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.
(click the video to play)
Now, of course I will have to add Colombia to my short list of places to escape to once the laws and regulations start to finish their slow strangulation of our once-great country’s economy. Oops, there I go, ranting again. “Stop it, Harry!” Bad dog!
But let’s get right down to the nitty gritty, here.
First, some kindergarten pyro…
The “mechas,” the exploding Tejo targets, are said to contain “gunpowder.”
Now, gunpowder is just another name for our old fireworks friend, black powder. And black powder, my children, I can purty much guarantee you, will not explode when you lay a pack of it on a mud bank and sling a steel slug at it from 60 feet away.
Nosireebob. It will not.
The question, then, is what the hell IS inside a mecha? We all NEED to know that.
And that is what this contest is all about.
Fustest one to accurately determine two things about a mecha gets a free case of Sky Lanterns from Skylighter.
- Since it ain’t gunpowder, what is the explosive comp? Which chemicals?
- How are mechas made?
Just do your research, and answer both questions in the comments below.
The first person to answer both questions accurately wins the case of 36 Sky Lanterns.
IMPORTANTE!
You have to PROVE that your answer is correct. You can speculate and guess all you want. But guessing ain’t gonna land 36 Sky Lanterns on your humble doorstep. Nosireebob.
You will have to divulge your source for both the mecha pyro comp, and for the construction method. And show us all those sources.
The earliest comment/post on this blog who proves the answers, wins.
The judge for this contest will be Señor Harry Gilliam. All decisions by the judge are final.
CLUES:
When the mecha is hit, it often explodes and then burns.
It is not gunpowder (black powder). But calling them gunpowder would be a handy way to get around problems in shipping them… or in disguising their true composition.
The mecha’s explosive composition is a secret. That suggests to me that it may be really simple and/or that the mix may be illegal.
Check out other YouTube videos of Tejo and find close-ups of the mechas as they explode and burn. They don’t “act” like firecrackers.
Now, go get ‘em, and check back often to see what’s come up.
Antimony Trisulfide and Potassium Chlorate 50/50 mixed with water to make a slurry and then dried.
A Professionals Guide To Pyrotechnics
Dave, Please give us the text from that book that mentions Tejo or Mechas.
it looks like it might be
potassium chlorate and aluminum powder.
makes a impact sensitive compound. I have also bought exploding targets that contain this compound.
I won’t hazard a guess yet, but the apparatus appears to be more complicated than Harry makes it out to be. Note that the slug first hits something in the lower left corner, and it seems a time fuse from there ignites a metal-containing flash compo in the middle.
Oh, now I see better; I only had one can of Milwaukee’s Cheapest. The slug hit the lower left corner, and BOUNCED onto the target. Still definitely a flash explosion, but the metal could’ve been a separate layer folded into the triangle rather than a part of the primary comp.
Iodine crystals and clear amonia would make a reightious bang and a plume of purple smoke…
I understand it is fulnimate of mercury, made from elemental mercury and nitric acid. It is a nasty corrosive material to both make and handle. As you maybe aware, it was once a primer material used in firearms.
A little mercury fulminate mixed with gravel and folded triangularly in a long strip of paper. Proof? Schnoof.
You suggested observing the flame for a clue. Looked like stick matches burning at one point. I started thinking about phosphorous, and remembering their importance in some friction/shock sensitive compounds. I have no way to start playing with formulas, so all I am really left with is to keep searching for info. I do have a friend here who is from Colombia and is actually going back for a visit soon. But rather wait for her to return with a formula, I thought I would submit something I came across on the web: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1642356
The Mechas is an equilateral triangle 6cm on each side:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XnunXug-XTM/S83etsMDvcI/AAAAAAAAACI/6_Mf_h9aR-g/s1600/tejo.jpg
My answer is:
Made from Sulfur, gunpowder and Phosphorus.
