qwezxc12 Posted July 3, 2009 Posted July 3, 2009 Gettin' there... have a bunch more to finish up today. Hope everybody stateside has a fun and safe Independence Day!
psyco_1322 Posted July 3, 2009 Posted July 3, 2009 So does that mean I should start making my fireworks tonight? I think I might try the gummed tape idea on some lampares.
swervedriver Posted July 3, 2009 Posted July 3, 2009 Aaaah, decisions, decisions, decisions. Trying to figure out which to light first/middle/finale, so I did some inventory. Finally finished the chain racks today, whew, I think we're ready
qwezxc12 Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 I didn't take any video on Sat - too much fun lighting and basking in the Oohs & Ahhs. A friend of mine did set up a digital camera with triggered long exposure shots. These were some of the best he got...he was ~250 ft away and still too close to get the 6in shells...damn, they broke big. Hope everyone had a great time!
The-T Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 2" Ball Shell (D1 Glitter) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Ydm3JpHJ8
firetech Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 Even though it was out of focus, we can all tell it was a great shell. Nice work.
Mumbles Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 My mines didn't make it on video, but they were quite nice I must say. I think I finally have my glitter figured out. I wasn' 100% satisfied with the shells, but they'll do for now. 6" ball Spider to Red6" ball TT to Blue5" sun and planet - Yankie purple planets (the prime burned off most, and didn't light the star), and varigated sun.4" Serpent with chartreuse stars, and bottom shot5" 5 timed report with purple and chartreuse and bottom shot. - Flower pot http://www.apcforum.net/Mumbles/July2009.wmv
Pyrohawk Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 (edited) Looks good Mumbles. Especially the TT to Blue. What blue did you use? It looks nice on video and I'm sure in person it was even brighter and more pronounced color. My blues always want to blow blind no matter how much prime I put on them.... only got them to light a few times with really soft burst charges. So I got a question for everybody. Has anyone ever tried to make a ring shell with a cylindrical shell. I know I've heard of it being done. I think I read it in one of the books, maybe Shimizu's....gonna go look that up. But anyway, anyone have any experience with that? If so how did it work for you? Edited July 14, 2009 by Pyrohawk
Pretty green flame Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 Even though the 5 timed reports flowerpotted you still nailed the timing on those. Pretty much perfect. Spolette timing?
Mumbles Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 Thanks for the compliments. The 5 timed reports had time fuse, even the bottomshot. I built them with another person, so he provided the timings and stuff, but I did all the construction. The same goes with the TT to blue. I'll have to find out what blue that was. I did really like it too.
psyco_1322 Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) Did all those salutes in that last shell go off in the air still, or was the bottom shot on the ground? Nice work overall. Ugh...I'm so worn out after the 4th, I never feel like getting around to posting vids and junk. I'll see what I can get up though. This thread needs a major bump. All the 4th goodies, including my firing system that I finally got to use on my little show. Some of the rockets were not videoed : http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...22/S4024787.jpg I got a hold of my local display company and picked up a 50 box of e-matches and set up a little show from stuff I've had laying around for nearly a year. You can ask what things were, but I probably can't remember most of the small 3" shells. The string of firecrackers was done on the PGI Super String concept...about 2000 firecrackers. The mines were in my bumble bee 20 shot fan rack, made the same way as in my Blog Tut, contents were someone elses pyro...stuff I pulled out of some rocket headers found at last years PGI, the little shell/salutes were about 1/4" wide and about an inch long, filled with flash and some sponge Ti, fused with visco << NOT my work, they were in the headers I found. Rockets were composite motors from signal flares, the one in the show lifted a heavy 3" ball full of something I thought needed to go high. Most the shells, but the last, were 3" plastic balls that were taped with fiberglass tape, as is the 4" at the end. All the glitter you see that looks like Win20 is actually pop glitter that some how came out wrong and looked like Win20, its whats in the last shell of the show, a 4" shell actually. Show ended with a barrage of 400 Saturn Missles in like....a few seconds???? http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024788.flv I made up three 4" lampares, one gas(20oz.), one coleman fuel(20oz.), and one trimethyl borate (24oz., yet to be fired). Broke them with a little under 100g, so maybe about 70g-ish, of crappy chlorate whistle. These were spiked normally, then wrapped horizontally with some fiberglass reinforced craft, then vertically with some 30lb 1" wide gummed tape. Funny I made these like this, then Passfire has an article on a hybrid building method very similar to this. I went to clean up the next day and found