Aerial Shells

[qwezxc12]

Well I uploaded it to yousendit. pudi also hosted as well, so there are two links for download. Thanks pudi!

 

www.yousendit.com:

8-27-07show.wmv

 

pudi's site:

http://www.flashnet.dk/files/8-27-07show.wmv

 

 

It's 37.8Mb, and edited it down to 5:37". It's as short as I could make it.

It wasn't perfect...I had two pulverized breaks in 4in shells, one red Ti, one yellow MgAl at 4:00" and 4:08" respectively. Some of the more delicate effects didn't show up well at all, like the 6in streamer at 4:45 and the 4in willow can didn't show up at all.

 

Enjoy...I sure had fun lighting it all off!

[Pretty green flame]

Wow, nicely done.

 

Can you share the formula for the stars at 4:16. They look very nice.

[qwezxc12]

Wow, nicely done.

 

Can you share the formula for the stars at 4:16. They look very nice.

Thanks. I'm not sure which shell you're referring to 'cause one broke a little before 4:16 and the other broke just after. I'm still pissed at the red and yellow that shattered and blew dark before...that was supposed to be a nice string of four 4in shells...damn. Anyway, here are both that worked:

 

First one was Emerald Green, posted both at Skylighter as rocket propellant in their tips, and over at Passfire as "Emerald Green MgAl":

 

Barium Nitrate..........................50

Potassium Perchlorate...............8

Parlon.....................................18

MgAl (275 to 325 mesh)............12

Charcoal, Airfloat.......................5

Sulfur.......................................5

Red Gum..................................2

Dextrin.....................................5

 

Stars were wet with ~6% 75/25 water/Alc and pumped to 3/8". Use a HOT prime! I step primed with my current favorite: Mill dust with +6% Si, +3% Cab-o-Sil, and +8% MgAl.

 

Second one was 3/8" BP +10% med fine MgAl rolled over 1/4" Shimizu Blue #70 or just "B-70":

(from rec.pyrotechnics - I round up the percentages)

 

Potassium Perchlorate.....................64

Red Gum.......................................10

Copper Oxide.................................13

Parlon...........................................14

Dextrin..........................................+4

 

It;s o.k., but not great IMO. KPerc based blues just can't compete with AP based ones. I only used them because I had 500g or so rolled up. I prefer Al's Hexamine fueled AP blue that I used in the 2in and 3in mines...much more intense and pleasing to the eye.

[ULTRABUF]

Hey great job dude, that was a nice show. It was funny listening to those people talk. "It must have cost him a small fortune to do all that." "Yeah we should give him 10 dollars."

[pudidotdk]

Despite the blind blewed shells, your show was fantastic for an amateur. You may make me a show of that kind anytime you like

[jacob]

Yea that was a great show qwezxc, i loved the greens and blues, man i need to get some barium nitrate so bad, oh well, i'll have to use that Hexamine blue for new years, it looked great and i have all the chems for it, it stinks thst your red and yellow didn't work, would you mind shareing the formulas for those anyway? oh and the orange too, yea that was funny '' thats it, ten bucks a piece, we should pass a hat around, yea that must've cost him a fortune, where did he get those?'' who filmed it anyway?

[nath0r]

Really nice show, was inspiring to watch. I'm hoping to create a display similar to yours for November 5th or New years.

[crazyboy25]

just checking united nuclear says 60 grams of homemade lift is the proper amount for lifting a 4" aerial shell will 60 grams of pulverone be able to lift my 327 gram 4" aerial shell?

[jacob]

That's about twice the amount you need, a rule of thumb is 1/10 the weight of the shell .

[qwezxc12]

Yea that was a great show qwezxc, i loved the greens and blues, man i need to get some barium nitrate so bad, oh well, i'll have to use that Hexamine blue for new years, it looked great and i have all the chems for it, it stinks thst your red and yellow didn't work, would you mind shareing the formulas for those anyway? oh and the orange too, yea that was funny '' thats it, ten bucks a piece, we should pass a hat around, yea that must've cost him a fortune, where did he get those?'' who filmed it anyway?

My girlfriend offered to run the camera for me...It was a hoot to listen to the "peanut gallery"...comments like that are the product of a mostly empty keg

 

The red is "Ruby Red" and is made by replacing the Barium Nitrate in the "Emerald Green" with Strontium Nitrate. No other mods needed:

 

Strontium Nitrate......................50

Potassium Perchlorate...............8

Parlon.....................................18

MgAl (275 to 325 mesh)............12

Charcoal, Airfloat.......................5

Sulfur.......................................5

Red Gum..................................2

Dextrin.....................................5

 

It normally works just fine, and performed o.k. in the mines. All I can figure is that the stars weren't completely dry before I primed. They held together in the gentle lift of the mines, but turned to dust during the more violent break of the 4in shells.

