Waterfalls
- Niagara Falls
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The Waterfall (or Niagara Falls) is one of the most
beautiful & impressive firework pieces.
It consists of multiple
tubes that are fixed to a support cable tied between two posts. The
individual tubes contain a composition that when burning, produces long
lasting sparks which reach all they way to the ground giving the appearance
of a Waterfall. The large number of Waterfall tubes burning at one time also
produces a muffed "roar" sound, similar to that of rushing water.
For
the Waterfall effect to work well, all the tubes must be ignited at the same
time.
This is normally done with "Quickmatch", an extremely
fast burning fuse. Click
Here to go to the step-by-step tutorial for making Quickmatch yourself. Waterfall tubes are easy to make and by no means only
limited to Waterfalls.
We've attached them on to the ends of Stunt
Kites and flown them high in the air, leaving a long trail of white sparks
behind. The tubes can also be attached to a long stick, making a "Super
Sparkler". |
The waterfall tubes can either be attached
directly to the support cable as shown on the right, or connected
to a
short length of string and then fixed to the support cable as shown on the left.
Using a string allows the
individual tubes to sway back and forth as they
burn enhancing the beauty of the Waterfall.
The tubes are generally
spaced about 1 foot apart.
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SPECIAL NOTE - PLEASE READ THIS:
The following
tutorial -and all our tutorials- are not written for the complete novice who
is unfamiliar with the dangers of chemicals, pyrotechnic mixtures, and the
associated techniques & safety procedures used when working with such
materials.
The tutorials found on this website are intended for those
educated in both chemistry & pyrotechnics and who already posses a basic
working knowledge of standard safety procedures.
There is always a
potential of accidental ignition, fire or explosion when dealing with
pyrotechnic materials. If you choose to actually follow any of the procedures
on this website, you must proceed at your own risk and take responsibilities
for your own actions. We cannot accept responsibility for accidents arising
from the use or abuse of this information. Although we have taken great care
to make sure the information contained here is accurate, there always exists
the possibility that there is a missed error somewhere that could result in
unexpected consequences.
As always, basic safety equipment (gloves, eye
protection, etc.) is called for. |
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Equipment & Chemicals: The normal run of pyrotechnic equipment is handy such
as: plastic mixing cups, digital scale, mortar & pestle, mixing sticks
(tongue depressors), spray bottle, plastic spoons, scrap paper, etc. You'll
also need a 1/2" diameter wooden dowel and some adhesive tape.
The
chemicals required are: Potassium Perchlorate, Bright Aluminum powder,
Granular Aluminum powder, Dextrin and a little Black Powder for a starting
mix.
All the required chemicals can be found on our Chemicals & Metals page. |
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Composition: The actual construction of individual Waterfall tubes
is fairly easy although very time consuming. If you plan on making a large
display, it would be a good idea to enlist the help of a few friends.
The two pictures at the top of the page are a couple of Waterfalls we
made a few years back. The one on the left contained 240 tubes, the one on
the right contained 60. To begin with, here's the formula:
This particular formula produces bright white sparks
that will fall at least 30 feet before the burn out. The Waterfall tubes in
the images above were suspended 20 feet high. Start by weighing each chemical and temporarily storing
them in small plastic or paper cups. The scale you use must be accurate - preferably
accurate to 1/10th of a gram. You cannot use spring-type postal scale for
weighing chemicals, they are far too inaccurate. The only type of scales you
can use are either digital
scales or balances (such as a triple-beam balance). |
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Tubes - Overview: For the Waterfall to function properly, the tube must
burn away with the composition. This requires that the tube have a very thin
wall. Waterfall tubes are quickly and easily made, and can be fabricated in
just about any size you prefer... the longer they are, the longer the
Waterfall will burn. Be aware that longer tubes will also use lots more
composition, so a large Waterfall can turn out to be fairly costly. The procedure below will make tubes 1/2" in
diameter and about 4.25" long , which seems to be a good compromise
between reasonable burn duration and the amount of composition used. The 100
grams of composition in the formula above is sufficient to fill about 4 of
these 1/2" diameter x 4" long tubes. If you plan on making a
Waterfall with a dozen tubes, you'll need to make 3 batches of the formula. |
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Rolling the Tube: Using an ordinary 8.5 " x 11" sheets of
paper, cut them in half lengthwise, making 4.25" wide x 11" long
strips. Each one of these strips will become a Waterfall tube, so cut as many
sheets as you need to make the desired amount of tubes. Roll the paper sheets around a 1/2" diameter
wooden dowel as shown and secure the loose end using cellophane adhesive
tape. Important Note - Be careful not to wrap the paper too
tightly around the dowel - it has to be able to slide in and out easily.