a piece of lampare, setting just like this in the field. Its the spiking and the outer pasting, but the inner tube is gone and the sawdust was still in there. Gas : http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024795.flv Coleman Fuel : http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024796.flv Great Find : http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...22/S4024799.jpg I put together 5 4" shells on the 4th, yes, that day Well, actually I got my brother to help me (surprising, most of the time he hates making fireworks in general) so 2 of them are his. They were all pasted by me, 6 layers of 30lb gummed craft tape. Rising tails were some mixed comets, TT with Ti or something, and one is a pop glitter I believe. I had made some D1 with some new Al I got and it doesn't make a very good glitter, and for some odd reason, they blew blind really easy. I also tried for a jelly fish shell, not putting forth much effort, the large tentacles were the 3/4" pumped comets from that new D1 with some Ti added, surprisingly they burnt out before the ground. The head part of the jellyfish was some of that D1 mixed with green, as you can see, the green lit, the D1 failed. All the green is actually a barium sulfate green that I made up a batch of to test its color, and used up the last of them in this shell. D1(brothers shell) : Guess I missed the vid...blew about 60% blind. D1 with white clusters in the bottoms of the hemis (brothers idea/shell) : http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024791.flv Jellyfish : http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024792.flv Pink Headed Spiders with green pistil : http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024793.flv Win20 : http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024794.flv Edited July 25, 2009 by psyco_1322
Mumbles Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Nope, they were all up into the air. not by a lot, but it was at least at tree top height. I'm still not convinced about that spiking method, with the fiber tape. I've seen many flower pot. I can't see how one would ever get the same compression that one gets with traditional spiking. I don't think it's any coincidence that a comet shell was used to illustrate the effect. Obviously the presence of surviving casings means you need more power. Toss like 500g more flash in there, and you should be good to go.
psyco_1322 Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Hey, at least nothing hit the ground, that's a plus. Well those were made on short notice, and I knew that if I pasted them with soaking wet paper, that they would be hard pressed to get dry in time. I did spike them with string, like a normal canister shell. I then used some fiberglass reinforced gummed paper tape, 2.75" wide stuff, to wrap around the shell horizontally and to pleat over the ends for a better fire block. I added so extra pieces to the ends for more protection as well. Then I went once around the entire shell vertically with my 1" gummed craft tape that I use on ball shells. If it wasn't for the 1/4" thick tube the thing is made from, I would be slightly worried about it strength verse compression. I wouldn't use that "hybrid" shell method for anything over about a 3" single break canister. Not worth the possibility of the flower pots. That was the end opposite the charge! Plus thats just the outer pasting...the tube is GONE!! Shoot I turn a bottle into shreds with 10g of whistle taped to the bottom of it, I couldn't get all 100g I wanted to use in these, so I used what I could fit...which was just a bit less. I ran out of perc so I didn't have any flash to use, so I made chlorate whistle ... thinking of it now, I could have used CuO/Al flash. Meh, this worked.
longwaytofall Posted July 26, 2009 Posted July 26, 2009 Alright, I have finally finished reading this incredibly long and informative thread. It is too bad youtube has deleted so many videos, judging by the responses they were some nice shells. I also could not open any of the images unless they were embedded into the post? I dunno. Anyways, I ran across this video on youtube, and must share it with you all. It is sweet! Some nice farfalles in there too, for the dutchman. Be sure to click on the HD button, it makes all the difference. I just received shipment of some paper 3 inch shell halves, and they all have holes for double fuse. This was a bit of a surprise, and I think I am going to plug one of them up for regular shells and maybe use both for salutes. What is a good method of sealing them up? It needs to be strong so that the lift does not punch through. Thanks, and I look forward to talking to all of you.
marks265 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 I find the two holes very annoying as well. The next hemis I buy will have 1 or no hole if I can help it. I tape the outside of the hemi with masking tape and then back fill with hot glue when I set my time fuse. Mark
Pretty green flame Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 *Snip*What is a good method of sealing them up? It needs to be strong so that the lift does not punch through. Thanks, and I look forward to talking to all of you. Put a patch of gummed tape or some craft inpregregnated with wheat paste, you're gonna be pasting the whole shell over anyway so this is simply to prevent powder falling out of the shell during construction.
