Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/09/23

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Subject: Flash Powder
From: Bert Keuken <b.k@pi.net>
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 22:37:51 +0200

Flash powder is explosive, use with extreme care and at your own risk!

R/
3 parts potassium perchlorate
3 parts potassium chlorate
4 parts magnesium powder

how to prepare
combine potassium compounds and grind them very finely, but always keep the
magnesium separate until immediately before exposure. Mix the powders very
carefully. Ignite using a touch-paper.
A touch-paper can be made by soaking paper in a strong potassium nitrate
solution and drying it.

Flash powder produces light with a color temp. of about 4300K, small
quatities give a warm color, larger heaps produce a color that is approx.
daylight.

Use ISO 100 print film and an aperture of f/11

6 ft 1 gram
12 ft 2.5 gram
24 ft 7 gram
36 ft 12 gram

Spread larger charges in a line and ignite in the middle.

It is probably safer to buy the powder from a theatrical supplier

- --------
Regards,

Bert Keuken
homepage: http://home.pi.net/~bertkeuk/home.html

"Macintosh users are the snobs of the personal computer business" - Robert
X. Cringely