The History of Crackle

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richardh08
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The History of Crackle

Post by richardh08 »

For a long time, the earliest Western Hemisphere published reference to crackle that I knew of was Shimizu's study, in Pyrotechnica XIII (1990). In that article he refers to information given to him in August 1988 by Michael Swisher, regarding his (Swisher's) experiments with a composition containing 89% lead (II,IV) oxide and 11% magnalium. Shimizu also reports contributions by Robert Winokur, Robert Cardwell and Larry Stevens who all mention the improvement that can be obtained by the inclusion of a proportion of copper (II) oxide.

I have recently found a short note in AFN issue no. 85 (October 1988) that refers to the first appearance of 'Dragon Eggs' at the 1988 PGI convention. The following month's issue contains a longer article, by Lloyd Scott Oglesby, in which he claims to have been experimenting with such mixtures since about 1980. His description makes it clear that a number of Americans were actively working on this type of composition by mid-1988.

LSO's article mainly concentrates on the potential hazards of crackle compositions, including their sensitivity and the poisonous nature of the component materials. Intriguingly, he implies that he can explain why these mixtures explode rather than burn, but says the description would be too much to be included in a relatively short AFN article (don't you hate it when people do that?).

He also states that he intends to prepare a seminar on the relevant physical chemistry for the following year's (1989) PGI convention. Does anyone know if that seminar actually materialised and, if so, what he said?
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Lloyd
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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by Lloyd »

You're in a position to ask the two people most-likely to know: Mike Swisher and Jack Drewes.

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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by richardh08 »

That's true, Lloyd. I can email Jack - we have only communicated occasionally, but I seem to get on well with him.

I don't know Mike at all but, from what I've seen, he does appear to be willing to help others whenever he can. Which do you think would the best approach, via a pm or a more general request on FW?
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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by Lloyd »

Either would do for Mike, but a PM would alert him to the issue before he might see it in the posts.

So, if you post the question, PM him also to tell him what you posted. He nearly always answers questions within two days, no matter how busy he might be. (excepting, perhaps, an audit of his bank!)

I got to sit next to Mike just last month, during a lecture on chemistry at the Florida Guild's 25th anniversary meeting. He and I bandied-about questions about chemistry, and even posed a few of them.

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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by richardh08 »

Thanks for the advice Lloyd.

While waiting I emailed Jack and have already had a reply. He doesn't know, but he knows someone who is almost certain to have the answer as to whether LSO gave the talk or not and, if he did, will have it on record!

I'll wait to see what happens before bothering Mike.
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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by Lloyd »

Well, that's an exciting possibility, even if it doesn't pan-out. Good luck!

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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by richardh08 »

It looks as though LSO's proposed presentation didn't happen. But Jack is being really helpful and is trawling for other early sources. What a star!
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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by richardh08 »

An update:

I eventually found an indication of LSO's thinking in - of all places - Best of AFN VII (p55).

He claims that the reason crackle works is because it is "an electrochemical reaction that goes into short circuit" (whatever that means). Unfortunately, it is possible to pick holes in his argument - which is, in any case, based on 'facts' that aren't all exactly true.

I strongly suspect that, in this case at least, he was barking up the wrong tree.
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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by Lloyd »

Richard,
Not for nothing, but LSO 'barked' a lot -- up trees, at boats, at officialdom... And, at least for the last 20 years, most of it was bollocks. <grin>

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Re: The History of Crackle

Post by richardh08 »

Lloyd,
Yes, it's really sad that, in his later years, he rather lost touch with reality.
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