Part 3
This fire is the most beautiful and curious of any yet known, and was invented by the Chinese, but now is in greater perfection in England, than in China; and as it requires a great deal of trouble to make it to perfection, it will be necessary that young beginners should have full instructions in every particular; therefore care ought to be taken that all the ingredients be of the best sort, that the lamp-black is not damp and clodded, and that the saltpetre and brimstone are thoroughly refined. This composition is generally rammed in one or two ounce cases, about five or six inches long, but not drove very hard; and these cases must have their concave stroke struck very smooth, and the choak or vent not quite so large as the usual proportion; this charge, when driven and kept a few months, will be much better than when just rammed, but will not spoil, if kept dry, in many years.
Now as the beauty of this composition cannot be seen at so great a distance as brilliant fire, it has a better effect in a room than in the open air, and may be fired in a chamber without any danger; for it is of so innocent a nature, that, though with an improper phrase, It may be called a cold fire; and so extraordinary is the fire produced from this composition, that, if well made, the sparks will not burn a handkerchief, when held in the midst of them; you may hold them in your hand while burning, with as much safety as a candle; and if you put your hand within a foot of the mouth of the case, you will feel the sparks like drops of rain. When any of these spur-fires are fired singly, they are called artificial flower pots; but some of them placed round a transparent pyramid of paper, and fired in a large room, make a very pretty appearance.
The Composition for the SPUR-FIRE.
Saltpetre four pound eight ounces, sulphur two pound, and lamp-black one pound eight ounces.
Or, saltpetre one pound, sulphur half a pound, and lamp-black four quarts.
As the spur-fire composition is very difficult to mix, and the manner of doing it quite different from any other, I shall here treat of it separately; for example, the saltpetre and the brimstone must be first sifted together, and then put into a marble mortar, and the lamp-black with them, which you work down by degrees, with a wooden pestle, till all the ingredients appear of one colour, which will be something greyish, but very near black; then drive a little into a case for tryal, and fire it in a dark place; and if the sparks, which are called stars, or pinks, come out in clusters, and afterwards spread well without any other sparks, it is a sign of its being good, otherwise not; for if any drossy sparks appear, and the stars not full, it is then not mixed enough; but if the pinks are very small, and soon break, it is a sign that you have rubbed it too much.
N. B. This mixture, when rubbed too much, will be too fierce, and hardly shew any stars at all; and, on the contrary, when not mixed enough, will be too weak, and throw forth an obscure smoke, and lumps of dross, without any stars. The reason of this charge being called the spur-fire, is because the sparks it yields have a great resemblance to the rowel of a spur, from whence it takes it’s name.
Characters, or significant Signs, for distinguishing the different Ingredients used in Fireworks.
Meal Powder M Corned Powder Э Saltpetre Θ Brimstone Z Crude Sulphur C Z Charcoal C + Sea Coal C S Saw-dust or Beech-raspings B R Steel or Iron-filings S x Brass-dust B x Glass-dust G x Tanners-dust of Bark T x Cast Iron C I Antimony Crude C A Camphor x Yellow Amber A Y Lapis Calaminaris L S Gum ∩. Lamp Black B L Isinglass G I Spirit of Wine W Spirits of Turpentine S T Oil of Spike P O
The use of the above characters is, that by the help of them, the different receipts may be contracted to so small a compass, that they may all be contained in one leaf of a pocket book, which is much less than any table that has yet been invented. These signs are also very convenient for those who travel.
How to meal GUN-POWDER, BRIMSTONE, and CHARCOAL.
There have been many methods used to grind these ingredients to a powder for fireworks, such as large mortars and pestles, made of ebony, and other hard wood; likewise horizontal mills with brass barrels; but none of these methods has proved so effectual and speedy as the last invention, that of the mealing table, which is represented in Plate 1. Fig. 1. This table it made of elm, with a rim round it’s edge, four or five inches high; and at the narrow end, A, is a slider, which runs in a groove and forms part of the rim; so that when you have taken out of the table, as much powder as you conveniently can, with the copper shovel Fig. 2. you may sweep all clean out at the slider A. When you are going to meal a quantity of powder, observe not to put too much in the table at once; but when you have put in a good proportion, take the muller Fig. 3. and rub it therewith till all the grains are broke, then fearce it, in a lawn sieve that has a receiver and top to it; and that which does not pass through the sieve, return again to the table and grind it more, till you have brought it all fine enough to go through the sieve. Brimstone and charcoal are ground in the same manner as gun-powder, only the muller must be made of ebony, for these ingredients being harder than powder, would stick in the grain of elm, and be very difficult to grind; and as the brimstone is apt to stick and clod to the table, it would be best to keep one for that purpose only, by which means you will always have your brimstone clean and well ground.
