Meal Coated Corn Cob & Rice Hulls
(actually, coating anything with Black Powder)

Meal Coated Corn Cob (or Rice Hulls) is
the explosive that is used to break open aerial shells, and at the same time
ignite the Stars inside... without shattering them into dust. "Meal Powder" is
nothing more than very finely powdered Black Powder (Gunpowder). Rice Hulls, for
those who don't know what they are, are simply the shells of ordinary white
rice. They look very much like grass seed... and if you really wanted to, you
could use grass seed in place of Rice Hulls, but it's a very expensive
alternative and there are much better (and less expensive) substitutes. There is
nothing special about Rice Hulls, and in fact, you can use several other
materials that are less expensive and work better, such as Corn Cob. The idea
here is to have an explosive that is easily ignited, strong enough to break the
shell and throw the stars a great distance, but not be so powerful that the
explosion shatters the stars and renders them useless. If a small granular type
material is coated with Black Powder, it burns much faster than just the Black
Powder would alone. Coating the Corn Cob (or whatever you're going to use) not
only increases the burning speed of the Black Powder, but the mixture is also
far more bulky than Black Powder is alone. Because it takes up more space, it
fills the empty gaps in the shell and holds the stars against the wall of the
shell.
The procedure outlined below is the method that we have used for the
past 14 years to make Meal Coated Corn Cob.

Rice Hulls have historically been chosen because they are
essentially free, and are considered to be a waste material. I'm told that in
some states the local authorities pour Rice Hulls on the road for added traction
in the winter time when it is slippery. Although they may be very easy to get in
some places, they are nearly impossible to get a hold of in others. A nice
substitute that we've found works even better is Corn Cob. Corn Cob is just what
the name implies. It is dried & granulated Corn Cobs. Both Rice hulls and
Corn Cob are available on our Chemicals & Metals page. In short, whichever
material you choose,
the procedure outlined below will work well for
either.

Note the difference in appearance between Rice Hulls (left)
and Corn Cob (right).
Either one can be used in this process, although Corn
Cob does work a bit better in aerial shells.

Step #1: Making the Drying Bag

The first thing you'll need to
make is a drying bag, which is just a large "pocket" with a fold-over flap. We
make one out of some old window screen, fold the edges over and staple with an
ordinary staple gun. Make sure it is large enough to hold about a cup full of
Corn Cob or Rice Hulls. Set this aside for now, we'll be using it later.

Step #2: Preparing the BP Mix

Now, weigh out 375
grams of Black Powder and place it in a large container. Make sure that this
container has a lid that snaps on and will not leak.

Weigh 75 grams of Dextrin and
place it on a piece of paper.

Take the Dextrin that you've just
weighed and run it through a strainer into the measured amount of Black Powder.
This breaks up any clumps of Dextrin so that it will evenly mix with the Black
Powder when you shake it.

Snap on the lid to the container and shake the Dextrin &
Black Powder mixture until it's evenly mixed. Set this mixture aside.

Step #3: Wetting the Corn Cob (or Rice
Hulls)

Measure out about a full cup of Rice Hulls (or Corn Cob),
place them in a large plastic container and add about 2 cups of warm
water.

Tamp down the dry Rice Hulls with
your hands until they are all under water and wet.

Let the Corn Cob or Rice
Hulls soak for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring them and tamping down any that
may become dry on top.

Step #4: Drying

What we're going to do now may seem a bit
strange, but it works just great. The hulls need to be just damp at this
point... not wet and not too dry. You can either spread them out and allow them
to dry to dampness (which takes several hours), or do it in 20 seconds flat
using your washing machine.
We use the washing machine as a large centrifuge
by utilizing the "spin" cycle. Beware that your wife may kill you if she sees
you doing this, so choose an appropriate time to dry your material.

After they have soaked for 20
minutes, open your drying bag over the washing machine, and pour in the soaking
wet Cob / Hulls and water. The water will pour right through the screen bag and
drain into the washer.

Fold over the top of the drying
bag as shown to prevent any of the material from escaping during the
spin.

Washers have a safety mechanism
that disables the unit if the lid is opened. Although you don't need to bypass
this feature, you can if you want to watch what's going on. To do this, look for
the small tab or slot that the lid pushes in to tell the washer that it's
closed. Generally, all you have to do is to stick a screwdriver in the slot and
the washer will operate as if the lid was closed. This really doesn't need to be
done, but we've done it to show the washer operating.
Before you actually
spin the Rice Hulls, make sure that you can select a "spin only" position on the
washer control. You might have to play with the control a bit to find the exact
place that will make the unit spin, but not to spray in water and rinse.

Once you are confident that you
can make it spin without spraying water, go ahead and set the wet bag of Cob /
Hulls in there and turn on the spin cycle.
Allow
the bag to spin for only 20 seconds. Any longer will make the
material too dry to use.

Remove the bag and have a look inside. They should be dark &
damp, but not wet.
Pour the damp Cob or Hulls into a large plastic container
that you've got a lid for. Make sure that the lid fits well and doesn't leak.
The container should be large enough to hold both the Cob / Hulls and the Black
Powder with plenty of room to spare.

Step #5: Coating

Pour the Black Powder / Dextrin
mixture that you made earlier in with the damp Cob or Hulls.

Snap on
the lid, and shake well.

Lay out several
sheets of newspaper (2 layers thick) and empty the coated material onto them.
Break up any lumps that may have formed and spread the coated chunks out as
thinly as possible. The coated material will become dry to the touch when left
overnight, but will not be completely dry for a couple of days.

Be warned
that you now have an explosive spread out on the floor. It is very flammable and
it is vital that there are no sources of ignition anywhere in the area while the
Hulls are drying. Do not attempt to speed the drying up by heating the Hulls in
any way.
When dry, you can test the material
by igniting a small pile of it (obviously far, far away from your large quantity
of coated drying material). You'll notice that they burn very, very fast. Much
faster than Black Powder does alone. This is because the fire can propagate
faster around the outside of the Cob / Hulls and flash through the airspaces in
between each piece. The coated Rice Hulls (or coated Corn Cob) can be stored
until you're ready to use them in an aerial shell.