Books and Guidance

[pgpugsley]

I'am new to the site and trying to get back into manufacturing some of my own and purchasing 1.3g display fireworks ranging from rockets, roman candles and 3" to 4" shells. My question is would anyone be willing to give me some leads on good basic pyrotechnic books explaining in detail composition make up and recipes to construction of rocket motors, roman candles, and shells. Magazine details would be great as well. Something small I do not intend to keep much on hand.
I have a little bit of experience but still at beginners stage. I will also be looking for suppliers that near southern Indiana incase I need to pick something up.
I'am looking for some good honest people that would be willing to put up with my DUH questions and potentially have a sort of Mentor / Apprentice type relationship with me. God Bless All
Philip Pugsley

[Ralph]

There are several forums out there which are dedicated to manufacturing (even an Australian one) do a quick search in google (I dont think Dave wants us posting links to other forums)

Stay well clear of youtube 49% of the instructional videos on there are made by people doing something for the first time after they have watched a similar video this leads to the propagation of misinformation and we have many people that think mixing vodka with meal powder with no binder added will cause the granules made to be hard (which simply is not true) 50% of the people on there are idiots who are just lucky they havent been injured yet with their permangenate flash powders, uncoated magnesium and blending complete compositions in a coffe mill than there are 1% of people who actually know what they are talking about.

AFN has several nice videos on manufacturing that I have enjoyed watching (you need to pay for these)

You can send me a private message or email any time and I will be more than happy to answer any question you have and to tell you what your doing wrong, I have developed several pyrotechnic formullas some I have published others Im squrelling away for myself till I decide to release them and also manufature myself. my weak point is I do not live in the US so can not provide a huge amount of information on things like magazine specs (though I know alittle)

[Chris H]

There really isn't a good overall book. There are excellent books on certain subjects, but nothing that stands out as a great beginners book. Below are some of the more contemporary books, and their specialties. I use contemporary very loosely, as most were published in the 1970's and 80's.

Fireworks: The Art, Science, and Technique - Dr. Takeo Shimizu - This is the go-to book on japanese shell production

Pyrotechnics - Dr. Alexander Hardt (amongst others) - This is one of the best books on pyrotechnics, but not really a how-to guide

Fireworks - Rev. Ron Lancaster - This might be the best suited to you. It covers most topics, gives some example formulas, and explains manipulations/manufacture.

Pyrotechnica IX and XI - Arturo Fulcanelli - These are colloquially known as the Fulcanelli Papers or Fulcanelli Articles. They are the go-to on traditional ItaloAmerican cylindrical shell manufacture.

Westech Firework Manual - Ralph Degn - This is a good how-to publication. It focuses more on set pieces, fountains, mines, etc and other similar effects. There is some coverage of shell building. It gives good info and ideas, but I think that topic is better covered in Shimizu and Fulcanelli.

PGI Anthology: vol I - various authors - This publication is probably going to be rather hard to come by. One must be a Pyrotechnic Guild International (PGI) member. I think they can be mail ordered, but I picked mine up at the convention last year. This contains the best manufacturing articles from the past 10 years or so. It is probably rather specific, but many of the procedures are quite general.

Again, I don't know the policy on linking out to other sites, but I'll leave you with a few helpful terms that should lead you to other good resources. Skylighter Newsletter Archive, Turbo Pyro, and Passfire.

[Chris H]

I meant to add the Best of American Firework News volumes as well, but apparently I can only edit for 2 minutes after posting. It's fairly good, has lots of information, lots of unique ways to do things. It has all levels of information, so some things may start to make more sense after some background in pyrotechnics.

There are 5 volumes, starting with vol 2 and going to the recently released vol 6.

[kitsune]

I'd add "Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics" by Tom Perigrin to this list, as well (that, and the Shimizu book noted above, were the first two books I purchased). I like that the projects are laid out in a logical progression, and that it is very much geared towards the beginner (Turbo Pyro is also set up in much the same say, if I'm not mistaken).

Any of the "Best of AFN" series are also good to have (I have 2, 3, and 4 sitting on my shelf). Though, you have to keep in mind that these aren't tutorial texts so much as collections of individual projects and articles. Thus, they can be a bit of a grab bag, depending on where your interests lie (Best of AFN IV has a nice article on Starting Out). "Fireworks & Pyro Projects" is also in that vein (if you don't mind going digital).

[pgpugsley]

Thanks everyone for the great information. I appreciate you taking the time to write / type all of this info in here. Take Care, Philip Pugsley

[Chris H]

I really am not a fan of Introductory Practical Pyrotechnics. Some of the information is questionable. I've been told that the McLain Violet on page 55 is known to spontaneously combust.