To prepare CAST-IRON for Gerbes, White Fountains, and Chinese Fire.
Cast-iron being of so hard a nature, as not to be cut by a file, we are obliged to make use of the following method to reduce it into grains, though somewhat difficult to perform; but if we consider what beautiful sparks this sort of iron yields, no pains should be spared to granulate such an essential material, to do which you must proceed thus: get at an iron foundry some thin pieces of iron, such as generally runs over the moulds, at the time of casting: then have a square block made of cast iron, and a square hammer of the same metal, about four pound weight; then, having covered the floor with cloth, or something to catch the beatings, lay the thin pieces of iron on the block, and beat them thereon with the hammer, till you have reduced them into small grains, which afterwards searce with a very fine sieve, in order to separate from them the fine dust, which is sometimes used in small cases of brilliant fire, instead of steel dust; and when you have got out all the dust, sift what remains with a sieve a little larger, and so on with sieves of different sizes, till the iron will pass through about the bigness of small bird shot: your iron being thus beat and sifted, put each sort into wooden boxes or oiled paper, to keep it from getting rust. When you use any of this iron, observe that you make a difference in its size, in proportion to the cases for which the charge is intended; for the coarse sort of it is only designed for very large gerbes, of six or eight pound weight.
Charges for Sky-Rockets, &c.
For Rockets of Four Ounces.
Mealed powder one pound four ounces, saltpetre four ounces, and charcoal two ounces.
For Rockets of Eight Ounces.
I. Meal powder one pound, saltpetre four ounces, brimstone three ounces, and charcoal one ounce and a half.
II. Meal powder one pound and a half, and charcoal four ounces and a quarter.
For Rockets of One Pound.
Meal powder two pound, saltpetre eight ounces, brimstone four ounces, charcoal two ounces, and steel filings one ounce and a half.
For Sky Rockets in general.
I. Saltpetre four pound, brimstone one pound, and charcoal one pound and a half.
II. Saltpetre four pound, brimstone one pound and a half, charcoal one pound twelve ounces, and meal powder two ounces.
For large Sky Rockets.
Saltpetre four pound, meal powder one pound, and brimstone one pound.
The following Compositions may be used for Rockets of a middling size.
I. Saltpetre eight pound, sulphur three pound, meal powder three pound.
II. Saltpetre three pound, sulphur two pound, meal powder one pound, charcoal one pound.
Compositions for Rocket Stars.
For White Stars.
Meal powder four ounces, saltpetre twelve ounces, sulphur vivum six ounces, oil of spike two ounces, and camphor five ounces.
For Blue Stars.
Meal powder eight ounces, saltpetre four, sulphur two, spirits of wine two, and oil of spike two.
Coloured, or variegated Stars.
Meal powder eight drams, rochpetre four ounces, sulphur vivum two ounces, and camphor two ounces.
For Brilliant Stars.
Saltpetre three ounces and a half, sulphur an ounce and a half, and meal powder three quarters of an ounce. This composition must be worked up with spirits of wine only.
For Common Stars.
Saltpetre one pound, brimstone four ounces, antimony four ounces and three quarters, isinglass half an ounce, camphor half an ounce, and spirits of wine three quarters of an ounce.
For Tailed Stars.
Meal powder three ounces, brimstone two ounces, saltpetre one ounce, and charcoal (coarsely ground) three quarters of an ounce.
For Drove Stars.
I. Saltpetre three pound, sulphur one pound, brass dust twelve ounces, and antimony three ounces.
II. Saltpetre one pound, antimony four ounces, and sulphur eight.
For fix’d Pointed Stars.
