The Pyrotechnist's Treasury Part 1

The Pyrotechnist's Treasury.

by Thomas Kentish.

PREFACE.

Until within the last few years there was scarcely any work in English, that I am aware of, on the subject of Pyrotechny, worth reading, with the exception of an Article in "Brewster's Cyclopaedia," by MacCulloch; and this, besides being accessible to only a few, having been published in 1830, made no mention of colours, which form the most beautiful part of the art.

In the first year of the present century a treatise was written by a Captain Jones, which has been copied, in whole or in part, into almost every work since published. The greater portion of it is absurd and impracticable, and shows that it was written by a person who undertook to teach what he had not learnt.

The first work of any real utility that came under my notice was a series of papers by "Practicus." This was soon followed by another, varied by the new chemical nomenclature.

The subject is far from being treated exhaustively in either of these works, so that I trust the reader will find in the following pages a fund of information, both in the repertory of recipes and the methods of manipulation.

To Chertier belongs the great improvement in colours. He was, as I was informed by the late Mr. Southby, who knew him personally, and who derived much information from him while in Paris, a retired French Artillery Officer, who made colours "his study and theme." His "New Researches," published in 1856, nearly thirty years after his first pamphlet, is an excellent work, that leaves little to be desired in the way of colours. Gunpowder attracted but little of his attention.

Tessier, of Paris, has written, since, his "Pyrotechnic Chemistry," and a new edition of the "Firework-Maker," by Hutstein and Websky, was published three or four years ago at Breslau.

I have neglected none of these sources of information, but do not know that I have been able to learn much from them with which I was not previously acquainted.

Gibbon's "Artillerist's Manual," and Benton's "Ordnance and Gunnery,"

published at New York, have furnished me with a hint or two; also Owen's "Practice of Modern Artillery," Scoffern's "Projectile Weapons of War,"

and his "New Resources of Warfare;" but as all these works are on Military Pyrotechny, they have not been available to any great extent. I mention their names, that anyone desirous of a knowledge of Rockets and Sh.e.l.ls, as instruments of destruction, may know the books from which to gain the information.

It is possible that, as Chemistry advances, a few new substances may be discovered; meanwhile, nearly every shade of colour may already be produced.

The extensive use of these colours, from their beauty and variety, for stars and lancework, has very materially altered the cla.s.s of fireworks, and necessitates the employment of an enormous quant.i.ty of quick-match.

The preparation of this is one of the most disagreeable parts of Pyrotechny, besides demanding a great amount of manipulative skill. Most amateurs are deterred from attempting to manufacture it, and so have to content themselves with only the simplest pieces.

I have, therefore, set myself sedulously to work to devise a different plan of preparing it; and have succeeded--not till after many years, however, and numerous failures, simple as it now seems--in discovering a process of producing a splendid and perfect match, that leaves nothing to be desired; which is easy and expeditious, and does not even soil the hands. Amateurs will now find no trouble in making any pieces they may desire.

Dangerous chemicals, that might produce spontaneous combustion, have been rigidly excluded; the fullest information throughout has been furnished for preparing the mixtures with safety; the mode of projecting balloons, and the manner of constructing steelyard scales, and every kind of tool used in the art, has been added; and no pains have been spared to make the work as complete and comprehensive as possible.

In conclusion, I may say that I have had thirty-five years' experience; and there is nothing I have not tried repeatedly: the reader may, therefore, place the greatest confidence in everything recommended. He has only to imitate to succeed.

T. K.

_ROMAN CANDLES._

TO MAKE A 5/8 ROMAN CANDLE.

Procure a straight piece of bra.s.s tube, 6/8 of an inch external diameter, and 16-1/2 inches long. Saw or file off a piece, 1-1/2 inch long, fig. 1. This is for the star former, and is drawn of the correct size.

In the other piece, of 15 inches, fix a handle, as shown, in diminutive, in fig. 7. This is for the case former. It should be filed smooth at the end.

Take another piece of bra.s.s tube (4-1/2)/8 or 9/16 of an inch external diameter, and about 16-1/2 inches long. In this also fix a handle, or fix it into a handle, fig. 4. Invert it, and set it upright in a flower-pot, filled with sand or loose mould. Melt some lead in a ladle, and pour it slowly into the tube, leaving room for the air to escape up the side, till it is full. If the lead is poured in rapidly, the confined air, expanding, jerks the metal up, and may cause serious injury. A pound or more of lead will be required. When cold, drive the end of the lead in with a hammer, and file it smooth. This is for a rammer.

Take a piece of deal, fig. 6, about 12 inches long, 6 broad, and 3/4 thick; and, on the top, screw a handle, like one on a copper-lid, or black-lead brush. This is for a rolling-board. An iron door-handle would serve, and may be obtained at any ironmonger's, for about 2_d._ or 3_d._ A wooden one, however, about an inch thick, not cylindrical, but slightly flat, and rounded at the edges, is preferable, as it gives more purchase for the hand.

Cut a piece of tin, or zinc, or thin board, into the shape of fig. 8, in which the distance between the arms a and b, across the dotted line, shall be 7/8 of an inch. This is for a gauge, with which to measure the external diameter of the case. Write upon it, "7/8 s.p.a.ce."

