Quite possibly the cheapest, most stable, most easily made and most easily acquired explosive that an average joe, wanting to blowing
something up for the sake of
fun, can make. Flash powder is commonly used in M80s,
silver salutes, firecrackers, and cherry bombs as well as large scale salutes seen in professional fireworks shows. It consists of two components: finly powdered aluminum (2 micron), and potassium perchlorate mixed in a
ratio of 3 parts aluminum to 7 parts potassium perchlorate by weight. Both of these components are perfectly
legal to purchase, and can be purchased online by anyone, of any age, who has a credit card. The aluminum must be a very finly powdered flake style usually sold under the name
indian black or
german blackhead. It can be bought from
eBay. The potassium perchlorate can be found at any number of
internet suppliers. 1 pound of flash powder can be made for only around $20.00 US, although a typical device like an M80 contains only 5 grams (1
lb = 454 grams). The power of flash powder can be increased significantly by adding additives such as: sulfur, antimony sulfide or just simply black powder in small amounts, typically 8-9 parts flash powder to 1-2 parts additive. This however, decreases the stability and could cause spontaneous ignition especially if the additive is not free of
acid. Flash powder is scientifically designated a low order explosive meaning it burns quickly producing a great deal of energy in a small about of time. Legally it is classified as a high explosive. Due to the ultra high burning temperature of aluminum the rate of burning in flash powder actually reaches the speed of sound causing a detonation like a high explosive. This requires a critical mass of
50 grams in order for the flame front to acheive the speed of sound. For this reason quantities of flash powder in excess of
50 g do not need to be confined within a container in order to explode.
