Aerial Shells

[Cookieman]

Here is a 6" Inch Willow Diadem shell I shot up at the cottage. Somehow, I lost the effect because either it broke to high or my stars were to small. You guys be the judge. My stars were 1"inch in size and I used meal on hulls with no booster.My link

[FREAKYDUTCHMEN]

It looks like your stars are shattered, 1" willow stars in a 6" should burn to the ground.

[Cookieman]

It looks like your stars are shattered, 1" willow stars in a 6" should burn to the ground.

 

 

Thats strange because I didn't use any booster this time.What about the metal content in the comp.? The reason I ask is because I ran out of coarse titanium and only used 2 different mesh sizes of ferro-titanium.

[swervedriver]

Thats strange because I didn't use any booster this time.What about the metal content in the comp.? The reason I ask is because I ran out of coarse titanium and only used 2 different mesh sizes of ferro-titanium.

 

Also, did you cut one open to see if it was bone dry to the middle? Cut 1" willow stars would take quite some time to fully dry, or were they pumped?

[Mumbles]

I was trying to decide last night if they shattered or blew out. Normally with shattering you get a cloud in the middle, but you get that to some extent with any brocade stars with a hard enough burst. If you watch carefully there are some distinct and regularly spaced tails that extend beyond the center. Even 3/4" stars should get to the ground or pretty close.

[Cookieman]

Also, did you cut one open to see if it was bone dry to the middle? Cut 1" willow stars would take quite some time to fully dry, or were they pumped?

 

 

I let them dry for 4 days before I loaded the shell. I didn't cut one in half, but I noticed that when they were made they were quite heavy, and after 4 days when I loaded the shell, they were very light so I assumed they were dry. I made another batch with the proper mesh size metals 325 ferroTi, 60 FerroTi, 60 Ti sponge which I'm going to shoot on the 1st and make a comparison.

[dagabu]

I have a batch of willow that I made LAST September that still have to lose 5% of water weight before they are ready to load. Once they get driven in, they may never come back.

[Pretty green flame]

I let them dry for 4 days before I loaded the shell. I didn't cut one in half, but I noticed that when they were made they were quite heavy, and after 4 days when I loaded the shell, they were very light so I assumed they were dry. I made another batch with the proper mesh size metals 325 ferroTi, 60 FerroTi, 60 Ti sponge which I'm going to shoot on the 1st and make a comparison.

 

A nice and simple way to test your stars, cut one in half and scratch it with a knife, if you get a shiny white line they're dry, if not, let them dry some more. A shiny white line also indicates that the star is well made and will most likely survive a very powerful break.

[Cookieman]

A nice and simple way to test your stars, cut one in half and scratch it with a knife, if you get a shiny white line they're dry, if not, let them dry some more. A shiny white line also indicates that the star is well made and will most likely survive a very powerful break.

 

 

OK I will do that, Thanks!!!

[TheEskimo]

Well, I only made 6 shells for the 4th, and out of the videos, this was the best one.

3inch ball shell, pasted using "3" layers of gummed tape. Kcnkickthecat blue, 3/8in pumped. Lifted using about 7 grams; weight 140 grams. Rising tail is 60/30/10+5Ti. Burst is BP on grass seed. Timed using Chinese timed fuse. The camera amplified the purple tint of the stars.

[Cookieman]

Well, I only made 6 shells for the 4th, and out of the videos, this was the best one.

3inch ball shell, pasted using "3" layers of gummed tape. Kcnkickthecat blue, 3/8in pumped. Lifted using about 7 grams; weight 140 grams. Rising tail is 60/30/10+5Ti. Burst is BP on grass seed. Timed using Chinese timed fuse. The camera amplified the purple tint of the stars.

 

 

Eskimo,

 

 

That was a very nice shell, it had a great tail and a nice burst with a vibrant colour.

[inflames]

My first 4" ball shell, shimizu red star composition, bought paper hemispheres, spiked, 6 layers of kraft, 1/2 inch cut stars, 12g BP burst. Total shell weight 280g lifted with 34 grams pressed/corned BP. Next time I'll video away from the crowd to avoid the commentary

 

Things I will change for next time... rolled or pumped stars for a more full look, the cut stars came out odd sized and were hard to fill the shell evenly with. I will also use more burst or add some whistle mix or flash booster for a faster break.

 

 

Youtube video

Edited July 7, 2010 by inflames

[karlfoxman]

Hi guys,

 

Just quick post on a little shell I am making, its a 3" Beraq shell. The shell holds 36 5/8" ID Beraq. The Beraq are not yet primed with delays but that will be done in a few days. I am using colour flash to give one ring of half orange half Aqua, the picture shows them test fitted. The card spacers will be changed for small wodden ones when I have finished with the beraq. I am making two of them to do some tests. The burst will be BP with a small 1g flash bag in the center.

