Skylighter Fireworks Making

To get the beautiful branching sparks you see in sparklers, use steel rather than iron powder. It is the carbon in steel which makes the pretty, yellow-orange branching sparks.

This powder should be coated with WD40 and dried first if you are going to store your devices for very long. This prevents the steel from corroding in pyrotechnic mixtures.

The video above shows why my favorite fireworks club in the US is the Florida Pyrotechnic Arts Guild–a small, invitation-only club, that doesn’t even have a website (and does not want one). The reason is simply that it is the most entertaining fireworks club in the US. When you throw in the fact that it is [...]

Skylighter occasionally stocks pre-framed, round screens which are imported. They also sell un-framed, square sections of stainless-steel screen, 11.75-inches square, in the 10, 20, 40, 60, and 100-mesh sizes. Larger mesh sizes are available from various online sources. These stainless steel screens are not inexpensive, but being stainless steel, they can last a long time, especially if they are secured into a well-built wood frame.

I recently had the opportunity to cruise down to South Florida for the Florida Pyrotechnic Artists Guild’s spring shoot. The FPAG folks entertained with some serious pyro excellence. The highlight of it for me was the Rocketsaurus contest. “Rocketsaurus?” Well that’s the steel trophy which was created by superb artist, pyro, and winter-Jamaican, Tom Dimock. [...]

Introduction Titanium dihydride, TiH2, has the potential of becoming an important new metal fuel in fireworks making. Although it is not a “new” material in pyrotechnics and explosives, it is new to fireworks. As far as we know, it has not been used at all in fireworks manufacture before. Because the material that Skylighter stocks [...]

The possibilities for cheap Titanium Dihydride are endless: Add it to rocket fuels for a “sparkly” trail. Use in stars for a rich, white/silver snowball effect. Use it in sparklers for an extra bright sparkler. Add to fountains and wheels for a very impressive white/silver plume! Toss a pinch in your next salute for an [...]

The possibilities for cheap Titanium Dihydride are endless: Add it to rocket fuels for a “sparkly” trail. Use in stars for a rich, white/silver snowball effect. Use it in sparklers for an extra bright sparkler. Add to fountains and wheels for a very impressive white/silver plume! Toss a pinch in your next salute for an [...]

Tom D. asked if we would show him what our new Titanium Dihydride (-120 mesh) looks like when it’s burn-tested. So, here ya go. Take a look at this video. Just in case you’ve never heard of this chemical before, it’s basically Titanium + Hydrogen. The chemical formula is TiH2. It makes silver sparks just [...]

What’s better than 4 lbs. of Volcanic Thermite Fury? How about 8 POUNDS of it? I’ve always said that once you get a taste of making your own pyro, you‘re gonna wanna go BIGGER. It’s just like McDonald’s… Why get a small fry, when you can Super-Size it! Now you can grab up an 8 [...]

Here is a collection of different formulas for making (mostly) stars using magnesium powder. The information is a little stingy. It was all gleaned from The Wizard’s Pyrotechnic Formulary. This is a collection of more than 2600 different fireworks formulas compiled by Donald Haarmann. Even though there is zero information on how to make the [...]