You'll be using the same dowel to later on to tamp the composition into the
tubes. If the tube is too tight to the dowel, it will become a big headache
later on during the loading process. |
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Repeat the rolling process until you've made as many
tubes as needed for your Waterfall.
Completed empty Waterfall tubes.
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Damping the Mix: The Waterfall composition has to be dampened before it
can be loaded into the tubes. The function of the Dextrin in the formula is
to act as adhesive and bind the composition together, eventually hardening it
into a solid mass once it is dry. Because of the light & fluffy powders in this
mixture, primarily the Bright Aluminum powder, it is difficult to get water
to soak into the mixture. One way to make water "wetter" is to add
a bit of rubbing alcohol to it. What this does is to break down the surface
tension a bit and allow the water to be absorbed a little easier. Mix up a solution of about 75% water and 25% rubbing
alcohol (Isopropyl Alcohol - ordinary drugstore variety). It is important not
to add more than 25% alcohol or the adhesive properties of the Dextrin will
be reduced. Adding the Alcohol to the Water will also make the completed
Waterfall tubes dry much faster.
Pour this Water/Alcohol mixture into
your spray bottle. Spray the solution directly onto the composition and
mix very well. Keep repeating this but remember to give the solution a chance
to absorb into the powder before you add more liquid. The idea here is to get
the mixture damp, but not wet. If you get it too wet, it will be difficult to
load into the tubes and could take weeks to dry before it is useable. You
want to get the mixture just damp enough so that when some of it is squeezed
between the fingers is stays stuck in a clump... just enough moisture to
where it will pack solid into the tube. |
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Loading the Tubes: Stand one of the tubes up on a solid surface and add a
few scoops of damp composition. Slide in the wooden dowel you used to roll
the tubes with and tamp down the mixture until it is firm & solid. Keep
repeating this process. Note - you cannot just fill the tube and then pack it
all down at one time. It is important to do this process in small increments.
If you put in too much composition at one time and then try and pack it down,
it will only ~appear~ to consolidate evenly, it in fact does not. This
phenomenon is well known to hobbyists who make Skyrockets, Rocket Engines
& Fountains. All of these pyrotechnic devices are made basically in
the same fashion and they MUST be loaded in small increments and tamped
firmly into place or they will malfunction. It takes a while to do, but it
makes a quality firework that will not fail. Continue filling & packing the tube until it is
about 1/4" to 1/2" from the top as shown in the image to the right.
This
composition is very difficult to ignite and will not simply light with a
fuse. We'll be mixing up a Starter composition that will be
packed into this space. The Starter composition will act as a
"prime" and easily ignite from Quickmatch or regular Safety Fuse.
It will burn at a high enough temperature to ignite the Waterfall composition
in the tube. Important Note: You will need a small amount of
Waterfall composition to make the Starter mixture prime in the next step. Be
sure to put at least 10 grams of the damp composition aside. Repeat the above process until all the Waterfall tubes
are full. |
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Finishing: Once your Waterfall tubes are filled, the only thing
that remains to be done is to prime them with the Starter composition. The Starter composition simply consists of a little
Black Powder mixed with some of the leftover Waterfall mix.
Mix 2 grams
of finely powdered Black Powder (Meal powder) with 10 grams of the damp
leftover Waterfall composition. Mix thoroughly and pack this material into
the space at the end of the Waterfall tubes. Depending on ambient temperatures and humidity, it can
take about 3 to 5 days for the tubes to be completely dry. Unlike most
pyrotechnic compositions, this one will actually burn while still
damp.
You can test one of the tubes out by attaching it to a stick, and
lighting the prime at the end with a torch. Depending on your application, you can make the tubes
into Super Sparklers by attaching them to sticks, or using them in a
Waterfall display, etc.
If you're using them individually, tape a
length of Visco Safety Fuse along the primed end for easy ignition.
For
use in a waterfall, Run a long length (or many short length sections
connected together) of quickmatch from one primed end to the next. When lit,
the quickmatch will flash down the entire line of Waterfall tubes igniting
the prime on each one, starting the Waterfall. |
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