Aerial Shells

[d4j0n]

So a mostly flash mix...are hulls necessary for such small shells?

[justanotherpyro]

I use BP puffed rice for my easter egg shells eith .5g of whistle. I have been doing a lot of experimentation with these trying to get a good break. 4 layers of pasted painters paper horizontally, and 6 X's rotated 90 degrees after each X pasted vertically gives me a good symetrical break.

 

I would upload pics and videos but my camera and computer don't like each other.

[TheSidewinder]

It's certainly not the cheapest way, but I use commercial 4Fg powder for burst, and 2Fg for lift, in my 2" and 3" shells. I have a couple pounds of each, left over from my muzzle-loading days, and figured it shouldn't just sit there doing me no good. I'm making few enough of the small shells that burst-charge cost isn't an issue for me. Yet. Once I get some decent softwood charcoal I'll make my own good burst and lift powder....

 

M

[Mephistos Minion]

Ok, So I am planning my first large show, this will involve 10 3" canister shells (9 colour break and one salute for finale). I am now thinking about the finer points (Such as fusing and what stars to make). I am having a hard time thinking of what break to use. BP on puffed rice croseed my mind, but I hear it is better suited for larger shells. So I thought perhaps BP/Puffed rice with some KNO3/Mg flash in there. Any ideas?

 

Lift is my next problem, for the mines I can use my normal screen granulated stuff, but I want to go one better for the shells (make sure they make it nice and high). I don't yet have a press as my school dosen't have its plasma cutter set up as yet (should be done by showtime in may/june holidays). So hopefully I will have some 1.7g per cubic cm 2FA to launch them with. If this dosent happen, will rough powder/granulated meal be OK?

 

For the salute shell, I plan to load it with nearly 100g of KNO3/Mg flash, 50/50. The Mg will be treated with potassium dichromate prior to mixing, and this will be the last shell to be made so I dont need to store it for too long. A quick question on the Mg, if I buy some Mg billets, file them down, what media is suitable to get it finer (Aiming for at least -100 mesh flake).

 

Fusing, now this is going to be a cunt. I want to use quickmatch as much as possible, but it looks like I will have to do it with electric.

 

OK in summary:

 

Will BP/Puffed rice be OK for break in 3" canister shells, or do I need to add some flash?

 

Will granulated BP be OK for lift?

 

What media is good for reducing Mg filings to -100 mesh powder?

[Pyrohawk]

Nah, if you want good breaks you will need something a little stronger than meal coated hulls. Atleast thats my experience......

 

Test your lift before making a shell. Make a dummy shell or use a baseball (about 3") to test the lift amount needed. Make sure you test though....I have had a 3" fall back down and explode on the ground... It was an Al streamer.

[Mumbles]

First off, yes d4j0n, you still need some sort of carrier. Well, you can granulate as well if you want, but that takes a bit of tuing for proper size.

 

Mephistos:

 

1: I wouldn't use any carrier at all for the burst in canister shells. I would just use granulated BP in the canule. Perhaps add some flash. You really need to test for this, thats the only way to do it.

 

2: I've never had a problem with just granulated lift personally, but it is all dependant on your BP. You could always do small amounts at a time. I used a 1" piece of PVC with a piece of adaptor over it for reinforcement, and some dowel. I just used a car jack, and some dowel. I did 15g at a time with 25 drops of distilled water to moisten. This was for my pressed BP tests. It really does make a difference, but just granulated stuff works fine I feel, and is mainly what i use.

 

3: I would say get some steel nuts from the hardware store for media.

[PyroPicasso]

If you are worried about the power of your bp and have a little extra money make balsa bp it is amazing.

 

 

How long should one wait after firing a shell to put another shell down the same tube? Is there a standard amount of time?

[Mumbles]

There isn't really a standard amount of time. Some people do toss some sand or clay in the bottom of them though. What the hazard is is having smouldering pieces of paper left in the mortar that can light the lift. I'd say look down and see if there is anything left. Another thing you can do is put some protective paper around the lift to reduce this hazard. This generally increases the amount of smouldering paper in the bottom though.

[AVR]

I spray some water in my 2 inch mortar, it seems to be easier to get rid of the slag products that way too since it cakes at the bottom and come out as a solid piece. I have shot four shells trough it though, but all the slag came out when I tapped the mortar.

[asilentbob]

This 4th will be my first attempt at ariel shells! I'll be trying spherical plastic ones in 1-3/4" and 3" from cannonfuse.com, only problem is that im essentially out of KNO3 with only about 70g of decent BP meal left. I'm planning to go on an "expedition" for this so far elusive bulk cheap KNO3 very soon, perhaps this weekend. If worst comes to worst ill just have to get some commercial powder.