Bananaphone69 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 Just checking, for a 6" crossette ball shell, what size crossette should I use?
FREAKYDUTCHMEN Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 (edited) approx. 25mm to 30mm for cannisters, for ballshells 20 to 25 I think. Edited July 27, 2009 by FREAKYDUTCHMEN
TrueBluePyro Posted July 30, 2009 Posted July 30, 2009 Gettin' there... have a bunch more to finish up today. Hope everybody stateside has a fun and safe Independence Day! What did you use for the time fuse? it looks...strange, or do you place the time fuse in later? I find the two holes very annoying as well. The next hemis I buy will have 1 or no hole if I can help it. I tape the outside of the hemi with masking tape and then back fill with hot glue when I set my time fuse. Mark I have the pyrodirect hemis and they have two holes in them, Im guessing this wouldnt do much, more of a state of mine, but anyway, I just get a peice of tissue paper and put on the out side of the shell and hold it there and then I fill the hole with hot glue, dries with in a few seconds and then just fill it up with stars and burst. Just checking, for a 6" crossette ball shell, what size crossette should I use? I have just bought some tooling (From Ben) and he is still making it, but I bought 1.75" & .75" multi use pump and so should be pumping out some nice crossetts if they all go planed. I will be using the .75" for 4"-6" shells and such. The 1.75" will be for cakes and single shots, maybe roman candels and when I find a tube and what not, I might go for a 8" someday (a few years away I think, hmm, not too long) What is a good comp for breaking crossttes? is the bright flash of light really that bad? I dont really mind it, I just want to break them nice and cleanly.
Seymour Posted July 30, 2009 Posted July 30, 2009 Without going in to complex co-precipitates, flash is by far the norm for smaller crosettes. The flash can be reduced by using finer Al, and/or cutting the stuff with BP grain. Larger crosetes still usually use flash (often with BP), butwhistle (granulated) too. For added effect, you can always cut the flash with Titanium
Miech Posted July 30, 2009 Posted July 30, 2009 In addition to that, a lot of people like crosettes best without the bright flash. I've been experimenting with dark or less-bright flashes without chlorate. A composition like the following is less bright than normal flash, but I haven't found the most ideal composition yet. 70 Potassium perchlorate15 German Dark10 Charcoal (airfloat)05 Sulfur It has some problems with staying a loose powder, so a bit of cab-o-sil should be added. If you like spending a lot of time you can also try so called rolled shots. This are basically small BP crackers you put inside the crosette. Personally I think it is too much efford for the small size crosettes I make.
qwezxc12 Posted July 30, 2009 Posted July 30, 2009 What did you use for the time fuse? it looks...strange, or do you place the time fuse in later? I use tape wrapped American 3/32" Visco. In the pictures from the 4th, it was wrapped in duct tape, and marked for timing before inserting into the shells. The one can still had a piece of painter's masking on it to protect the timing mark while pasting the can. When using Duct tape, I have to split and cross-match at my timing mark; the tape adhesive is too aggressive for punching the time fuse. If I use high-task masking tape, I will punch my cross-match point. I do this for fusing timed inserts, where a little more precision in timing is required. All my shells in my gallery use taped visco for time-fuse... it's very reliable and consistent once you get your technique down.
Ralph Posted July 30, 2009 Posted July 30, 2009 i have found that perchlorate and dark pyro antinomy trisulfide mixed 50 50 is quite dark (unconfined it is a very pale milky colour) in the air i isnt really noticeable though it isnt super powerful and is a little sensitive there are probably better ratios (only got the antinomy trisulfide recently so haven't done much with it )
FrankRizzo Posted July 30, 2009 Posted July 30, 2009 Even adding a bit of small grained blackpowder to the flash will cut down on the light output noticeably. Many guys use a granulated whistle mix with great success as well.
Mumbles Posted July 30, 2009 Posted July 30, 2009 I don't care for granulated whistle. It will break the crossettes, more in a splitting matter. I want them to break hard, and send the fragments perpendicularly. I currently use a 1:1 mix of chlorate:Sb2S3. It works pretty well. I use a thin stick of blackmatch to place in the nipple. I'm still experimenting though. Cutting standard perc flash down with some charcoal, or even benzoate will probably do the trick to muffle the flash. I don't find it to be reliable enough though.
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