Saltpetre eight ounces and an half, sulphur two ounces, and antimony one ounce and ten drams.
Stars of a fine Colour.
Sulphur one ounce, meal powder one ounce, saltpetre one ounce, camphor four drams, oil of turpentine four drams.
Gold Rain for Sky Rockets.
I. Saltpetre one pound, meal powder four ounces, sulphur four ounces, brass dust one ounce, saw dust two and a quarter, and glass dust six drams.
II. Meal powder twelve ounces, saltpetre two ounces, and charcoal four.
III. Saltpetre eight ounces, brimstone two ounces, glass dust one ounce, antimony three quarters of an ounce, brass dust a quarter of an ounce, and saw dust twelve drams.
Silver Rain.
I. Saltpetre four ounces, sulphur, meal powder, and antimony, of each two ounces, and half an ounce of sal prunellae.
II. Saltpetre half a pound, brimstone two ounces, and charcoal four.
III. Saltpetre one pound, brimstone a quarter of a pound, and antimony six ounces.
IV. Saltpetre four ounces, brimstone one ounce, powder two ounces, and steel dust three quarters of an ounce.
For Water Rockets.
I. Meal powder six pound, saltpetre four pound, brimstone three pound, and charcoal five pound.
II. Saltpetre one pound, brimstone four ounces and a half, and charcoal six ounces.
III. Saltpetre one pound, brimstone four ounces, and charcoal twelve ounces.
IV. Saltpetre four pound, brimstone one pound eight ounces, and charcoal one pound twelve ounces.
V. Brimstone two pound, saltpetre four pound, and meal powder four pound.
VI. Saltpetre one pound, meal powder four ounces, brimstone eight ounces and a half, and charcoal two ounces.
VII. Meal powder one pound, saltpetre three pound, brimstone one pound, seacoal one ounce, charcoal eight ounces and a half, saw dust three quarters of an ounce, steel dust half an ounce, and coarse charcoal a quarter of an ounce.
VIII. Meal powder one pound twelve ounces, saltpetre three pound, sulphur one pound eight ounces, charcoal twelve ounces, saw dust two ounces.
A sinking Charge for Water Rockets.
Meal powder eight ounces, charcoal three quarters of an ounce.
For Wheel Cases, from two Ounces to four Pound.
I. Meal powder two pound, saltpetre four ounces, and iron filings seven ounces.
II. Meal powder two pound, saltpetre twelve ounces, sulphur four, and steel dust three ounces.
III. Meal powder four pound, saltpetre one pound, brimstone eight ounces, and charcoal four ounces and a half.
IV. Meal powder eight ounces, saltpetre four, saw dust one ounce and a half, and sea coal three quarters of an ounce.
V. Meal powder one pound four ounces, brimstone four ounces ten drams, saltpetre eight ounces, glass dust two ounces and a half.
VI. Meal powder twelve ounces, charcoal one ounce, saw dust half an ounce.
VII. Saltpetre one pound nine ounces, brimstone four ounces, and charcoal four ounces and a half.
VIII. Meal powder two pound, saltpetre one pound, brimstone half a pound, and sea coal two ounces.
IX. Saltpetre two pound, brimstone one pound, meal powder four pound, and glass dust four ounces.
X. Meal powder one pound, saltpetre two ounces, and steel dust three ounces and a half.
XI. Meal powder two pound, and steel dust two ounces and a half, with two ounces and a half of the fine dust of beat iron.
XII. Saltpetre eleven pound thirteen ounces, brimstone eight ounces, and charcoal six ounces.
A slow Fire for Wheels.
I. Saltpetre four ounces, brimstone two ounces, and meal powder one ounce and a half.
II. Saltpetre four ounces, brimstone one ounce, and antimony one ounce six drams.
III. Saltpetre four ounces and a half, brimstone one ounce, and mealed powder one ounce and a half.
A dead Fire for Wheels.
Saltpetre one ounce and a quarter, brimstone a quarter of an ounce, lapis-calaminaris a quarter of an ounce, and antimony two drams.
For standing or fixed Cases.