Procure some 60 lb., 70 lb., or 84 lb. imperial brown paper: the size of a sheet will be 29 inches by 22-1/2. Cut a sheet into 4 equal parts, each 14-1/2 by 11-1/4: paste the 4 pieces on one side, and lay them one on another, with the pasted face upwards, putting the fourth piece with the pasted side downwards, upon the pasted side of the third piece. Turn them over: take off the now top piece, and lay it flat on the near edge of a table, pasted side upwards. Take the former, fig. 7, and paste the tube all over. Lay it along the edge of the paper, bend the paper over with the fingers of both hands, and roll it tightly up, until the external diameter of the case about fits the gauge, fig. 8. If the paper should be too long, of course a piece must be cut off; if it should not be long enough, more must be added, taking care to bind in the second piece with 3 or 4 inches of the first piece; for if the whole of the first piece be rolled up before beginning the second, the latter, when dry, will probably slip off, and spoil the case. The case having been rolled up, take the handle of the former in the left hand, lay the case flat on the near side of the table, take the rolling-board, fig. 6, in the right hand, press the front part of it on the case, and drive it forwards 5 or 6 times, like a jack-plane, letting the handle of the former slip round in the left hand. This will tighten the case, and render it, when dry, as hard as a book-cover.

The former must always be pasted, before rolling a case, to prevent its sticking. It should, likewise, be wiped clean with a damp sponge, before being laid aside. Bra.s.s tubes keep clean a much longer time if lacquered. To lacquer them, clean them with very fine gla.s.s-paper; make them hot by the fire, till you can just bear them on the back of the hand; then, with a camel's-hair pencil, wash them over with thin lac solution. The cases may be either 14-1/2 or 11-1/4 inches long; but 11-1/4 is the best, for when the cases are too long, the fuse, as it approaches the bottom, is apt, if slow, to smoke; if fierce, to set the top of the case in a flame. If the learner decides upon 11-1/4 inches, the former and rammer may each be 2 or 3 inches shorter.

After the first case has been rolled up to fit the gauge, it may be unrolled, and the paper measured. Future pieces of the same quire of paper can then be cut of the right size at once, so that the case will fit the gauge without further trouble.

A large slab of slate is convenient for rolling upon; but a smoothly planed board will answer every purpose.

When a number of cases are finished, hitch a piece of flax two or three times round each of them, and hang them up to dry, in a place free from draught, that they may not warp.

Flax is sold in b.a.l.l.s; the thick yellow, at 2_d._, is the best. It is named, indifferently, flax, or hemp. It is much used by shoe-makers; and is sold at the grindery, or leather shops. Two or three thicknesses of this, waxed, or drawn through the hand with a little paste, is very convenient for pa.s.sing round the necks of small choked cases, tying cases on wheels, &c.

TO MAKE A ROMAN CANDLE STAR.

Take the former, fig. 1, which, as said before, is 1-1/2 inch long; have a cylindrical piece of turned wood, box, beech, or mahogany, fig. 2, about 2 inches long, and of a diameter to just fit easily into fig. 1.

At a point a, at the distance of about 7/8 of an inch from the end d, with a bradawl, or very small gimlet, or nosebit, make a hole, and drive in a piece of bra.s.s wire, to project just so much as to prevent the tube slipping over it. A piece of a bra.s.s rivet, such as used by shoe-makers, is convenient for the purpose. The part with the head on is best; a quarter of an inch length will be sufficient, filed or cut off with the nippers. It is evident that upon inserting fig. 2 into the tube fig. 1, a vacant s.p.a.ce of 5/8 of an inch will be left at the bottom. Fig. 3 is a piece of turned wood, or, better still, of turned bra.s.s, exactly like fig. 2 without the side-pin a. Now to pump a star, insert fig. 2 in fig. 1; press the tube into damped composition, turn it round, and withdraw it. Rest the tube on a flat surface, insert fig. 3, and give it two or three taps with a small mallet, like fig. 26. A convenient size for the mallet is 1-1/2 inch square, 3 inches long, with a turned handle. The mallet is best made of beech or mahogany. The slight malleting consolidates the star, and prevents it from getting broken in charging; it will compress it to about (4-1/2)/8 or 9/16 of an inch in height. Push it out and set it by to dry.

Stars are best made in summer, and dried in the suns.h.i.+ne; when dry they should be put into clean pickle-bottles, furnished with tight-fitting bungs. A piece of wash-leather pa.s.sed over the bottom of the bung, gathered up round the sides, and tied at the top like a choke, makes a good stopper. Shot, shaken up in bottles, with water, soon cleans them.

TO DAMP STARS.

Stars containing nitrate of strontian must be damped, either with lac solution, or wax solution; anything containing water destroys the colour. Nitre stars may be damped with gum water, dextrine solution, or thin starch. Most other stars with either of the solutions. Crimsons and greens _will_ mix with boiled linseed oil, but they cannot then be matched, as oil renders meal-powder almost uninflammable. With all stars, not a drop more of the solution should be used than is sufficient to make the composition bind; and it is advisable not to damp more than half an ounce at a time; this is particularly the case in using the lac solution, as it dries rapidly; and if a large quant.i.ty of composition is damped, and gets dry, and has to be damped over and over again, it becomes clogged with the sh.e.l.lac, and the colour is deteriorated. If it should get dry, and require a second damping, it is best to use pure spirit only, the second time.

Before mixing compositions, every article should be as fine as wheaten flour, and perfectly dry. Nitrate of strontian, if purchased in the lump, should be set over the fire, in a pipkin; it will soon begin to boil in its water of crystallization; it must be kept stirred with a piece of wood, till the water is evaporated, and a fine dry powder left.

A pound of crystals will yield about 11 ounces of dry powder, which should be immediately bottled. Even then, if used in damp weather, it is best dried again, and mixed with the other ingredients while warm. This second drying may be in a 6-inch circular frying-pan.

Articles, separately, may be reduced to powder, with the pestle, in a mortar. See that it is wiped clean every time, as there is danger of ignition with chlorates and sulphurets. When the articles are to be mixed, they may be put into the mortar, and stirred together with a small 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 sh.e.l.lac into a tin pot, and pour upon it a quarter of a pint, or 5 ounces of methylated spirit; or, preferably, a like quant.i.ty 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.