Newbie Questions- Where to start

[Apex61]

Hey guys, trying to get started into the amateur pyro

I Have made some basic fountains and Bp compositions but nothing very impressive

I am considering making a mill

Looking for suggestions for things to make along with formulas for beginners

I would like to make my fountains burn higher but they only seem to go about a feet in the air

The formula i was using was 26 charcoal, 58 kno3 and 13 sulphur

I am in Australia so i am fairly limited to what i can get

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Andres1511]

Use a 65/25/10 ratio of potassium nitrate, charcoal, sulfur. Make your nozzles smaller, just not small enough they won't blow up. Your fountains will go a lot higher.

[PyroUK]

buy a mill, once you have a decent mill you can make rockets, then you can start making headers for the rockets, and build you way from there, you can get anything in australia you just need to know the right people

[Arthur]

Your first pyro tool should be a ball mill, you don't need a big one, a rock tumbled is fine if you have ceramic media.

 

Once you have a mill and can weigh carefully lots of fireworks are available to you. If you read this forum thoroughly (for a week of actual reading time) then lots of other Australian pyros become obvious and some suppliers of chems become apparent.

 

Searching the forum will bring up some things.

[mikeee]

A set of screens is needed to go along with the ball mill.

Without knowing what tools you have to work with we are shooting in the dark.

You will also need some sort of press or ramming tools for many projects.

You can always use a large mixing bowl for rolling stars or you can make your own star pumps.

A good set of hand tools and power tools and you can fabricate many of the tools yourself.

[Arthur]

Your first 50 hours of learning can come from reading and searching this site, Don't make the mistakes that have hurt others.

[Apex61]

Thanks guys, i have some basic dowel for ramming

I will keep reading on the site and i'm already finding it really interesting

What things should i be gathering to make a batch of stars, i know coloured ones can be a bit hard to get the supplies

Do you guys recommend buying a pre-made ball mill (rock tumbler) or making your own?

[mikeee]

Starting out a cheap little rock tumbler will get you by with some lead balls for media.

A set of mixing screens is next on the list, SkyLighter has a cheap set on sale a couple times a year.

Or you can buy the stainless steel screens and build your own frames for bigger screens.

Starting out the round screens SkyLighter sells will get you by.

A scale that measures in grams/ounces/pounds is needed to measure batches of chemicals.

Containers to mix your chemicals and store your compounds in.

A plastic or Stainless Steel mixing bowl can be used to roll your own stars.

A set of sorting screens can be made from 5-gallon buckets by drilling holes in the bottom.

A star pump can be made from a wood dowel and a tube/pipe that fits over the wood dowel.

A comet pump can be made in a similar fashion with a larger wood dowel and tube/sleeve.

A hydraulic press or arbor press is needed for pressing rocket motors, star plates, comet plates etc.

Basic BP motors can be rammed by hand with a dead blow hammer and rammers.

If you are using wood rammers they need to be made of hard wood or they won't last long.

Aluminum rammers are the best route in the long run.

Take some time and look at the Pyro tooling on Wolter, FireSmith, SkyLighter and Calebs websites.

Many tools you need can be made if you have access to a drill press, table saw and basic hand tools.

Pick one or two basic items to start building and collect tools and materials for these projects.

It takes quite a while to collect all of the tools needed to make everything Pyro.

SkyLighters TurboPyro is a good way to get started building a number of basic Pyro projects.

Many of the Pyro websites have tutorials that will help with questions and proper methods.

Some basic safety equipment is needed when working with Pyro compounds.

Learning about the hazards and steps needed to mitigate the risks should be on top of your list.

Edited August 9, 2015 by mikeee

[DaMounty]

As Mikeee stated, TurboPyro is an excellent place to begin.

[Mumbles]

I agree with most others. A ball mill will help you get into new and other interesting effects. Having good quality black powder will help make fountains that give a higher spray. It will also help to make other simple devices like mines, rockets, some stars, quickmatch, etc. It wont be of a lot of use to make stars if you have no way to get them into the air.

 

As to whether you you should buy or make a ball mill, that all depends on how handy you are. They're pretty simple to build actually. It could be done in a few hours I suspect. The jars are probably the most complicated part in all actuality. You can purchase drums as well. Being in Australia complicates things a little bit, since small rock tumblers are not quite as cheaply and widely available there as far as I know. If you think you can build one, that might be your best shot. Hopefully some fellow countrymen can chime in and offer some advice.

 

I'm not sure if you've seen the PFP yet, but it has a variety of formulas. Not all are good or safe, but it has some good information. Using some coarse charcoal might help to add some more height and effect to your current fountains. ]

 

http://www.privatedata.com/byb/pyro/pfp/fountains.html

[braddsn]

Apex, as for a ball mill.... it really depends on how much bp you want to make, and how fast you want to make it. A small rock tumbler can work, but if you ever decide to start making 4 inch shells and larger, (or many 3" shells), you will be very limited. I would suggest a Thumler's Tumbler, model "B". With this, you can make 500-600g of bp at a time, and do it rather quickly (4 hours). With this kind of capacity, you will not be limited later if you decide to step up production. Ideally, you would custom build one. If you are handy like that, it is probably the way to go.