The mechas is made by starting with a strip of paper, 6cm wide. Starting with a lower corner, fold it across so the first fold is at a 45 degree angle. Then open it back up and put in the mixture I would guess a generous amount. Re-fold. The next fold is at 90 degrees. Continue alternating until you have made a folded up “football”. The strip of paper is cut long enough that the last fold will leave you with a tail end which is tucked into the first fold between the layers of paper.
Handle CAREFULLY.
David,
Good, but not PROOF, and not the composition. That one post could just be another opinion, like the many and varied ones here.
Are they not made from either black powder/additional sulfur and phosphorus? And to answer the second question, my guess is that they are made by folding paper such that the compound is contained within the pouch much like as in mexican firecrackers (Polumnas) and the metal throwing bit strikes it and ignites it much like a match. If I didn’t know better I would have said they used ammonium-iodide, but I am sure that is incorrect. So yeah… final answer is black powder, additional sulfur and phosphorus and they are made by folding paper similar to the construction of Polumnas.
Must contain equal amounts of sulphur and potassium chlorate, with a possible small amount of sugar.
1. Black Powder and Mercury Fulminate. skip to about 2:10 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMFTzaHJaKo
2. Black powder and an appropriate amount of Mercury Fulminate are folded up into a small triangular paper packet 6cm on a side. See the ‘La Mecha’ section here: http://www.lcot.es.tl/Como-Jugar-Tejo.htm
I used google translate. I believe the packets are made to suit the playing field by varying the amount of fulminate as indicated by the last sentence.
Okay, Don,
Where is the composition you mention, black powder and mercury fulminate, mentioned? Did I miss that?
Can I enter more than once? Another candidate is potassium chlorate.
Enter all you want.
My guess is that these little paper envelopes contain fulminate of mercury.
They are made by puttinf fulminate of mercury in little packages.
Impact sensitive mix like that used for primers would work:
KClO3 + Sb2S3
Most likely the mechas contain a chlorate mixture, possibly containing sulfur, that is frition / shock sentitive. Perhaps they are separated by a thin layer of tissue like paper to meke them a little safer to transport, which would be ruptured by the impact of the metal mass.
Alternately, a “louder” effect might be obtained by a small amount of silver or lead azide.
Well, you said illegal…
If you want proof, look at this video and the narrator says “matches”.
I used to do stuff like this when I was a kid, unfortunately. If you take paper matches (match book), and cut them off you can easily put them in a triangle compression of paper. (like folding a paper football). The match heads are sensitive enough that hitting it will cause friction between the match heads to “ignite” They make a good bang and the paper that is attached to the match heads during their fabrication can burn in the air as a sort of shrapnel. I know this from personal experience. So be careful.
I found this, Harry: (stupid smartphone wont let me paste the url) but it says gunpowder with sulfur and phosphorus. Seems reasonable… lol.
Its on something called the lonelyplanet thorntree travel forum… interesting game.
The explosive is more than likely silver fulminate with sand. I don’t even care to try to figure out how they make them.
I wouldn’t call that an explosion!!!!!!!
Well a clue to get people started that I found anyways, roughly translated by google, from a columbian newspaper:
“The accidental explosion of a shipment of fuses for the shuffle caused one death and five injured this morning in the metropolitan area of Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, confirmed the National Police.
The official report refuted the initial version of which had been a terrorist attack.
Police said the explosion occurred in the vicinity of a bus stop was the result of inappropriate handling of the shipment of ballots for the shuffleboard, which was transported on a motorcycle.
For unknown reasons the papers, made of black powder and red phosphorus, exploded killing the person carrying them and injuring people who were nearby.
The incident occurred in the area of the phial, in the municipality of Patios, metropolitan area of the capital of Norte de Santander.”
So it looks like armstrong’s formula, perhaps?
These explosive packets are known as the mechas, equilateral triangles of 6cm.
They are filled with a mixture of of sulphur, gunpowder and phosphorus.