Charcoal, airfloat..........................5 parts
- Sulfur...........................................5 parts
- Red Gum......................................2 parts
A small
amount of this dry powder is placed in a small paper cup. A few drops of
acetone is added and stirred until a thick slurry is obtained. Then the
stirring stick is used to dab some of the slurry on the end of the
sparkler tube. The slurry will be very sticky and stringy because the
acetone will partially dissolve the parlon in the mix. I like to poke and
stir the sludge to make lots of strings and fuzzy projections instead of a
smooth surfaced blob. This will make the igniter mix very easy to ignite
when it all dries. This ignition method is also pleasing because it burns
with a nice bright red color.
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The other ignition
method involves the use of a few short lengths of
home-made thermalite ignitercord. In this
case, two or three lengths of
thermalite, cut to a length of 3/4 inches, are placed in the recess of the
sparkler tube. Then the recess is filled with some of the joiner paste
mentioned above to hold the thermalite in place. When finished, the
thermalite will protrude about 1/4 inch out of the sparkler tube.
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The last step is
to attach the sparkler tube to a suitable stick for a handle. The final
product will look much like a stick rocket except that the ignition end
will be pointing up instead of down. I like to use a generous bead of hot
glue augmented by 2 inch wide packing tape to attach the handle. The stick
will be mostly consumed by the hot flame of the sparkler composition. If
you prefer a sturdier, reusable option, a three foot length of 1/4 inch
steel rod with a wooden handle is a good alternative. However, as with
commercial sparklers which use a wire core, care must be taken to avoid
burns from the red hot metal after the sparkler has burned out.
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These "super sparklers"
are very pleasing for those of you who like your creations to last a
little longer than usual. They will give you nearly three minutes of
enjoyment provided you don't wave them over your head. They will spit out
long lasting, white hot sparks that will fall to the ground burning. Most
of us don't enjoy hot, burning sparks landing on our heads and burning
clear to the skull. I also would counsel against using these in a field
where dry grass or brush could ignite from the falling sparks. Finally, I
will share with you my fantasy about these "super sparklers". The next
time I'm at a neighborhood gathering for the 4th of July and somebody
pulls out their wimpy commercial sparklers, I imagine myself using
Crocodile Dundee's line. "That's not a sparkler.....(I whip out my super
sparkler)...Now THAT'S a sparkler!!"
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