I. Meal powder four pound, saltpetre two pound, brimstone and charcoal one pound.
II. Meal powder two pound, saltpetre one pound, and steel dust eight ounces.
III. Meal powder one pound four ounces, and charcoal four ounces.
IV. Meal powder one pound, and steel dust four ounces.
V. Meal powder two pound and a half, brimstone four ounces, and seacoal six ounces.
VI. Meal powder three pound, charcoal five ounces, and saw dust one ounce and a half.
For Sun Cases.
I. Meal powder eight pound and a half, saltpetre one pound two ounces, steel dust two pound ten ounces and a half, and brimstone four ounces.
II. Meal powder three pound, saltpetre six ounces, and steel dust seven ounces and a half.
For a Brilliant Fire.
Meal powder twelve pound, saltpetre one pound, brimstone four ounces, and steel dust one pound and a half.
For Gerbes.
Meal powder six pound, and beat iron two pound one ounce and a half.
Chinese Fire.
Saltpetre twelve ouces, meal powder two pound, brimstone one pound two ounces, and beat iron twelve ounces.
Charges for Tourbillons.
For four ounce Tourbillons.
Meal powder two pound four ounces, and charcoal four ounces and a half.
For eight ounce Tourbillons.
Meal powder two pound, and charcoal four ounces and three quarters.
For large Tourbillons.
Meal powder two pound, saltpetre one pound, brimstone eight ounces, and beat iron eight ounces.
N. B. Tourbillons may be made very large, and of different colour’d fires, only you are to observe, that the larger they be, the weaker must be the charge; and, on the contrary, the smaller they be, the stronger must be their charge.
For Water Ballóóns.
I. Saltpetre four pound, brimstone two pound, meal powder two pound, antimony four ounces, saw dust four ounces, and glass dust one ounce and a quarter.
II. Saltpetre nine pound, brimstone three pound, meal powder six pound, rosin twelve ounces, and antimony eight ounces.
For Water Squibs.
I. Meal powder one pound, and charcoal one pound.
II. Meal powder one pound, and charcoal nine ounces.
For Mine-ports or Serpents.
I. Meal powder one pound, and charcoal one ounce.
II. Meal powder nine ounces, and charcoal one ounce.
Port-fires for firing Rockets, &c.
I. Saltpetre twelve ounces, brimstone four ounces, and meal powder two ounces.
II. Saltpetre eight ounces, brimstone four ounces, and meal powder two ounces.
III. Saltpetre one pound two ounces, meal powder one pound and a half, and brimstone ten ounces. This composion must be moistened with one gill of linseed oil.
IV. Meal powder six ounces, saltpetre two pound two ounces, and brimstone ten ounces.
V. Saltpetre one pound four ounces, meal powder four ounces, brimstone five ounces, and saw dust eight ounces.
VI. Saltpetre eight ounces, brimstone two ounces, and meal powder two ounces.
Port-fires for Illuminations.
Saltpetre one pound, brimstone eight ounces, and meal powder six ounces.
For Cones or Spiral Wheels.
Saltpetre one pound and a half, brimstone six ounces, meal powder fourteen ounces, and glass dust fourteen ounces.
For Crowns or Globes.
Saltpetre six ounces, brimstone two pound, antimony four ounces, and camphor two ounces.
For Air Ballóón Fuzes.
I. Saltpetre one pound ten ounces, brimstone eight ounces, and meal powder one pound six ounces.
II. Saltpetre one pound and a half, brimstone eight ounces, and meal powder one pound eight ounces.
Serpents for Pots des Brins.
Meal powder one pound eight ounces, saltpetre twelve ounces, and charcoal two ounces.
For Fire Pumps.
I. Saltpetre five pound, brimstone one pound, meal powder one pound and a half, and glass dust one pound.
II. Saltpetre five pound eight ounces, brimstone one pound, meal powder one pound eight ounces, and glass dust one pound eight ounces.
For a Slow White Flame.
I. Saltpetre two pound, sulphur three pound, antimony one pound.
II. Saltpetre three pound and a half, sulphur two pound and a half, meal powder one pound, antimony half a pound, glass dust four ounces, brass dust one ounce.
N. B. These compositions, driven one inch and a quarter in a one ounce case, will burn one minute, which is much longer time than an equal quantity of any composition will last, that has yet been made public.
