The Pyrotechnist's Treasury; Or, Complete Art of Making Fireworks. Thomas Kentish
sash-tool. A 3⁄8 inch is a convenient size. The mixture must then be put into a sieve, and shaken in the usual way; or it may be brushed through with the sash-tool. Return it to the sieve, and brush or shake through again. As it lies in a heap, level or smooth it with the blade of a table knife, or any straight-edge; if thoroughly mixed it will present a uniform colour; if it appears darker in one part than in another, it must be sifted again. A sieve with a top and receiver is very desirable, as nearly all mixtures are either black or poisonous; the dust from star mixtures is very injurious to the lungs. If a top and receiver cannot be readily purchased, both may easily be constructed out of a sheet of millboard, fastened with a bradawl and waxed yellow flax, and neatly covered with paper.
Mixtures may be damped on a Dutch-tile, a marble slab, or a slate without a frame. They may be stirred about with a dessert knife, pressed flat, and chopped, or minced as it were, and again pressed flat.
To Make Lac Solution.
Put 1⁄2 an ounce of flake shellac into a tin pot, and pour upon it a quarter of a pint, or 5 ounces of methylated spirit; or, preferably, a like quantity of wood naphtha. Let it stand for about a day, stirring it occasionally till dissolved. Then half fill a basin with boiling water; set the tin containing the lac, in it, and leave it till it boils and curdles. If the water does not remain hot long enough to make it boil, set it in a second basin of boiling water. As soon as it has curdled, remove it; and when cold, pour it into a vial, and cork it. Spirit must never be boiled over a fire, nor near one, as the vapour might inflame. Keep the pot, therefore, while in the hot water, at a distance from a fire, or flame of a lamp or candle.
To Make Wax Solution.
Put into a vial 1⁄2 an ounce of white wax, (bleached bees' wax), pour upon it 5 ounces of mineral naphtha, (coal or gas tar naphtha), keep it tightly corked.
To Make Stearine Solution.
Dissolve a piece of composite candle in mineral naphtha, in the same way. Mineral naphtha must not be used near a candle or fire, as it gives off an inflammable vapour, at less than 100° Fahrenheit.
To Make Gum Solution.
There is no better way of preparing this than simply to put cold water upon gum arabic, and let it stand till dissolved. If for sticking purposes, as much water as will just cover the gum will be sufficient; but, for making quickmatch, 1 ounce or 11⁄4 ounce of gum to a pint of water. If required in a hurry, put the gum into cold water, in a pipkin, or tin saucepan, set it on the fire, make it boil, and keep stirring till dissolved. When cold, bottle, and cork it.
To Make Dextrine Solution.
Take half an ounce of dextrine, and 5 ounces, or a quarter of a pint of cold water, put the dextrine into a cup or basin, add a little of the water, and mix it well with a teaspoon, rubbing it till all is dissolved; then add the remainder of the water, stir well together a second time, pour it into a vial, and cork for use. Dextrine, wetted to the consistency of honey, may be used instead of thick gum-arabic water, for pasting. For this purpose it is advisable to keep either in a wide-mouthed bottle, and to set the bottle in a gallipot containing a little water; the brush, a camel's-hair pencil, or very small sash-tool with 1⁄3 of the bristles cut away on each side, to render it flat, can then be kept in the water, when not in use; this will prevent it, on the one hand, from becoming dry and hard; and, on the other, from getting clogged and swollen. It can be squeezed between the thumb and fingers, when wanted for use. The flat gum brushes now sold, bound with tin, are not pleasant to use, as the tin oxidises, and turns of a disagreeable brown colour. If there is a difficulty in obtaining a graduated water measure, one sufficiently correct for pyrotechnic purposes may be made with a vial. Paste a narrow strip of paper up the outside of the vial, weigh 4 ounces of water in a cup, in the scales: pour it into the vial, mark the height, and divide it into 4 equal parts, for ounces; of course, it can be graduated into half and quarter ounces, and increased, if large enough, to 5 or more ounces. A gallon of distilled water weighs exactly 10 pounds. Consequently, a pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter. This is also near enough for spirit, though, of course, spirit is a trifle lighter. Doctors' vials are often marked with ounce divisions.
To Make Paste.
Paste is most economically made in a zinc pot, which may be 4 inches deep, and 31⁄2 inches diameter. Any zinc worker will make one to order for about 6d. Put into it 2 ounces of wheaten flour, add a little cold water, rub the two together with a spoon till smooth and free from lumps; pour in more water till the pot is full within about an inch; set the pot in half a saucepanful of water, put it on the fire; make the water boil, and keep it and the paste boiling for 4 or 5 minutes, stirring the paste the while. Remove it from the fire, and set it by to cool. The paste is to remain in the zinc pot, in which it will keep good for a length of time, and beautifully white.
Some recommend alum in paste, I think it best avoided, especially in cases intended to receive coloured fires. Alum is a double salt, a sulphate of alumina and potassa; it has an acid reaction; and, coming in contact with chlorate of potash and sulphur, may cause spontaneous combustion. A drop of sulphuric acid instantly ignites stars containing them. At theatres, the clown sometimes fires a cannon, with what appears to be a red hot poker; but which, in reality, is only a piece of wood, painted red. A mixture is made of chlorate of potash and sulphur, or sugar, a glass bead is filled with sulphuric acid, and the hole stopped up with wax. This is laid in the mixture, and when it is struck with the poker, the liquid escapes, and inflames the potash and sulphur. Sulphate of copper is a particularly dangerous salt, and must never be used, as it is almost certain to cause spontaneous combustion. Chertier, to whom pyrotechny otherwise owes so much, introduced an empirical preparation, by dissolving sulphate of copper in water, together with chlorate of potash, drying it, and wetting it with ammonia: but this, however dried, when again wetted, turns litmus paper red. Practicus has named it Chertier's copper. I discommend its use.
Two paste brushes will be sufficient for an amateur, sash-tools, one about an inch diameter, the other smaller for light purposes. Let them stand in the paste. If they get dry, the bristles fall out. For convenience, one may be kept in the paste, and one in water.
Dry clay, powdered and sifted as fine as possible, is used for plugging, or stopping up the bottoms of cases. I have, for some time, discontinued its use, and employ plaster of paris in preference. Directions will be given for each, so that the learner can adopt which he pleases: but plaster is infinitely preferable. It is an American improvement.
Roman Candle Scoops.
No species of fireworks require greater care in their construction than roman candles. In the first place the stars must be fierce, that they may light thoroughly: next, they must not be driven out