Plastic ball shells newbie questions

[AldoSPyro]

The first shells i will start making will most likely be plastic, i was wondering if anyone has any tips or advice for making plastic ball shells.

Any input is welcome!

 

-AldoSpyro

[schroedinger]

Change over to paper

[AldoSPyro]

i already have some plastic hemis, ill get paper once i go through my plastic hemis. I'm just trying to get shell construction under my belt, plastic doesn't need pasting so it can save a lot of time for my first shells.

[schroedinger]

Ok, then start a little other, which sizes hemis do you got?

The reason why i would vouch against plastic for start is that these will need a booster like flash or whistle, which are quite energetic materials and nothing what a beginner should consider.

 

Personally i would recommend you to start with italian style canister shells. These are easy to construct and use nearly only materials you allready have at home (only the string is special).

 

First start of by making bp and a sand filled 3" canister. Break the canister open with 10g of after 4s. This is to test your bp and get a feeling if it is sufficient.

 

If your left works, start building your first cylinder 3" just fill the canulle wjth 2FA and pack stars around it. If you got a plate or pump you can use cylindrical stars and stack em along the wall or just use cut or round star poured in around the canule

Edited October 5, 2014 by schroedinger

[BurritoBandito]

You're right that plastic doesn't need to be pasted, but you'll get much better breaks if you do. The problem with plastic is that it's not biodegradable, and shatters into jagged little pieces.

[Mumbles]

I think you'll find that you'll partly be starting over once you switch to paper. Plastic will also benefit from a few layers of pasting, or some strapping tape.

 

If you're on passfire or fireworking, I suggest checking out the plastic shell article by Lloyd S. It gives a good result.

[AldoSPyro]

I think you'll find that you'll partly be starting over once you switch to paper. Plastic will also benefit from a few layers of pasting, or some strapping tape.

 

If you're on passfire or fireworking, I suggest checking out the plastic shell article by Lloyd S. It gives a good result.

Ive heard that paper is a totally different animal, but ill be doing mainly Italian-american style paper canisters later on, so paper hemis as a starter wouldn't help too much. Sadly i am not part of passfire or fireworking, but i will probably get Technique in fire: Construction of 4,5,6" plastic ball shells by Bill Ofca

[AldoSPyro]

Ok, then start a little other, which sizes hemis do you got?

I have a few 1" hemis for insert shells, 4" hemis for shells. I know 4" is a little big, ill probably get some 3" hemis too.

[schroedinger]

If you get 3" then straight go for paper.

But like said above i still would recommend to start of with paper shells filled with sand and then go over to life contents.

The inert shell is really important, as it can be very dangerous if you use the wrong lift, my first shell used bp and stars made according to the shylighter tutorials, but was way too slow for lift as it used the wring charcoal (bbq). It broke about 20 cm above the (pvc (i know dumb and got trashed after i read about the risks)) mortar.

[BurritoBandito]

I think I still have the email Harry Gilliam sent out a while back about pasting plastic shells to improve the break. If you're interested shoot me a PM, and I'll see I'd I can dig it up for you.