Edited August 10, 2015 by braddsn

[DaMounty]

Here is my ball mill prefect for my needs right now and it can be expanded later on.

 

 

[mikeee]

Most people should answer the following question when getting into Pyro.

How much money do they want to spend on a yearly basis for the hobby?

Determining your available funds will help in deciding what projects and tools to acquire.

Everyone wants to build 12" ball shells, 6 pound rockets, 6 foot tall multi-break cylinder shells etc. but the chemicals and tools required to build at the level will add up very quickly. Some people get excited about the hobby and purchase a supply of chemicals and a few tools and then realize the amount of time and the dedicated safe work area required for making the compounds and building the items and having a place to legally store them. Most people should start at a small scale and learn the craft and determine if this will be a life long interest. As you learn the craft you will have plenty of opportunities to purchase other peoples inventory and tools when the time is right. If you have a true passion for the craft you will soon figure out where your funds are spent and decide if you can afford to purchase or decide to build your tools. This is a hands on craft which requires the skills and knowledge of multiple trades, chemistry, mechanics, electrical, electronics, wood-working and metal fabrication. A dedicated work shop/work space is required for safely building most pyro projects. Joining a pyro club is good way to work on bigger projects without the initial investment in a fully stocked pyro shop. Working with other Pyros in a club will also provide opportunities for acquiring tools that they no longer use.

Edited August 11, 2015 by mikeee

[Twignberry]

Hey Apex, living in Aus definitely makes it more challenging but most stuff is available.

 

Are you using bunnings charcoal or making your own? Charcoal is the most important component and can change your fountain from dribbling flames to a violent CATO. If not already making your own, search for the TLUD method, cheap and easy. In a few hours it can turn a few pine pallets into a good amount of pyro grade charcoal.

 

A ball mill is absolutely essential if you want to advance. A small double barrel lortone does about 400g of bp comps each run. Media could be cast lead .38 cal projectiles. You should be able to pick these up without a gun license, they generally only require the license with primers and powder. Even with mill jars that are very undercharged they still seem to make super hot bp in 4-5 hours just fine (8% lift still throws shells too high).

 

The easiest next steps would be getting some aluminium powder, it can be added to bp type comps 5%-20% to add impressive sparks. Just do some reading on the safety of ramming metal containing comps as there are a few notes. You can find it in cold casting hobby shops for 20bucks/kg

 

If you are ready to make some launched devices, a star mine is a good start. They are quick and simple to make. Search N1 and D1 glitter compositions to make some cut stars, they are truly beautiful and simple. There's no need to rush to colour compositions, everyone watching my shows seems to appreciate glitter and charcoal firedust much more. If you really want some colour, a simple one that produces an aqua colour with a beautiful firedust tail is the granite star. Zinc powder is a little more challenging to find but you can get it online for about 25-30/kg.

 

Have you got fuse sorted? With sticky tape, you can make quickmatch leaders using hot granulated BP. For delay fuse, I never trusted black match so just used spolletes rammed with slow bp to give a delay time to get to a safe distance.

 

Just keep it safe and discreet. Read some of the accident reports, they are sobering and always be mindful of how flammable Aus is. Summer is coming

[Apex61]

Thanks for the reply everyone , i made my own charcoal with a paint tin and not 100% on the wood, i happen to have some pallets so I might give it another go using my pallets as wood. Found a pretty good ball mill (3lbs rock tumbler) for about $160 AUD posted which seems pretty good Edited August 11, 2015 by Apex61

[jords18]

Hi in Aus, I too make fountains and nozzles work great and try and get thick tubes also compact it nicely. My fountains go up around 2 metres and my blackmatch has been progressing aswell if you need any chems just buy them off Auschems. They have heaps of variety...

[rogeryermaw]

if you're using wood from pallets or other such manufactured items, it is a good idea, after you crush your charcoal but before you put it in a mill, to run some powerful magnets over the coal. a stray staple or bit of nail in there gives a very dangerous potential for sparks in your mill or while screening.

[FloridaCracker]

Rockets are a good starting point. With a core burner you can make some great rockets that will lift adequate weight without a ball mill. A coffee mill and a fine kitchen sieve is plenty to start.

 

You can keep busy a long time with some nitrate, sulfur, and some cans to make charcoal in. A little aluminum powder and the knowledge to roll paper tubes and you can make tons of things as long as you don't have to have colors and can live with gold and silver sparks.

[Col]

when you have good fountains you also have wheel drivers The mill will give you end burner rockets which can be used for girandolas. Yankee`s flashing stars is another good star comp that can be made from basic bp chems plus aluminium.