Aerial Shells

[qwezxc12]

mormanman,

 

Here's a Google Video link of the show.

[Zmuro]

What composition did you use for loud report with full of sparks?

[mormanman]

mormanman,

 

Here's a Google Video link of the show.

That was a great blue and green and the red. I would also like to know about the salutes.

[qwezxc12]

What composition did you use for loud report with full of sparks?

Basic 65:35 flash + 10% 16-30 mesh Ti sponge.

Small aerial salutes were 2in cans with 20g.

Multi salute shell was a 4in can with 10 salutes of 15g ea. made from 1in spiral wound tubes. (one didn't fire)

Finale salutes were 3in cans with 50g ea. I had a fifth 100g 3in can, but that didn't make the video - I shot it off earlier just to get the party rolling

 

The 2 and 3in cans were bulked up with additional BP coated rice crispies until nearly full. They were also spiked with fiberglass strapping tape.

[BPinthemorning]

After watching Mythbusters, I was wondering if anyone had made gun cotton, and if it could be used to fire areil shells. Anyone have experince in this?

[''']

Hi! I am new on this forum. Am I have some experiences with gun cotton. Gun cotton is actualy smokeless powder or tri nitro celulose. I think it would be able to use it as lift powder but it is harder and more expensive to make than BP. And it has much lower burning temperature so i think it wouldnt ignite the spolette. BP is much better choice .

[crazyboy25]

now i know im not supposed to be moderating but... nitrocellulose is a high explosive and if you all read the rules you would know you have no business talking of HE's. and yes it is a bad choice of lift for many reasons.

[mormanman]

now i know im not supposed to be moderating but... nitrocellulose is a high explosive and if you all read the rules you would know you have no business talking of HE's. and yes it is a bad choice of lift for many reasons.

Now are you sure nitrocellulose is a HE b/c I'm making some right now for e-matches and (don't get me wrong but I probably made it wrong) I lit some and my BP is more explosive than it, it will be good for an e-match b/c it has a nice big flame but that was it. Also, I don't remember any talk of nitrocellulose in HE, there are some other things but thats it.

[crazyboy25]

you are talking about nitrocellulose LACQUER which is essentially impure nitrocellulose disolved in acetone it is safe and is used in ematchs and a binder. nitrocellulose looks like thishttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=61...earch&plindex=3

 

while nitrocellulose lacquer looks like this: http://www.lancopaints.com/product_photos/3_wood/4_lacquers/for_web/152.jpg

[flying fish]

I personally think the hands down, greatest application for NC in fireworks is NC laquer, the 10 second binder!

 

Anyway, here's my most recent shell. Hopefully irony and sarcasm work over the internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwdYMcJqkOY&mode=user&search=

Don't go without a booster, or spiking/pasting in small plastic shells!

[mormanman]

Well pardon me. I'm sorry about that. I got them confused, again.

[gods knight]

Can the "nitrocellulose LACQUER" be used fuse making,judging by the highly flammable sign on the side I think so.

[''']

It can be used in fuse making but not as the main burning ingridient (such as BP), but for protection of the fuse and making it water proof. Visco fuses are coated with nitrocelulose lacquer for example.

[Pretty green flame]

Can the "nitrocellulose LACQUER" be used fuse making,judging by the highly flammable sign on the side I think so.

Much better results will be had when using Dextrine or SGRS. I have tried NC lacquer for black match, the results were terrible at best. The finished product hardly burned making it completely useless for anything.

[flying fish]

Yeah, the 10 second binder (acetone based especially) would be crap for making blackmatch. Generally it is way too weak to make a good binder in most types of formula. I will only use it when I want to test a formula or prime something and I don't have time to wait for it to dry. Of course, I am in this situation quite alot...

 

(by the way, it does not actually dry in 10 seconds, it just sounds cool that way)

[Mumbles]

Yes, NC is a HE. Its one of those products we kind of have to overlook discussion of though. Just don't go over synthesis and we'll be alright.

 

Anyway, I'm kind of suprised to hear that NC bound black match works poorly. I've heard of NC bound whistle granules being incredibly fast burning.

 

Anyway, I've heard of people using NC to lift things. Don't be so sure about it being a poor lifting agent and more expensive than BP. You have to remember how little you need. 3g would be more than enough to lift a 150g 3" shell. Using an equal amount to how much BP you use would send it to the moon. Yes, it won't light spollettes and fuses and such, so you have to do that with the leader. This was with high quality fluffy NC, not smokeless powder by the way.