[erid]

Hey everyone, I'm new to this hobby and I have some questions about paper hemis. I plan on buying some 2 inch shells from American Pyro Supply along with a mortar, but the mortar I.D is listed as 2 inchs. Is the shell slightly smaller to fit the mortar after pasting, or do I have to get a bigger mortar for the shell?

[Arthur]

The key dimension is the tube bore. After that it's hemis (etc) to make shells to fit that mortar. Typically a hemi for a 2" shell will be 1.75 to 1.90" DIA and need paper pasting to be strong and the right size.

[Mumbles]

Shell hemispheres are given in sizes of the mortar they are designed to be fired out of.

 

2" is kind of a tricky size unfortunately though. There are real 2" mortars, which are really 2" ID or a small fraction of an inch within it. Then there are nominally 2" ID which are common for consumer fireworks. These are usually 1.81" ID (DR9) and 1.91" ID (DR11). If you read the description on American Pyro Supply, they state you're actually getting something with an average ID of 1.917". The paper shells you'd be getting have an OD of approximately 1 7/8" (1.875"). I don't think they will work too well, as they will be too tight. It's very odd they'd sell incompatible supplies though.

 

These guys have real 2" ID mortars, and (hopefully) appropriate shells to go with it.

 

http://www.pyrodirect.com/ecom-catshow/display_fireworks_mortar_tube2.html

[erid]

Shell hemispheres are given in sizes of the mortar they are designed to be fired out of.

 

2" is kind of a tricky size unfortunately though. There are real 2" mortars, which are really 2" ID or a small fraction of an inch within it. Then there are nominally 2" ID which are common for consumer fireworks. These are usually 1.81" ID (DR9) and 1.91" ID (DR11). If you read the description on American Pyro Supply, they state you're actually getting something with an average ID of 1.917". The paper shells you'd be getting have an OD of approximately 1 7/8" (1.875"). I don't think they will work too well, as they will be too tight. It's very odd they'd sell incompatible supplies though.

 

These guys have real 2" ID mortars, and (hopefully) appropriate shells to go with it.

 

http://www.pyrodirec...rtar_tube2.html

 

Ok thank you, that really helped. Also, does the same thing go for 4 inch shells and mortars?

[Mumbles]

2" is the only one that gets kind of screwy. Everything else is pretty good. All the pipe we use comes from other uses, so they're never EXACTLY 3", 4" etc, but they're darn close, and will fit normally constructed shells. 4" hemis will fit a 4" gun without a problem. There aren't any weird sizes to known about.

 

Well, I'll warn you that 3" ball shells, especially if plastic, can be kind of loose too.

[Alchemyst]

Hello everyone,

 

I feel a bit ridiculous to post my failure here with all your killer shell but that's my first so maybe in few month when i'll read this thread i will laugh at it and making me so great remembers.

 

Today is a big day in my fireworks making quest. I've launched my first ever bunch of home made shell. Total failure indeed but so fun with. As i expected my so crappy bp was near unable to lift them high enough causing a too long fuse issue. Anyway i m happy they actually leave the ground for few feets maybe something like 20-30ft ridiculous but i expected worst.

 

The shells was basic can 1.5"filled with tiger tail cut stars. The core burst was only hand grinding granulate Bp in wax paper ignited by green visco. I have spike them. Lift charge was for the first 15gr same weak Bp as for core, the second one 15gr too but we dump a 10gr old gunpowder under the shell as we've seen in the first don't go high enough. The laste and filmed one use 15gr of crappy bp + 15gr of old gunpowder and maybe 15-20gr of more crappy Bp so in total 40-50gr of crappy lift for a 58.7gr shell omg i let you imagine the quality of my hand grinded bp.

 

Anyway that was a good experience. The lesson to learn from that is to buy urgently a ball mill.

 

 

Al

 

 

Failure 1.5" can shell movie

[50AE]

My first 3" cylinder shell with inserts

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpRk3q-JLJY

[Cookieman]

My first 3" cylinder shell with inserts

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ZpRk3q-JLJY

 

 

Nice Job 50AE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[50AE]

Thanks. I'm not completely satisfied though, I still have to work on the salutes. Gonna start using time fuse maybe, because visco takes side fire. I'm not still sure on that though. I could cover the visco with tape, don't know.

Also, I dipped the viscos ends in NC-BP slurry, but 3 of 12 of them didn't take fire. Maybe I should add metal powder?

Edited July 22, 2010 by 50AE

[Mumbles]

It's hard to tell from the images, but are you cutting the visco on an angle? That would help take fire from the priming. Without finding them, it would be impossible to tell if the prime didn't take fire, or didn't light the fuse.

[50AE]

I did cut the viscos at an angle.

And BP shouldn't take fire?

I suspect that the prime could have fallen.

[Bonny]

I did cut the viscos at an angle.

And BP shouldn't take fire?

I suspect that the prime could have fallen.

 

Maybe it did fall off. Was the slurry dextrin/water based? I've found BP/NC slurry for fuse priming sticks much better. You can also dip the slurry primed fuse into some granular powder to help roughen the surface for better ignition, although a slurry blob should easily take fire.