The Pyro Pages

Fountains, Gerbs & Bengal Fire

A collection of fountain, gerb, and bengal fire compositions gathered from rec.pyrotechnics and various reference texts.

Fountains

Fountain #1

Ingredient	Parts
Barium Nitrate	45
Potassium Nitrate	5
Meal Powder	5
Aluminum	45

Fountain #2

Ingredient	Parts
Meal Powder	72
Potassium Nitrate	7
Charcoal	7
Dark Aluminum	7
Aluminum (-80/+120)	7

Fountain #3

Charcoal, sulfur and potassium nitrate are ball milled and very fine. Iron is medium coarse. After mixing (by diaper method), add an equal weight of course meal powder (about 1Fg to 2Fg equivalent), and mix that in too.

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Nitrate	50
Charcoal	10
Sulfur	15
Iron	25

Fountain #4

The metal powder can be either aluminum, magnalium or titanium.

Ingredient	Parts
Black Powder (Finely Powdered)	70
Pine Charcoal	4
Metal Powder	26

Fountain #5

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Nitrate	24
Charcoal	4
Sulfur	4
Iron	10

Fountain #6

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Nitrate	2
Charcoal	41
Sulfur	1
Iron	1
Meal Powder	6

Fountain #7

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Nitrate	2
Charcoal	4
Iron	2
Meal Powder	4

Fountain #8

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Nitrate	8
Sulfur	3
Antimony Trisulfide (Sb2S3)	1
Meal Powder	2

Fountain #9

Ingredient	Parts
Antimony Trisulfide (Sb2S3)	8
Aluminum	4
Meal Powder	40

Fountain #10

Ingredient	Parts
Antimony Trisulfide (Sb2S3)	9
Dextrin	4
Sodium Oxalate	6
Meal Powder	40

Fountain #11

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Nitrate	3
Charcoal	1
Sulfur	1
Aluminum	1
Meal Powder	2

Blue Fountain

Granulate the mixture with a small amount of alcohol. Let dry and press into tubes. Very slowly burning mixture. Don’t substitute shellac with red gum.

Ingredient	Parts
Ammonium Perchlorate	7
Stearin	2
Copper (II) Oxide	1
Shellac	0.5

Gerbs

Gerb #1

Ingredient	Parts
Meal Powder	73
Iron (60 Mesh)	27

Gerb #2

The iron must be treated with linseed or tung oil.

Ingredient	Parts
Meal Powder	4
Charcoal Fines	1
Steel Fillings	2

Bengal Fire

Bengal Fire #1

Ingredient	Parts
Zirconium (Zr)	2-5
Cast Iron Shot	18-23
Iron Powder	20-25
Aluminum Powder	2-5
Corn Dextrin Binder	3-6
Potato Starch Binder	0.5-1.5
Barium Nitrate	Balance

Bengal Fire #2

Ingredient	Parts
Di-Buphtalate	3-5
Iron Powder	20-29
Aluminum Powder	4-7
Polyvinylbutyral Binder	11-17
Ammonium Nitrate Inhibitor	1-4
Ammonium Perchlorate	Balance

Green Bengal Fire #1

Ingredient	Parts
Barium Nitrate	80
PVC	10
Red Gum	10

Green Bengal Fire #2

Ingredient	Parts
Barium Chlorate	90
Shellac	10

Green Bengal Fire #3

Ingredient	Parts
Barium Chlorate	23
Barium Nitrate	59
Potassium Chlorate	6
Shellac	10
Stearic Acid	1

Green Bengal Fire #4

Burns nice and slowly leaving little residue, but not with a green color.

Ingredient	Parts
Barium Nitrate	6
Potassium Nitrate	3
Sulfur	2

Blue Bengal Fire #1

This is a dangerous mixture since it contains a copper ammonium complex and a chlorate.

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Chlorate	6
Copper Ammonium Sulphate	8
Shellac	1
Willow Charcoal	2

Blue Bengal Fire #2

Burns moderately fast with a blueish-white color.

Ingredient	Parts
Potassium Chlorate	40
Copper Sulphate	8
Colophonium	6