Waterfalls - Niagara Falls

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.

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.

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.

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:

Potassium Perchlorate	46 grams
Aluminum, Bright	14 grams
Aluminum, Granular	32 grams
Dextrin	8 grams

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).

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.

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.

Repeat the rolling process until you've made as many tubes as needed for your Waterfall.

Completed empty Waterfall tubes.

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.

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.

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.

The completed & primed Waterfall tube.