 

So far i have only made about 100g of small "Organic Conklin #1 Blue" cut stars, i need to prime them though. Next im considering Shimizu's Tiger Tail, Shimizu #2 organic red stars, and D1 Glitter that i have heard quite a bit about. Probably in a bigger batch.

[mr.pyro]

Ravaz- Nice shells, what brand gummed tape did you use and where did you find it? I been looking around for a while for that crap and all the stuff I buy doesnt work too well. And I HATE pasting.

[justanotherpyro]

I've been looking for that or fiberglass tape. I'm going for OTC because I don't want to order it from firefox, so a substitute or a good tape from say Home Depot would be excellent.

[Mumbles]

The tape is not hard to find. They have it at my local hardware store. They have both standard, and fiberglass reinforced tape. My main problem is trying to find gummed tape that is less that 2" wide. If I had a bandsaw I could cut it with that.

[ravaz]

People say you can buy gummed tape from Office Max, Office Depot or Staples, but they only have the reinforced tape by me and I don't use that crap. I buy my tape on the net from www.epacksupply.com. www.papermart.com sells tape a bit cheaper, but shipping is further away and it gets more expensive and ends up being about the same, plus epacksupply.com ships the next day and I get it very fast. You can only buy by the case from these places, so I'm not sure where you would get less from.

 

For a 4"-6" shell I use 1" wide x 40lb tape.

8" 1-1/2" wide x 40lb

10"-16" 2"wide x 60lb tape

[justanotherpyro]

I assume the fiberglass reinforced tape is for packing supplies or something? Last time I asked two people at Home Depot and they gave me the " what the hell!? " look. Or were the employees just dumber than a box of rocks?

[dragonman586]

Yeah you can get the pregummed and reinforced tape from staples. I recently bought a roll. Works amazingly if you moisten it correctly. And it is like 5 dollars for a nice fat roll. I even use this stuff for making my tubes and they are rock hard.

[Frozentech]

Here's the video of my 4" ball shell on Easter Eve.... Have a safe, (and green) holiday.

 

4" Winokur 12 with Dragon Eggs, and Lancaster Gold Glitter. 385 gram shell weight, 44 grams of lift.

 

4 inch ball shell

[justanotherpyro]

Very nice. I liked how you showed it before hand. Thanks for that.

[al93535]

An absolute excellent shell! I love the break, colors/effects. Very good job! And the eggs sounded nice as well.

[ravaz]

That's a really nice shell. Mind sharing what you used for the burst?

[Frozentech]

That's a really nice shell. Mind sharing what you used for the burst?

KP on rice hulls with 4 grams of flash in the center. I've got another 4" ready to go, with winokur 39, but it will be two weeks till I shoot that one, due to work.

[justanotherpyro]

Well I'm still having trouble getting my OTC glitter to work correctly, but its a pretty shell none the less, and my computer will accept videos now so what the hell.

 

http://www.apcforum.net/files/2inchMgAlgoldglitter.WMV

[psymon]

I guess this would be a good place to ask people...

 

From fountains, to rockets, to mortars.

 

At the moment I am into shooting 35mm film cannister shells. They go up really high and break well igniting all of the blue stars i shove in there. Everything is absolutely fine. However, I have a small question.

 

Its about lift noise. When I launch these shells I hear the most awsome boom, something as loud as a military thunderflash.

Now I have seen at displays, shells that are 6 inches and more and they seem to go up with a small pop or a bassy thump. I was wondering if there is a way to make the launch noise a little quieter?

 

I use lift with 74 kno3 12 Sulphur and 14 Willow charcoal. I granulate it by passing it moist through a sieve. I am using around 1/3rd the weight of the shell to launch it a decent height. I tried using 1/4 the weight of shell for the lift as most people say I should but the height isnt so good for my long lasting stars. If I were to launch something like a 3 inch or 6 inch shell I would probably go deaf at this rate!

Should I bury the tube or something to reduce lift noise? The only reason I ask is because I am on an estate of many houses. My back garden is small. The neighbours are pretty tolerant of my fireworks but there are babies in some of the houses nearby(and soon to be my house). I dont need the parents to come over and give me hassle.

[dragonman586]

From the looks of it, it seems that you just dump your lift in your tube followed by the shell and stick a fuse in the side, correct? If so try getting a slightly wider mortar, you know so you have a little more space on all sides of the shell. Hope this helps. Also you could decrease the amount of pasting on your shell to permit for more room but it may severely or mildly affect the performance of your shell.

[Mumbles]

You could use slower or larger mesh lift. If the shells don't get high enough for the stars, try using smaller stars. Sometimes people get quiet poof lifts, and sometimes there are thundering booms. More space around the shell would allow more of the gas to escape, and thus make less of a noise as the shell leaves the mortar.