Creating those fireworks sparklers that children hold in their hands isn’t really a hard thing to do after you crack the secret of how to read the 1936 common recipe for sparkler making and figure out where to get your supplies. There is only one sparkler recipe online that I can find, copied in many different places. This recipe comes from a 1936 book called, Mengen en Roeren by: L.P. Edel (second edition) and the recipe is found on page 22. This recipe was quoted most recently in a 2003 book called, Practical Pyrotechnics by: Wouter Visser.
The Original Sparkler Recipe Suggests:
Wires or sticks
300 parts potassium chlorate
60 parts aluminum fines, flitter, or granules
2 parts charcoal
10% dextrin in water solution
500 parts strontium nitrate (optional, for red color)
60 parts barium nitrate (optional, for green color)
What You Really Need:
12 or 14 inch lengths of heavy wire like the kind in a coat hanger. In 1936, wooden sticks that might catch fire were not a concern. This is a different century: be safe, use wire.
300 parts potassium chlorate = 1 Cup
60 parts aluminum fines, flitter, or granules = slightly less than 4 Tablespoons
2 parts charcoal = tiny pinch
500 parts strontium nitrate = 1 2/3 Cup to make red sparklers.
60 parts barium nitrate = slightly less than 4 Tablespoons to make green sparklers.
Plus: water to mix with 10% powdered Dextrin, an old plastic coffee container to dip in, and a flower pot full of dirt to stick the finished sparklers into while they are drying.
Where to Get Supplies:
Potassium Chlorate: Potassium chlorate is used in industrial applications, as a disinfectant, and as part of the process to make matches. According to Wikipedia this is a common substance found in high school science labs. Click here to read more about Potassium Chlorate. Thunder Valley will sell you one pound of Potassium Chlorate for 7.50. Click here to view this Potassium Chlorate supplier.
Aluminum Flitter or Granules can be found for fewer than 20.00 a pound online at Cheap Chemicals. Click here to view this aluminum resource.
Dextrin appears to be a sugary byproduct of starch according to Web Definitions. Click here to read about Dextrin. Cheap Chemicals has Dextrin for sale at about 5.75 a pound. Click here to view this dextrin resource.
How Sparklers Work:
For me, it is easier to mix a recipe after I understand what the ingredients are doing. For sparklers, the potassium chlorate is what makes them burn while the aluminum granules make the pretty silver sparks that fly. Dextrin is the substance that makes everything adhere to the stick. There might be some other reactions going on between the ingredients, but that seems to be the basics. This should help you to wiggle your recipe around a tiny bit if something is not working correctly for you. If the goo isn’t sticking well, increase your Dextrin ratio by very tiny bits until all is well with your Detrin water solution.
How to Make Sparklers:
Step One: Put on a dust mask and mix the dry ingredients in your plastic coffee can with an old spoon or stick.
Step Two: Add your Dextrin solution a little at a time while stirring until you have a moist slurry, or watery cement consistency.
Step Three: Dip your wire into the mixture in the coffee can so that 3 to 4 inches remain uncoated at one end to use as a handle.
Step Four: Allow sparklers to dry completely before trying to light them. Store your sparklers in a cool dark place, away from humidity.
How to Make Color Sparklers:
Add strontium nitrate (red)or barium nitrate (green) into your original powdered mix.
Leftovers:
Leftovers might store in the plastic coffee can that you mixed them in if you put the lid on so that they do not dry out. This storage can should be placed in a cool and dark area away from all possibility of fire. I have not tried to store any leftover mixture personally. This will have to be an experiment on your part.
Legal Note:
Fireworks are illegal in many states. Do not burn your sparklers if you are not legal to do so.
Sparkler Ideas:
Weddings: Sparklers are fun to use at a wedding. To make a sparkler heart, bend wire into a heart shape before dipping, and leave a 3 – 4 inch spike of wire hanging out of the bottom so that you can stand the sparkler up in a cake or flower pot while it burns.
Child’s Birthday Party: Sparklers do not have to be just for the 4th of July. Use them to mark special occasions with your children.
Photography: Sparklers make interesting camera shots either by themselves or as an accent to a central subject matter. You may want to experiment with sparklers burning in front of a mirror, sparklers burning on corks drifting in the swimming pool, or sparklers burning out in the snow, or sparklers in black and white with an optical illusion overlay done in your darkroom for some special prints.
Recipe Source: About.com
