Aerial Shells

[ThaYankee]

Those shells are awesome. Do you make the shell casing yourself?

Yes, The whole shell and everything in it (except for the flash) is home made.

I can't make flash by myself, because I'm not able to get KClO4 yet

I live in Holland... so unfortunately.. everything is a bit harder to get.

But I can get some very cheap fireworks(from germany) with quite a lot of flash in it, so that works well enough for now.

[ewest]

I live in Holland... so unfortunately.. everything is a bit harder to get.

Well it certainly doesn't show, those are awesome looking. I remember the last video you posted and you also get a really nice break from your smaller shells. That's hard enough to do without making them also look like works of art themselves.

 

Very impressive. It's almost a shame to shoot something like that.

[50caliber]

ThaYankee

 

You should put up a tutorial if you have some spare time

[ThaYankee]

ThaYankee

 

You should put up a tutorial if you have some spare time

thnx for the reactions

I havo no time for making a tutorial next 4 weeks... i'm to busy with making those shells and stuff. So maybe next year:-)

[50caliber]

oh i see. Good on you for makeing some more shells.

[cplmac]

From the beauty by way of Holland I bring you ugly American, aka "Frankenshell". This is the first shell I have ever made so it is rather hideous, and did not work how I would have liked. On the plus side everything did actually work.http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos2790/6/9/58/35/81/0/81355809611_0_ALB.jpg

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos2790/6/9/58/35/12/0/12355809611_0_ALB.jpg

 

Ahh, my first time. 4" dead Red go getters with reports

[50caliber]

nice shell mate very good colours, didnt break very well though but other then that you are set. it also went way up there

[itwasntme]

Good colors, did those go-getters hit the ground? Good shell, keep it up/.

[ADP9]

Hey guys, I've been out of pyrotechnics for a while but I have 50lbs of new chemicals and hope to make some preparations for new years pretty soon. I have a six inch shell I plan on making red and blue pumped stars for. I'll post product when I can. Glad to see everyone is doing well

[Pretty green flame]

I have a question, i know it's a bitt stupid but anyway.

How exactly do you put a burst booster in a canister shell, do i make a flash bag or mix it in with the burst.

 

I was thinking of containing the burst and booster in a thin tissue paper tube (canulle)so it would not migrate in between the stars ruining the break.

 

Thanks for the help, this is my first time using boosters in canister shells so i'm kinda new in this.

[Mumbles]

Thats what I do. With comets or pressed stars stacked along the exterior the canule isn't neccesary, but it doesn't seem that is what you're doing. I would just mix it in with the burst. You can't really make a small packet of flash or whistle like you can for spherical shells.

 

Just another little tip. Another thing that helps is to run a length of quickmatch down the length of the canule, and tie off the end. Since I've started doing this I have have much fewer end bursts. The tying off of the end helps to burst the sides out to uniiformly light the burst rather than shooting out the other end.

[optimus]

Veline's prime is usually a very effective one... it sounds like you either need to step-prime or change the formula for your blue stars. The stars could either be being blown out because of the high velocity, or the prime not communicating fire well enough, in which case a step-prime should help. What formula are you using?

[ewest]

It sounds like the flash burst is just blowing them blind, I agree with optimus, the Veline prime usually works really well. I would stick with just the whistle burst or mix the two. Use mainly the whistle burst and use a small flash bag in the center for a harder break if you like. But just the whistle burst alone works fine in my 3" shells.

 

BTW, I use 4:1 coated rice hulls for burst and the whistle formula I use is:

Potassium Perchlorate 70

Sodium Salicylate 30

Dextrin +4

[Mumbles]

siffup, there are 3 steps that need to be taken.

 

1. Burn some stars on the ground and see if the blue lights.

 

2. Try a stargun test to be sure it's not the prime itself going out

 

3. Try a weaker burst, whistle for instance.

 

Something that may help is a layer of BP over the hot prime. It will light the prime after the stars slow down a bit to give better lighting results. Perhaps try dropping the flash a bit to 2 or 3g. Out of curiousity are you using hulls around the flash/whistle bags, or just a central bags with stars filled around with BP filler like Lloyd Spooneburg's method on passfire?

[itwasntme]

Got a quick question, might be easy to answer. What is the purpose of layered primes, I mean, do the other layers inside closer to the star conduct heat to the star to help ignite the star? If it did conduct that much heat to ignite a stubborn comp, why arent all the layers of prime ignited at once? If this is kind of confusing to you I am trying my best at explaining this, but I suck at explaining stuff. Lets say theres a hard to ignite star like the blue star comp in this thread, thats #1, the first, second, and third layers of prime are #2 #3 and #4. The lower numbers are closer to the star, #4 being the outside layer. If #4 burns hot enough to ignite the star, why doesn't it ignite #3 and #2? What is the point of #4? Can the other layers of primes conduct the heat to the star? I hope you can understand my question.

[Mumbles]

Layered primes are used to light hard to light stars. BP is the most standard prime around. It however cannot light everything. Adding metal powders or silicon can heat it up. Even sometimes that is not enough(well maybe not with silicon). You would then used a hotter prime. My favorite is the veline style super prime on passfire. These however burn so hot they sometimes need some help. A BP layer on the outside ensures ignition of the prime, while it may not ensure ignition of the star itself.

 

Sometimes an outside prime is just used to give more heat to the actual prime. Some primes could be lit by the temp of burst, but the short burn time of some harder bursts (flash, whistle, etc) sometime will require a BP coating or what not to kind of save the heat of the burst if you want to think about it like that.

