Back in 1969 I was a 14 year old amateur "chemist" and made the silver colored powder that is used in firecrackers and cherry bombs. In a way I was successful because it worked, and unsuccessful because it went off while I was mixing it. Without going into the details of the ingredients, the main ingredient was potassium chlorate. I foolishly mixed all of the ingredients in a mortar and pestle, and the friction caused the mixture to explode. I completely destroyed my left hand and lost a finger on my right. And that was from an open container! About 1/4 cup of powder. Knocked me unconscious, blew the windows out of my basement, and REALLY pissed off my mother. Six operations later from a very talented surgeon and I have about 90% use of that hand. If you don't know what you are doing, leave this stuff to the pros!!!