The best way to produce a 1950's Cherry Bomb?

[Alfie]

I have been successful with making M80's and other Salutes and i just can't crack the Cherry Bombs
I have tried using wood glue and sawdust but im not sure if im doing it right etc and i also have to make my own cupsest as i am from the uk
and stating that i am from the uk its hard to get hold of Silicate hence why i use wood glue but if anyone can tell me some detailed instructions on the best way to
make them and my own cupsets that would mean alot.

[countryboy7978]

While I'm not going to tell you how to make salutes, I'll give you some insight on the production of round casings. I'm going to tell you the right way, not the way some youtube video or web forum tells you is a short-cut. You will need some device capable of tumbling the casings such as a ball mill, star rolling machine, rock tumbler, etc. You can find instructions online on how to make one, or you can simply build a frame from scrap lumber, a few casters, a 5 gallon paint bucket, and some hardware, and turn the bucket by hand. If you don't have such a device, stop here because there's no other way to do it right.

Next you will need fine saw dust from natural wood. You can get these by sawing, routing, sanding wood, or visiting a cabinet shop or similar business and asking for saw dust. You will want to screen the dust through a kitchen sifter to remove all large particles and splinters. Keep only the fine dust. Use food or clothing dye to get your desired color (usually red/pink). Unsweetened powdered drink mix will do in a pinch. Let the dust air dry for several days. It doesn't have to be bone-dry to work but you cant have it clumping together.

For cup sets you will need to make or buy cups with one ever so slightly larger than the other. You can make them by boring a 3/4" hole into a 3/4"-1" thick board to use as the die (you'll have to convert to metric on your own), and then a slightly smaller hole such as 11/16" next to it for the smaller inside cup. You'll need a wood dowel to use as a punch in 11/16" and 5/8" sizes. The dowel has to be slightly smaller than the die in order to compensate for the thickness of the paper. If you don't do this you'll tear the paper. Cut out a number of 1.25" circles from a cereal box or similar chipboard material. Dampen the circles with water and 10% by volume, water-based glue (you can use elmers). Use the dowel to push the cardboard circle into the die and tap it with a mallet on a hard surface to form the cup.

If I have't lost you by now let me know and I'll continue, otherwise good luck but stay away from wood glue. It is going to harden into a plastic-like mass and potentially cause dangerous fragments that can injure the eyes.

[displayfireworks1]

I believe you can also use waterglass solution in place of the glue. I'm I correct?

[Alfie]

While I'm not going to tell you how to make salutes, I'll give you some insight on the production of round casings. I'm going to tell you the right way, not the way some youtube video or web forum tells you is a short-cut. You will need some device capable of tumbling the casings such as a ball mill, star rolling machine, rock tumbler, etc. You can find instructions online on how to make one, or you can simply build a frame from scrap lumber, a few casters, a 5 gallon paint bucket, and some hardware, and turn the bucket by hand. If you don't have such a device, stop here because there's no other way to do it right.

Next you will need fine saw dust from natural wood. You can get these by sawing, routing, sanding wood, or visiting a cabinet shop or similar business and asking for saw dust. You will want to screen the dust through a kitchen sifter to remove all large particles and splinters. Keep only the fine dust. Use food or clothing dye to get your desired color (usually red/pink). Unsweetened powdered drink mix will do in a pinch. Let the dust air dry for several days. It doesn't have to be bone-dry to work but you cant have it clumping together.

For cup sets you will need to make or buy cups with one ever so slightly larger than the other. You can make them by boring a 3/4" hole into a 3/4"-1" thick board to use as the die (you'll have to convert to metric on your own), and then a slightly smaller hole such as 11/16" next to it for the smaller inside cup. You'll need a wood dowel to use as a punch in 11/16" and 5/8" sizes. The dowel has to be slightly smaller than the die in order to compensate for the thickness of the paper. If you don't do this you'll tear the paper. Cut out a number of 1.25" circles from a cereal box or similar chipboard material. Dampen the circles with water and 10% by volume, water-based glue (you can use elmers). Use the dowel to push the cardboard circle into the die and tap it with a mallet on a hard surface to form the cup.

If I have't lost you by now let me know and I'll continue, otherwise good luck but stay away from wood glue. It is going to harden into a plastic-like mass and potentially cause dangerous fragments that can injure the eyes.

yes i am with you up to now and im not sure what the inches u said are in the UK because i only work with like centimetres and yes if you could continue that would be amazing because i really want to master these and please note some chemicals for the casing i wont be able to get because i am from the UK

[Alfie]

I believe you can also use waterglass solution in place of the glue. I'm I correct?