For Amber Lights.
Meal powder nine ounces, and amber three ounces. This charge may be drove in small cases, for illuminations.
For Lights of another Sort.
Saltpetre three pound, brimstone one pound, meal powder one pound, antimony ten ounces and a half. All these ingredients must be mixed with the oil of spike.
For a Red Fire.
Meal powder three pound, charcoal twelve ounces, and saw dust eight ounces.
For a Common Fire.
Saltpetre three pound, charcoal ten ounces, and brimstone two ounces.
To make an Artificial Earthquake.
Mix the following ingredients to a paste with water, and then bury it in the ground, and in a few hours the earth will break and open in several places. The composition: Sulphur four pound, and steel dust four pound.
Having laid down, under the preceding heads, the different compositions used in fireworks by our modern artists; I shall, in the next place, give some tables of charges that were formerly used, according to the several accounts given by those authors from whom they are collected: but if the reader will consider, he will find the charges in these tables to be very uncertain, by comparing their method of determining the size and weight of rockets, and the proportions of ingredients thereto, with the method taught in this work, which is so plain, easy, and certain, that I have never yet known it fail; and doubt not, but that it will be so allowed by all who chuse to make a tryal thereof.
The subsequent table is taken from Siemienowicz, wherein is specified the different charges of sky rockets, from half an ounce to one hundred pound; the charges being calculated in proportion to the weight of a leaden ball of the same diameter as the bore of each mould; which bores are divided into inches and lines[1], and each line into twelve equal parts, according to the French method.
TAB. I.
Weight | Diameter |powder.|Saltpetre| Brim |charcoal. of the | of the | | | stone | ball. | mould. | | | | -------+----------+-------+---------+-------+-------- lb. oz.|in. 1. pts|lb. oz.| lb. oz. |lb. oz.| lb. oz. -------+----------+-------+---------+-------+-------- ½ | 0 6 3 } | | | 1 | 0 7 8 } 0 15 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 2 | | | | | 2 | 0 9 7 } | | | 3 | 0 11 0 } 0 12 | 0 2 | 0 ½ | 0 1½ | | | | | 4 | 1 0 1 | | | | | | | | | 5 | 1 1 0 } | | | 6 | 1 1 10 } 1 3 | 0 12 | 0 4 | 0 1½ | | | | | 7 | 1 2 7 | | | | | | | | | 8 | 1 3 4 | | | | | | | | | 9 | 1 3 11 | | | | | | | | | 10 | 1 4 5 | | | | | | | | | 11 | 1 5 0 | | | | | | | | | 12 | 1 5 5 | | | | | | | | | 13 | 1 6 0 | | | | | | | | | 14 | 1 6 5 | | | | | | | | | 16 | 1 7 3 | 18 0 | 8 0 | 2 0 | 4 0 | | | | | 2 0 | 2 0 3 } | | | 3 0 | 2 3 7 } 0 0 | 60 0 | 2 0 |15 0 | | | | | 4 0 | 2 6 9 } | | | 5 0 | 2 8 8 } 0 0 | 64 0 | 8 0 |16 0 | | | | | 6 0 | 2 10 9 } | | | 8 0 | 3 2 6 } 0 0 | 35 0 | 5 0 |10 0 | | | | | 10 0 | 3 5 4 | 0 0 | 62 0 | 9 0 |20 0 | | | | | 12 0 | 3 7 10 } | | | 15 0 | 3 11 4 } 0 0 | 32 0 | 8 0 |16 0 | | | | | 17 0 | 4 1 5 } | | | 20 0 | 4 4 2 } 0 0 | 64 0 |12 0 |16 0 | | | | | 27 0 | 4 9 9 | | | | | | | | | 30 0 | 4 11 6 } | | | 40 0 | 5 5 1 } 0 0 | 30 0 | 7 0 |18 0 | | | | | 60 0 | 6 3 3 } | | | 100 0 | 7 5 3 } 0 0 | 30 0 |10 0 |20 0
TAB. II.
The following table is taken from a late French author[2], whose method of regulating the charges is according to the interior diameter of the mould, which he divides into lines.