Cab-O-Sil as an additive

[Truehorn99]

What if any role does Cab-O-Sil play? I have read that it is a "anticaking" agent but it also makes your powder mixture stay fluffy and not packed. Is this a good thing or does it matter? Thank you.

[deadman]

We seem to be getting a lot of newbies. Truehorn99, it is obvious you didn't read the rules. This question may have been tolerable in The Water Cooler, but since you posted it in the Pyrotechnics thread it is a waste of space and an eyesore.

Cab-O-Sil is an anti-caking agent. That means it makes things stay "fluffy", as in they do not cake. It can definitley be done without. I'm sure you've never worked with something as common as sulfur, but it cakes worse than almost anything else I work with, if I had some I would use it.

It gets most of it's use in flash salutes though, as it lets the flame propogate through the comp quicker than it would if parts of it were packed into small clods. Wether or not it is good, is personal preference.

Since I'm positive you are making salutes, why not tell us the difference between one that has Cab-O-Sil and one that doesn't. At least then you'd contribute something.

[nbk2000]

Fumed silica (Cab-O-Sil) has other uses than just as an anti-caking agent.

It can be used as a dusty carrier for CBW agents, as a thickner for liquid explosives or CW agents, as an intrusion detector, and others.