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Posted (edited)

today in pyro lost about a pound of some really pretty blue stars to humidity....damn copper chloride...gonna back up here and probably go with the pyro science blue

 

too bad i lost so much lab equipment in the fire, i really liked the ap/copper benzo formula but need my funnels, flask and aspirator to make the benzoate.

Edited by rogeryermaw
Posted (edited)

Cut down a big 5" limb of Rhamnus Frangula Purshiana, barked it, and split it out to dry in the sun.

 

I'm out of charcoal... I think I managed to absorb a bunch of the active ingredient through my hands debarking it. Pharmas use to, and maybe still buy the bark for laxative production... LoL!

Edited by usapyro
  • Like 1
Posted

usapyro

what is that a dogwood tree ?

Posted

usapyro

what is that a dogwood tree ?

 

"Alder Buckthorn charcoal is prized in the manufacture of gunpowder, being regarded as the best wood for the purpose. It is particularly highly valued for time fuses because of its very even burn rate."

Rhamnus Purshiana

 

I have RFP around here. It's just a western variety. Makes charcoal faster than my local Willow, Red Alder, or Big Leaf Maple.

Posted

Got some of my favorite charcoal wood peeled and split to dry. RFP!

 

post-11032-0-62137800-1498436848_thumb.jpg

Posted
Primed a big pile of red green and blue stars. Small bag mines of each to be uploaded tonight...just waiting for it to get a bit darker out.
Posted (edited)

Made some little whistle to report inserts from spollette tubes for a couple of 1.75" plastic canister headers and almost choked from laughing. I put them on ½" BP+Sali rockets so they'd get on up a bit and WOW! These are a keeper for sure.

EDIT: Also made up yet some more (20) of the TP tube mines. These things are way fast and easy and don't eat up materials!

post-20116-0-68669700-1498537299_thumb.jpg

 

Edited by OldMarine
  • Like 1
Posted
Pressed a few 3/4" zinc granite comets and finished spiking 5 canister shells to put as rocket heads, filled with my first batches of some jopetes blue, red and chrysanthemum 9 mm stars. Hope these will look nice in the sky.
Posted

Used my new sorting screens to separate my first batches of rolled stars. Next I will build up some of the smaller ones until I have enough large ones to switch to the second comp. layer.

Posted
Another kg of b.p. ready to go....i also noticed that i have a fairly nice pyro stash goin on but when you ramp production, those couple pounds of parlon, antimony compounds, nitrates n perchlorates....stuff you have bought in bulk more than once, seem rather insignificant as they dwindle and shrivel away.....sigh...
Posted
Nothing for me. Just thinking of you americans, wish you a nice and safe pyro-4th for tomorrow.
Posted

I gathered-up a bunch of gerbs, falls, fountains, candles, and QUIET aerials for Mama tomorrow. She likes 'quiet and pretty', and that's OK, because except for the 1.75" aerials, I made all the effects myself.

 

I have some 100-or-so AP "low smoke" falls in 20', 30', and 40' that are almost 15 years old. I didn't expect them even to light (because they're only in 'baggies'). Given our average year-round humidity, and the way AP comps react to it, I didn't have high expectations.

 

Every one took fire and performed to 'spec'! Hoorah!

 

Lloyd

Posted
I relabeled my containers with neat printer generated labels, and replaced their desiccant packs. Looks pretty... and cleaned up after last night's show.
Posted
Had to change shoot sites at the last minute do couldn't light any of my larger stuff but made do with a ton of consumer stuff and a tub full of homemade shells, rockets and comets. No one had seen a comet before so they were a hit.
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

I've been working on pink for a baby reveal in case my second grandbaby was also going to be a girl but my son let me off the hook! It's going to be a boy and I've got blue stars running out my ears since I've been experimenting with them lately. Made up some Tremalon comet mines and a few colored ones plus I have enough 1.4 stuff to make a nice little show. I'm so happy about a grandson that I can probably even hug the ex-wife tonight.

Posted

Happy Grandpa day! A new grandson is always a treat!

 

Today's 'pyro' day was spent burning gas in the mower, first to mow the front field. Then it rained while I was mowing, and all the clippings wadded up in great, ugly piles! So after the sun came out and dried things a bit, I set the mower another 1.5" higher, and tedded the whole field! DANG! The grass is growing 8" every five days!

 

I might have let it be, but we have 12 guests coming Sunday for slow-cooked brisket, and it had to look nice for them!

 

But Monday... back to 'real' pyro. Working on a bio-friendly shell for a client. THAT stuff, I just love! (sorry... can't give any details)

 

Lloyd

Posted
I remember my early rockets as being VERY eco-friendly. They made excellent fertilizer after soaking in a bucket to get them off my spindle!
Posted

I went to a metal show last time with a full compliment of stage effects including flash pots, flame effects, strobes, confetti cannons and gyro.

 

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Made another kilo of whistle to replace the screwed up batch I made earlier. Seems a tub of copper carbonate was mislabeled as copper oxychloride by the previous owner. I'm mixing 30% of the perc weight's worth of dark Al in the bad batch and making a large salute of the whole thing.

May get up the gumption to try a 3lb whistle on my U/H spindle today. I haven't had a good CATO or RUD in a while...

 

Edit: This batch sounds kind of slow and raspy rather than the shrill whistle I'm used to so I'm consigning it to burst enhancer and will go again with milled Swedish perc. Plenty of hot breezes blowing around today to dry up the solvent. My COPD loves it as well. :unsure:

Edited by OldMarine
  • Like 1
Posted

Too damned hot to mess with it so I'm getting the boat out on the lake and cooling my toes and I'll shoot a few BP rockets from the island in the river. Got some dye colored smoke bombs to test as well so that'll be a good spot so I don't turn the yard blue!

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Dammit man no lie! Those pics i uploaded today it was 99 degrees and no moving wind. We were roasting our arses off out in the warehouse. If sweat smelled good I wouldn't need a shower.

 

Got my lazy butt planted firmly in the a\c now!

Edited by rogeryermaw
  • Like 1
Posted

The bungled whistle turned salute was the biggest non-work related , non-HE related boom I've ever made and I am still half deaf. Most awesome shit ever!

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

The bungled whistle turned salute was the biggest non-work related , non-HE related boom I've ever made and I am still half deaf. Most awesome shit ever!

When you end up with an unexpected amount of "unusable" powder, making a salute is always a fun idea :D

And, in my experience, it's also the "safest" way to dispose of it: If you make a boom on purpose, then it won't happen by accident. I tried that. Not fun at all ;)

Edited by Ubehage
Posted

i managed to mess up 2 shells

 

this ring shell looks like it almost worked

 

and this one just shattered the stars

 

but atleast i got a handle on making bp those suckers were up there a lil to high i think

  • Like 1
Posted

but atleast i got a handle on making bp those suckers were up there a lil to high i think

I'd like to replicate that height. How much BP did you use?

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