 

Yet another reason is incompatibility. AP stars can't be primed with BP for instance. A primary prime or comp is used to isolate the AP star. BP can then be placed over that. I personally still bind the outside layer of BP with 2% NC lacquer just to be safe.

[itwasntme]

Layered primes are used to light hard to light stars. BP is the most standard prime around. It however cannot light everything. Adding metal powders or silicon can heat it up. Even sometimes that is not enough(well maybe not with silicon). You would then used a hotter prime. My favorite is the veline style super prime on passfire. These however burn so hot they sometimes need some help. A BP layer on the outside ensures ignition of the prime, while it may not ensure ignition of the star itself.

 

Sometimes an outside prime is just used to give more heat to the actual prime. Some primes could be lit by the temp of burst, but the short burn time of some harder bursts (flash, whistle, etc) sometime will require a BP coating or what not to kind of save the heat of the burst if you want to think about it like that.

 

Yet another reason is incompatibility. AP stars can't be primed with BP for instance. A primary prime or comp is used to isolate the AP star. BP can then be placed over that. I personally still bind the outside layer of BP with 2% NC lacquer just to be safe.

Ahh, so it's a prime for a prime, thanks mumbles. Can zinc powder be used with red iron oxide for a prime? I was thinking on making a hot prime with BP, zinc and iron oxide(Fe2O3) for hard to ignite stars. I could use potassium perchlorate, too. When I get my chems I will experiment, but I dont want to just experiment with out research though. I am searching, but want to get the most opinions as I can, just to be safe. Thanks in advance.

[Mumbles]

Here is the prime I use. I've never had it fail to light ANYTHING. If I coated it on a rock, it very well might light that on fire too. Not really, but you get the point. I usually put a thin layer of green meal over the outside to ensure ignition. When using alcohol bound stars, I replace all the dextrin with redgum. It's compatible with all star types.

 

Potassium Perchlorate 55

Charcoal Airfloat 20

Wood Meal 6

Iron(III) Oxide, red 5

Potassium Dichromate 5

Magnalium, granular, -200 mesh 5

Dextrin 4

 

 

As for the zinc and Fe2O3, You are welcome to try it out. I am not sure how well it will work, but it is worth a shot. The zinc may be melted and deposited on the surface of the stars, which is good. Iron oxide would make it burn hotter certainly. Most hot primes include some Aluminum or MgAl, which burn extremely hot. Silicon is the mother of all prime additives. If the silicon starts burning there isn't anything that won't light. When it burns it deposits essentially burning and molten glass on the star surface.

[itwasntme]

Here is the prime I use. I've never had it fail to light ANYTHING. If I coated it on a rock, it very well might light that on fire too. Not really, but you get the point. I usually put a thin layer of green meal over the outside to ensure ignition. When using alcohol bound stars, I replace all the dextrin with redgum. It's compatible with all star types.

 

Potassium Perchlorate 55

Charcoal Airfloat 20

Wood Meal 6

Iron(III) Oxide, red 5

Potassium Dichromate 5

Magnalium, granular, -200 mesh 5

Dextrin 4

 

 

As for the zinc and Fe2O3, You are welcome to try it out. I am not sure how well it will work, but it is worth a shot. The zinc may be melted and deposited on the surface of the stars, which is good. Iron oxide would make it burn hotter certainly. Most hot primes include some Aluminum or MgAl, which burn extremely hot. Silicon is the mother of all prime additives. If the silicon starts burning there isn't anything that won't light. When it burns it deposits essentially burning and molten glass on the star surface.

Wow, thanks mumbles. I wont have the dichromate and the magnalium so I will substitute iron oxide, Fe2O3 for the dichromate and zinc for the magnalium. Thanks again, I know that saw dust is easy to get but, I've been looking, and no one around here sells it. I dont feel like using a hack saw and 2 by 4 to get saw dust. The saw dust is to make the prime more rough, right? Is there another easier way to get saw dust? What about in the bags of snap pop things?

[Frozentech]

Wow, thanks mumbles. I wont have the dichromate and the magnalium so I will substitute iron oxide, Fe2O3 for the dichromate and zinc for the magnalium. Thanks again, I know that saw dust is easy to get but, I've been looking, and no one around here sells it. I dont feel like using a hack saw and 2 by 4 to get saw dust. The saw dust is to make the prime more rough, right? Is there another easier way to get saw dust? What about in the bags of snap pop things?

You need a very fine sawdust, wood meal actually. A possible place to look is in the wood shop of a school.

[rocket]

If you have a sander or have access to one use that with fine grit sandpaper, the only problem I can see with using a sander is trying to collect the sawdust. A hardware store should have some sawdust if they cut wood, the best place to go would be a timber yard.

[Frozentech]

If you have a sander or have access to one use that with fine grit sandpaper, the only problem I can see with using a sander is trying to collect the sawdust. A hardware store should have some sawdust if they cut wood, the best place to go would be a timber yard.

I get most of mine from the dust collection bags on my power saws. Most of them have them.

[ThaYankee]

I've fired a new 3" shell this weekend. Only the effect wasn't really nice round, but I thinks it was because there was to much space inside the shell (not filled up enough). so I think the stars moved a bit inside the shell.

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...ysimpelelif.flv

[50caliber]

That was a realy nice shell, very good timing

[ThaYankee]

and another nice 2" shell

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...inchmortier.flv