Skylighter Fireworks Making

Charlie’s Secret Green Stars

Charley stored all the fireworks he made in a big chest-type magazine. Right out in the middle of his backyard. It was the middle of a nice July afternoon in 1996. And Charlie was in the mood to tell some secrets... And I was a fireworks newbie itching to find out whatever I could from this old fireworks pro.

Charlie’s Secret Green Stars is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

The Explosive National Sport of Colombia

By Harry Gilliam Okay, I ran across this great game in the Washington Post (August 17, 2001). Click the link for a pdf of the article. Without going into all the rules and gory details, the game is played by tossing a steel slug 60 feet towards a slanted mud bank in order to hit the center ring (the bull's-eye). One of the ways you make points is by hitting a triangularly-shaped paper packet of so-called "gunpowder." The packets are called "mechas." More on those in a minute. Who'd a thunk it? It reminds me of horseshoes, kinda sorta. But mo-bettah, because something actually explodes when you hit it. And of course, as you will see in this video, because it is actually encouraged to play this wonderful sport while drinking

The Explosive National Sport of Colombia is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

Make Black Powder: Quick, Cheap, Easy and High Quality

At some point fairly early in every pyro career we realize we need to be able to make good black powder (BP) from scratch. BP is used in aerial fireworks shells as lift and burst powder. It is also used, in one way or another, in almost every other pyrotechnic device and component--mines, stars, black match, and the list goes on.

Make Black Powder: Quick, Cheap, Easy and High Quality is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

Everything You Need to Know to Start Making Fireworks Rockets

Obviously, in this introduction to rockets, we won't be discussing military rockets, which have a long and rich history. Neither will we be discussing rockets designed for space exploration, which we'll leave to NASA.

But leaving those aside, there is a wide variety of rocketry that folks can and do explore for purely recreational purposes. Such rockets include model rockets, amateur rockets, high-powered rockets, and fireworks rockets. The purpose of this article is to discuss fireworks rockets. However, in order to distinguish fireworks rockets from the other types, we will briefly mention and define each of these.

Everything You Need to Know to Start Making Fireworks Rockets is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

Why We Do Fireworks…

"I often use the word “joy” when describing fireworks. It is a considered word, deliberate in choice. Not just amusement, entertainment, or astonishment, but joy. Our art makes us all into children again for awhile. We become one in our experience for the moment, lost in the sound and color and light.

Why We Do Fireworks… is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

4-Ounce Black Powder Rockets

"4-ounce" rockets? What does that mean? Well, if you're interested in the history of the term and some further background information on rockets in general, you can find it in the Introduction to Rockets article. But if you're more interested in getting started, let's go!
Specifically, in this project we are going to make a 4-ounce (1/2-inch ID), nozzled, cored, stick-stabilized, black-powder skyrocket with a bag-shell heading.

4-Ounce Black Powder Rockets is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

New Products Announcement

Realgar & Orpiment

My old pal Bob Winokur has been doing some pyro-sleuthing and came up with a small stash of two pyro chemicals which are largely unobtanium now: Realgar and Orpiment, both arsenic compounds. He was able to supply us with a little of each. You can order it below. This has been an interesting process. Both of these chemicals are naturally occurring minerals.

New Products Announcement is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

Making 1.75-Inch Bag & Piston Mines

This nifty new project shows you two methods for making mines.

To make this project, you need:

The supplies shown in the project below.
Black powder, which you can make or buy locally. If you want to make your own, check out the Red Gum Black Powder project.
Stars. This particular mine is small, and uses 3/8" stars. The two projects for making Rubber Stars are perfect for these, but any small stars will work.

Making 1.75-Inch Bag & Piston Mines is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

What ARE you gonna do with all those Rubber Stars you’ll be making? Huh?

If you don't already have specific plans for them, you're gonna love the next fireworks projects from Ned Gorski. They can all use your new Rubber Stars.

For Ned’s next act this week, he's gonna show you how to make two different kindsa mines.

What ARE you gonna do with all those Rubber Stars you’ll be making? Huh? is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man

How to Make a Rainbow of Rubber Stars

The "rainbow" of star colors I'll be discussing here builds on the methods detailed in the How to Make Screen-Sliced Brilliant-Red Rubber Stars project to expand your color palette of star choices.

Note: Be sure you learn and are familiar with that new way of making and priming stars before starting on this project!

The screen-sliced rubber stars production method has significant advantages for the small-scale hobbyist:

How to Make a Rainbow of Rubber Stars is a post from: Confessions of a Fireworks Man