[BPinthemorning]

Thanks Mumbles. I didn't know it was a HE, so I apologize.

[asilentbob]

However you would also need a very tight fit in the mortar and the kick might harm the shell. MIGHT. It would be really fast due to the amount of surface area... so like a quick punch instead of the desired push from granulated BP.

[flying fish]

I missed the part about PGF's account of NC bound blackmatch where he said it didn't burn well (I was thinking more along the lines of durability, though I'm not sure if that's really a concern since most blackmatch seems to develop cracks pretty easily anyway). I wonder if this means I should question my practice of priming anything and everything with NC bound BP!

 

Though I'm happy with blackpowder for lift, I was also interested in lift alternatives. I remember reading that Disney airlifts their fireworks, and I was thinking that may be a neat thing to try. They use a high tech system with chips in each shell, but I was trying to think of a cheaper way to do it.

 

Perhaps you could have an e-matched time fuse that fires slightly before a pneumatic (sprinkler?) valve opens and your compressed air launches the shell. Using this method, it would probably not be difficult to hide the time fuse in a chamber on top of the shell...which means the possibility of....surprise fireworks!

[Mumbles]

I was hoping to get a bit of help from you guys. I posted this over at UKR, but haven't heard anything. The conversation seemed to rather skip over it.

 

I'm building up some bigger multibreak shells very soon here. Like 5 and 6" 3-5 breaks. I'm looking for a way to end it with a bang, well maybe not literally. Just some nice effects to close it out. I have a few planed, but I still have a few left to go. I was hoping to get some final break ideas. I want it to have kind of a finale, but am not going to be making enough flash for a bottom shot. The first breaks are going to be a variety of colors, comet breaks, and insert shells mostly. As of right now, the plan is for a drawout shell type of break. A color break with a few reports going off nearly simultaneously. One of them is getting a crossette final break. Mostly because I built it without a bottom disk capable of accepting spolettes. Drilling a hole into a live shell isn't something I really want to be doing, plus I'd probably cut the spikes in the process.

 

Another thing I toyed with was a final break of rosette insert shells, but I don't really like all that chlorate and aluminum and antimony trisulfide, and me having to screen it.

[Pretty green flame]

1.Saettines with bottom shot. Basicly a barrage of small reports and a big one to end the show.

 

2. Nine timed reports. Similar to Saettines but more precise timing and fewer but stronger reports. 8 Small(-ish) salutes with the ninth being the bottom shot for the final report.

[Mumbles]

My problem enlies that this is the end of a shell. The siatines may work and I don't really want to make a bottom shot. Maybe I'll make a small one. An 8 timed salute shell is not something that would be smart to do after the shell has already been airborn for 7-8 second, and is already on the way down.

[tentacles]

I had an idea for a possibly interesting multi-break..

 

First break is white to pink (or just a washed out red)

Second break is pink to red

Third, red to orange

Fourth, orange to yellow

Fifth, yellow to green

sixth, green to crackling or small salute inserts with green comets

[Pretty green flame]

My problem enlies that this is the end of a shell.  The siatines may work and I don't really want to make a bottom shot.  Maybe I'll make a small one.  An 8 timed salute shell is not something that would be smart to do after the shell has already been airborn for 7-8 second, and is already on the way down.

Hmm....good point there, a little bit too risky. How will you be lifting it? The maltese way of lifting by a "BP Maroon" under the shell might be a good idea to achieve the highest possible altitude so there's enough time for the breaks to cycle through.

 

Another idea for a 3 break shell

 

1st break: Chrysanthemum to blue stars (Blue core with C6 rolled over it or tipped comets with C6 being the basis and a blue star comp to finish it off)

 

2nd break: Silver comet or Brocade break (or what ever composition you like best)

 

3rd break: Hummers or Farfalle inserts

 

A 3 break shell should still have quite abit of height so the inserts of the final break should not come raining down on the crowd.

[''']

You can simply do it Italian style. First few bursts are random and the finale is just one massive report. But I think this way of ending the shell is boring. My opinion is that best way of ending the shell is something attractive like crossette burst or burst biger than the first few bursts. Hummers or bees are also a very good choice but they are harder to make .