Unfortunately i cannot get this as i am from the UK and is hard to Obtain

[countryboy7978]

Unfortunately i cannot get this as i am from the UK and is hard to Obtain

Yes sodium silicate (waterglass solution) is the proper way to set the cups, as well as to bond the sawdust to the casing during production. I'm not familiar with the laws in the UK however I am not understanding why sodium silicate solution would be that hard to obtain. It is neither particularly dangerous nor does it have any nefarious uses that would make it regulated. In fact a brief search on amazon reveals several sources in the UK at a reasonable price. As far as the measurements, I'm in the US and can readily convert metric to SAE using google. I'm not going to hold your hand on his. If you can make fireworks you can convert measurements. However, this is less important than using the bit and dowel sizes readily available to you. For example 3/4" is roughly 19mm, 5/8" is approximately 16mm and so on. Just make sure the dowel (the punch) is a mm or two smaller in diameter than the bored out wood (the die), to accommodate the thickness of the carton. You will have to experiment to get the right sizes. Most importantly you have to be able to get the cups to nest and seal properly or your composition will leak out, or worse, become contaminated with the adhesive and saw dust during the tumbling stage.

Once you have the proper fitting cup sets, you may fill with something not moisture or friction sensitive (very very important) and use adhesive to seal the cups into what should resemble a small paper barrel. The height should roughly equal the diameter or the final product will not be round.

Once the casing is dry, you will coat the casings in adhesive and place in the tumbling device described earlier, along with some dyed sawdust. Allow the sawdust to accumulate around the casing like the rolling of a snowball to make a snowman. This is where the waterglass makes it easier as you can fill a spray bottle and mist the casings as they tumble while adding more sawdust. Eventually the casing will grow to around 1" and can be removed, fused and allowed to air dry. The casing will need to be punctured while still damp (a relatively dangerous operation that should be completed behind a shield and the casing not held in the hand), laquered visco fuse inserted, and a dab of sealant used to hold the fuse. After they are completely dry they can be used to celebrate in a safe manner.

[countryboy7978]

Unfortunately i cannot get this as i am from the UK and is hard to Obtain

Based on your youtube video showing you using unstable compositions as filler, I will not be able to instruct you any further. Making a CB with that type of material is a serious injury waiting to happen. You also seem to be showing US crackers (M2K) that would be hard to find in the UK...

[Alfie]

Based on your youtube video showing you using unstable compositions as filler, I will not be able to instruct you any further. Making a CB with that type of material is a serious injury waiting to happen. You also seem to be showing US crackers (M2K) that would be hard to find in the UK...

What do you mean aha? and what about MK2?

[countryboy7978]

Your apparent video of a firecracker using Armstrong’s made from safety matches. That is probably the most dangerous Pyrotechnic compound you can mess with and is going to cost you some fingers one day. Either do pyrotechnics the right way or not at all.

[Alfie]

Your apparent video of a firecracker using Armstrong’s made from safety matches. That is probably the most dangerous Pyrotechnic compound you can mess with and is going to cost you some fingers one day. Either do pyrotechnics the right way or not at all. Well if you wasn't making assumptions straight away.. AM was my first Mixture and i now currently use flash. MK2 is my brand of Firecrackers.

[displayfireworks1]

I'm curious, how are fireworks chemicals sold in the United Kingdom?

[countryboy7978]

If he’s a genuine Pyro I hope I didn’t scare him off but I imagine someone drilling a cherry filled with AM for the fuse and it gives me the willies.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I don't know what the obsession is with people making cherry bombs. There are a myriad of other types of "reports" that are so much safer. If he wanted to make one for a display or to learn the technique fill it with sand! A triangle cracker is just as loud as a C.B. and simple to construct.
Gotta stop scratching my head with some of these posts--or I won't have any hair left.
Countryboy--you were spot on to call him out on the match head comp.

[RalphieJ]

A long time ago, when we were very young and extremely stupid, we used Plastic Wood. The beauty of it was that it was applied after everything was buttoned-up and fused, no drilling required.

[countryboy7978]

There’s a lot of people who visit this and other forums just asking about salutes and then they either get bored or try to find another place that they think will give them the answer they are looking for. What bothers me more is when you explain the proper way to do something inherently dangerous yet they want a short cut, or to do it with household chemicals rather than proper chemicals. Fingers don’t grow back but some don’t get that. As for cherry bombs. I think it’s pure nostalgia and curiosity since they were once the epitome of American consumer fireworks. They do take much more time and are a labor of love type item. Rarely bootlegged due to their smaller load and tedious manufacturing process. There’s something about their shape and color and even the report they produce is different to me than a tube or triangle. Sure a triangle is easiest. No plugs, no fragments and the confetti they produce it cool but getting them to seal is difficult. Flash loves to migrate its way out sooner or later.

[Kenny East]

Yeah, I've never seen a cherry bomb that didn't take a long time to roll form. I've seen them made but never wished to spend the time and hazard to make any... Give me a cardboard tube with some matching cardboard plugs and I'm fine with that. Fuse placed before powder, no drilling or poking into flash... Even with a brass poke.