Making Flash Paper and Flash Cotton.pdf

making flash paper outlook flash paper is actually very simple to make and it will completely amaze you friends family and maybe even scare your neighbors the chemical name for flash paper is actually nitrocellulose so out of that name we realize it is a close relative of nitroglycerine main ingredient in dynamite and nitrostarch which was used in world war 2 nitrocellulose has a power found between those two nitrostarch being the weakest but since nitro starch is a powder that can also be used as a magician s trick since throwing it into a candle flame would produce a streaming fire column it is a very cool effect in this book we will teach the process of making flash cotton which is also known as flash paper when made in thin sheets this ebook first makes gun cotton flash cotton from cotton balls the 100 cotton type which itself can be used as flash paper but if you prefer the paper form for flash paper then you can easily make sheets of flash paper out of the flash cotton or rather you can just find some 100 cotton tissue paper and use that rater than cotton to make flash paper the cotton method is preferred because it usually forms a stronger more reliable flash paper but if done correctly the method using tissue paper will work just as well nitrocellulose also has many other uses such as in the pyrotechnics field and if nitrocellulose is dissolved in acetone it will form nitrocellulose lacquer which is used to finish guitars and also to coat waterproof pyrotechnic fuses since the procedure shown here is very small scale we will need no temperature control but when done in large scale operations temperature control is very important if wanting to make flash cord string etc just substitute the cotton balls for either 100 cotton string 100 cotton cord or 100 cotton tissue paper disclaimer the production of nitrocellulose uses some very dangerous chemicals such as sulfuric acid which is very dangerous and can eat away your skin if you value your safety you must take proper precautions you should never attempt to make nitrocellulose if you do decide to make it please wear gloves eye protection and protective clothing as a minimum never make nitrocellulose indoors it will release noxious and deadly fumes that will buildup and possibly kill you i the author take no responsibility for your actions in other works if you attempt making nitrocellulose you cannot hold me liable for any accidents personal losses property loss death etc by reading ahead you acknowledge that you the reader will assume responsibility for all your actions and will not hold the author or pyrosecrets liable for any losses copyright this ebook is subject to copyright under the pyrosecrets website anyone caught selling giving away stealing posting this information on websites etc will be punished to the fullest extent of the law most likely a 1000 fine and some jail time we check the web very regularly to make sure of this starting materials sulfuric acid this is easily found as dilute batter acid you can concentrate it by boiling it outside until white fumes appear i absolute hate this method of getting sulfuric acid it is very dangerous and eats through pots like no other rather than possibly gassing yourself to death it is easiest to go out and buy some virgin sulfuric acid drain cleaner it is relatively cheap and will produce great nitrocellulose you can find it at lowes in the drain cleaner section plumbing it is about 7 for a pint home depot may also carry it but my local one did not stock it i have also heard that some ace hardware stores stock it although i have never bought it there just check around in some hardware stores odds are that you will find it with no problem this is the brand of virgin sulfuric acid drain opener found at lowes a nitrate salt some examples are ammonium nitrate potassium nitrate ammonium nitrate is very easy to get and works best to make the nitrocellulose it is also very easy to get you can find ammonium nitrate prills inside of instant cold packs to extract the ammonium nitrate simply cut open the package without rupturing the small pocket of water and the pour out the prills of ammonium nitrate potassium nitrate and other nitrate slats can also be used with the same effect the only problem is that they are usually harder to dissolve and clump in the acid above typical ammonium nitrate prills attained from an instant cold pack 100 cotton balls or 100 cotton tissue paper these must be 100 cotton or else they will not work although the majority of alls cotton balls are 100 cotton it has become difficult to find 100 cotton tissue paper although some people have actually used toilet paper with success if you decide to use toilet paper keep in mind that when it becomes wet it will tear very easily blender you will only need this if you have decided to make the flash paper from the flash cotton you might want to use an old blender that nobody will use again for food purposes mesh metal screen again you will only need this if you are turning the flash cotton into flash paper 2 glass bowls you can find very cheap chemical resistant glassware bowls at almost any dollar store as pyrex knock offs procedure 1 first measure out about 20 ml of the sulfuric acid and pour into one of your glass bowls 2 go outside to do the following steps if you are inside go outside there will be some dangerous fumes that can be released in the next few steps and they can kill you if enough of them are inhaled 3 look around you if there are any walls that are enclosing you stop reading this guide immediately you are not responsible enough to handle the manufacture of this chemical the fumes given off can build up in an enclosed area a room garage etc and may kill you make sure you are outside 4 if you are outside then measure out about 15 grams of ammonium nitrate and add this to your bowl of sulfuric acid you may be able to see a small reaction begin to take place immediately 5 use a glass rod thermometer if you don t have on around you can use a wooden dowel like a bamboo skewer but you will have to discard it afterwards to stir this mixture slowly you will see some white fumes coming off of this mixture those fumes are nitric acid fumes not fun at all to breathe in so don t it is best to do this step while a light breeze is blowing make sure you stay away from the white fumes a little will most likely not hurt you at all but enough of it could kill you if you get a little whiff of it you will understand why to stay away from it you may want to wear a respirator or fume mask while doing this step 6 once the ammonium nitrate prills dissolve completely the mixture should look slightly cloudy and more pale in color than before make sure all the ammonium nitrate prills are dissolved 7 now we get to the nitration part of this process take three to four 100 pure cotton balls and add them to the mixture of acids you may see the white fumes appear again and the mixture will get a little hotter make sure it doesn t get too hot or runaway nitration may take place but if this happens just dump the entire thing in 3 times its volume of cold water and the nitrocellulose can be extracted 8 now make sure the cotton balls absorb as much of the mixture as they can you can do this by turning over the cotton balls and pushing them down with the glass rod to push out all air bubbles step a step b step c 9 now allow the mixture to sit and nitrate for at least 15 minutes to ensure a complete nitration i usually allow it to sit for an hour while waiting every now and then turn over the cotton balls this will ensure a complete nitration again make sure this is all being done outside 10 now that the mixture has been nitrating for quite some time you can dump all the contents into the other glass bowl which is filled with three times its volume of cold water if you are more daring and choose to add water to acid use a quick but non splash method as show below using a cold bottle of water poured into the mixture 11 now the solution probably heated up again so dump the acidic water a proper disposal area i just use a dirt mound within a week it will actually fertilize the soil with sulfates and nitrates then add more cold water and stir then repeat one more time the majority of the acid will be gone but it is still far too acidic to use hold safely now put on some chemical resistant gloves i usually use latex or vinyl and put the cotton balls which are now technically nitrocellulose into a small strainer and wash under cold water for at least 5 minutes then wash for three minutes under relatively hot water and the rinse again briefly under cold water to be sure all acid is neutralized you can use litmus paper 12 now you want to press out all the water and allow the flash cotton to dry for about 2 3 days or if you are not that patient you can use a hairdryer on the medium setting and dry them a lot faster if you want flash cotton you can use as is but if you want flash paper don t bother to allow the cotton to dry and throw it into a bl