Fun With Sulfur

[Grapes Of Wraith]

I didn't see any other thread like this so....

Basically I noticed that when sulfur is thrown, dropped, or propelled in any way it scatters through out the air making a cloud of yellowish dust, that just floats around. I think this is because of its density, so I thought maybe I could ignite that cloud; it worked, I took a blow torch and held it up in the air then threw some sulfur in the direction of the flame. WHOOSH it all ignited into a cloud of red and purple flames. Sulfur is very cheap and I had a few pounds of it laying around so I experimented and the best way to do it is to sprinkle the sulfur over the flame quickly and that makes a sort of pillar of red and purple flames.

I'll try and get some pictures up, but this is just so much fun to play with you can throw it at anything or anyone and it's dirt CHEAP. I tried throwing a fireball off a skateboard, at a balloon filled with flammable gas, and at crumpled up paper. All were successful, the balloon exploded and the paper blew away in the flame front, the skate board was the best though I can through it anywhere while riding and at night its blinding when it is near to your face, all you see is purple that is because the sulfur burns red and blue which makes purple.

[tiac03]

OK this is another of the "Throwing the christians to the lions" post...

So whats the pool on how long before NBK sees it?

[cracker]

Grapes of Wrath, The product your looking for is called Lycopodium Powder or "Dragons Breath". Look into it, it's performance is far superior to Sulfur. By the way you are at the EXPLOSIVES & WEAPONS FORUM, not Chuckie Cheese's pizza house.

[Grapes Of Wraith]

This is under pyrotechnics not the HE forum.

Discussion of the manufacture and use of fireworks, black powder, noise makers, smokes, incendiaries, fuse, and other non-explosive devices. if this post needs t be moved by all means do so, I didn't realize how K3wl that post sounded; its just a fun thing to do with sulfur on a boring night especially since sulfur is so cheap. lycopodium powder, I didn't have any with me; but sulfur is just as fun.

[Alexires]

While yes, it may seem kewlish, I actually didn't know this before. That would be because I don't have powdered sulfur which I just throw around.

Perhaps there could have been a better place to post this, but from memory I cant think of a post that is sort of like this, except that ninja blinding powder thread.

Grapes of Wraith - Thanks for telling me something I didn't know. Maybe you could investigate particle size vs flammability. Try and get some very fine powder and sprinkle it into a candle flame.

How nice it would be to have an FAE composed of sulfur and a burster charge, or use the air conditioning system of a building to distribute a fine sulfur mist ripe for detonation.

This (http://www.allatoms.com/LycoPage.htm) may also be of interest to those thinking about this.

Cracker and tiac03 - Lycopodium Powder costs $3449 for 50kg while sulfur costs about $600 for the same. I can tell you which one I would be using if I had a choice. (sources here (http://www.sciencelab.com/page/S/PVAR/10419/SLL1072) and here (http://www.ecogrow.com/index.cfm?product=763&special=monthly))

So cracker and tiac03, if someone came onto The Forum in the Pyrotechnics section and talked about a pop-tart blow torch for possible insurance claims, would you shout that down too?

[cracker]

Yes Lycopodium is more expensive however I think you managed to quote the single most expensive chem retailer on the net. Science Lab is outrageous with all its prices.

Perhaps a more "rogue" directed post was what I was looking for.

[Bert]

This effect can be performed with bulk non-dairy coffee creamer, calf milk replacer powder, dry corn starch or flour, powdered napthalene and many more flammable dusts. It is indeed used in special effects work and for both outdoor and proximate pyrotechnics. Google "cremora". I believe grapes of wraith can at most be faulted only for not posting this in an existing related thread, of which there are allready several here.

[fused]

I was about to say the same thing Bert. There are lots of things that can be ignited in particulate form that will burn rapidly/flash. I remember trying coffee creamer and also flour when I was 10. Pretty neat, but not that impressive after the first time you do it.

[Grapes Of Wraith]

While lycopodium powder and all the other powders mentioned here are nice I happen to think sulfur is the most suitable for use. When it burns in a FAE mixture it makes it purple while other powders have only red flames this already makes it cooler; not only that but it creates a toxic gas while burning, gases like sulfur dioxide which irritate the lungs.

Mostly its the purple flames, there real attention grabbers. I tried to find pictures on the internet but no such luck, not even videos so it seems this is not very well documented and I must create my own pictures. lycopodium powder is just your average red flame and its more expensive.

I don't have access to a camera right now so if anyone else could take pictures if they had sulfur that would be great.

[tiac03]

Cracker and tiac03 - Lycopodium Powder costs $3449 for 50kg while sulfur costs about $600 for the same. I can tell you which one I would be using if I had a choice.

So cracker and tiac03, if someone came onto The Forum in the Pyrotechnics section and talked about a pop-tart blow torch for possible insurance claims, would you shout that down too?



1. I never talked about buying Lycopodium powder.

2. NBK Had a reason for talking about the poptart Idea, all the insurance company can do is insult you for being too stupid to heat up a poptart whilst they fork over the money, Grapes seems to be "through"-ing it off a skateboard and lighting it with a blowtorch inorder to move some litter around...

Had it been in the water cooler It wouldn't have bothered me, but to put it in this section in order to inform us of something to do if you have too much sulfur and time on your hands? C'mon.

[Alexires]

NBK might have had a reason to burn pop-tarts, but maybe he wondered what would happen if they were left in a toaster, then thought of a question for the answer. Sometimes the most stupid ideas can be brilliant and more importantly, they can work.

While his (Grapes of Wraith) methodology might have been questionable, he came up with an idea that I hadn't thought of before, and others might not have thought of it. It should have been in a different section, but it is something that he has contributed.

For instance, take this idea, and apply it to making H2SO4. Blow S dust into a container with an ignition source, then with the positive pressure in there, blow it through some water. Bang, you have a simple way of producing some crappy H2SO4.

While that might not work, it inspires thought, which could be argued to be almost as good.

If you want to talk about it any further, PM me.

[Grapes Of Wraith]

I am sorry I thought this could be considered pyrotechnics because it could be vaporized with an explosive charge and produce purple flames, for maybe an aerial shell? If it needs to be moved go ahead.