 

The yellow is a personal formula I'm trying to perfect. Details are in the Sodium Nitrate Thread

 

There was no orange...must have been a wash-out in the camera's capture of the colors. When I do use orange, i like the "Best of AFN III" orange:

 

Ammonium Perchlorate............20

Potassium Perchlorate..............15

Calcium Carbonate..................15

Magnalium (100-200 mesh).....15

Parlon...................................10

Red Gum...............................5

 

bind with Alcohol. Video of it here with Ti and rolled over with MgAl:OrangeTi

[jacob]

I could have sworn there was some orange mines in there, ah well must have been the camera, what color was it in person, red?, thanks for shareing those formuas i'm going to have to try that red, the yellow looked great too but where can you get cryolite?

[nath0r]

I could have sworn there was some orange mines in there, ah well must have been the camera, what color was it in person, red?, thanks for shareing those formuas i'm going to have to try that red, the yellow looked great too but where can you get cryolite?

you can get cryolite and many other chemicals/tubes/metals/fuse from http://www.pyrosupplies.moonfruit.com great guy, very helpful and postage is super fast.

[Mumbles]

You can also get it from ceramic supply stores. It's pretty cheap as it is used in large quantities in the aluminum refining industry.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see any chemicals whatsoever on that page that was just posted.

[nath0r]

You can also get it from ceramic supply stores. It's pretty cheap as it is used in large quantities in the aluminum refining industry.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see any chemicals whatsoever on that page that was just posted.

Forgot to say, to see all the items for sale you have to register, it takes 2 seconds and is worth it

[crazyboy25]

That's about twice the amount you need, a rule of thumb is 1/10 the weight of the shell .

well thats what it says and my bp isn't that great...it is made with hardwood air float from firefox. just glad to know im not underlifting.

[Mumbles]

Rule of thumb is 1/16, one ounce per pound, but this only really works for medium sized shells. 3" and smaller needs more lift. Larger shells need less. I also suggest getting better charcoal. The commercial hardwood sucks pretty badly.

[crazyboy25]

yeah i know but i found if i mill it i can get some pretty impressive results...for assorted hardwood that is. next shell i will use in the 45-50 gram range im still not to confident 1/16 weight is quite up to the task.

[Mumbles]

Until you get to 4 or 5" shells, you can't really use the 1/16 ratio very easily, unless you are using very good BP corned to 3 or 4FA. A 45-50g shell is definatly not in the medium shell size.

[crazyboy25]

you misunderstood me it is a 4" shell however i sed 60 grams of my pulvurone lift made from hardwood airfloart next 4" aerial shell instead of using 60 grams i will use 45-50 grams of lift.

[crazyboy25]

sorry for the double post but i was wondering qwezxc can your emerald green and ruby red be rolled or cut if not how would you determine 6% mousture? weight, volume?

[Mumbles]

I've heard it's actually very good to roll. And no, with cutting or rolling, you don't measure out moisture.

[qwezxc12]

Mumbles is right, it does roll nicely. When rolling, the only problem is I find the larger mesh particles of Parlon won't stick to the stars when they're small. I have to resist the urge to overwet the stars in an effort to get all the comp to stick. Once they're up to ~1/4" in size they do a much better job picking up all the comp. I have no idea how much % weight water it takes to roll them - I've never weighed the stars after rolling. But I do use the roller to prime them even when they're pumped.

 

When I make pumped stars, I add ~6% by weight, mix it well, then screen the damp comp to make sure the moisture is evenly distributed and allow the dextrin time to fully activate.

 

I've never cut them.

[crazyboy25]

It;s o.k., but not great IMO. KPerc based blues just can't compete with AP based ones. I only used them because I had 500g or so rolled up. I prefer Al's Hexamine fueled AP blue that I used in the 2in and 3in mines...much more intense and pleasing to the eye.

to what formula are you referring?

 

 

btw thanks for your help qwezxc love your work.

[tentacles]

On a side note, in the ruby red/emerald stars, you can also substitute PVC or saran for the parlon acceptably. Be sure to use very fine MgAl or the stars can be hard to light. Consider step priming if you roll them.

[pudidotdk]

Speaking of substitutes,

have anyone tried substituting saran with PVC or parlon in the ammonium perchlorate-based go-getter formulas?