Looking for Jim Freeman formulas

[AzoMittle]

I already have four aqua star formulas attributed to him and have been rather happy with the one I have tried. By chance does anyone happen to know any of Jim Freeman's other formulas? I figure it's worth asking at least....

[OldMarine]

That long ass word in your signature makes the post unreadable on a mobile device. It forces everything into a tiny left hand column.

[AzoMittle]

That long ass word in your signature makes the post unreadable on a mobile device. It forces everything into a tiny left hand column.

Thanks for letting me know, I'm removing it.

[OldMarine]

It's strange, that one word ran straight across the screen but everything else moved left and shrank.

 

I'm reading tonight so I'll add him to my searches.

[AzoMittle]

So I found out that Jim has published several times in the PGII Bulletins but that the PGII publishers are vehemently opposed to sharing that information. Which is downright stupid in my opinion, information should be shared, it must be preserved, another 10, 20, 30 years and that information won't exist anywhere, the paper copies will get lost or destroyed with time. The only way to get a copy is to first get a copy and then mail a letter to the publisher hoping they still have old copies laying around. Not putting things into digital copies or online is NOT "protecting intellectual property", plenty of people/companies have digital intellectual property and manage to protect it just fine. (Okay, enough ranting, this kind of thinking drives me bonkers. )

 

I think Mike Swisher has posted on this forum before, I'll see about shooting him an email or something. Mike, if you happen to see this before I can reach out to you, I am interested in compiling the bulletins, with a focus on the formulas and their associated info.

 

 

Freeman, Jim - Lampblack Willow Stars 69
Freeman, Jim - Blue and Red Star Formulae 47
Freeman, Jim - Comments on Multiple Break Shells 52
Freeman, Jim - Its Not the Heat, It's the Humidity Dewpoint 61
Freeman, Jim - Notes on Time Fuse for Aerial Shells 47
Freeman, Jim - Strobe and Whistle Rocket Tips 114/30
Freeman, Jim - Strobe and Whistle Rocket Tips 114/30
Freeman, Jim - Sure Fire Rocket Transfer Fire 88
Freeman, Jim - Tips for Making Polvorone 50
Freeman, Jim - True Yellow, Part 2 60
Freeman, Jim - Wetting Star Compositions (For Cutting) 45

 

 

 

PGI Bulletins are not on line, and as long as I have anything to say about it
will not be. They are for members-only distribution and putting them up in
electronic format is a sure way for the Guild to lose control of its
intellectual property.

The supply of back issues of the PGI Bulletin is in the hands of the
Secretary/Treasurer, Frank Kuberry. Instructions for ordering are published on
the inside back cover of each issue of the Bulletin along with his address,
telephone, and e-mail. I do not know if he has any copies left of No. 97. You
will have to ask him. If you can't get what you want let me know (my postal
address and e-mail are in the Bulletin) and I can send you a photocopy of the
desired article.

Mike Swisher
VP/Publications, PGI

Edited August 3, 2016 by AzoMittle

[OldMarine]

There are 3 aqua, one blue and two purple formulae listed on Passfire and a couple of mentions on Danny Creagan's page but that,s all I've found so far.

There may be more to be gleaned from PF but searching the site is a PITA.

Edited August 3, 2016 by OldMarine

[dagabu]

So I found out that Jim has published several times in the PGII Bulletins but that the PGII publishers are vehemently opposed to sharing that information. Which is downright stupid in my opinion, information should be shared, it must be preserved, another 10, 20, 30 years and that information won't exist anywhere, the paper copies will get lost or destroyed with time. The only way to get a copy is to first get a copy and then mail a letter to the publisher hoping they still have old copies laying around. Not putting things into digital copies or online is NOT "protecting intellectual property", plenty of people/companies have digital intellectual property and manage to protect it just fine. (Okay, enough ranting, this kind of thinking drives me bonkers. )

 

I think Mike Swisher has posted on this forum before, I'll see about shooting him an email or something. Mike, if you happen to see this before I can reach out to you, I am interested in compiling the bulletins, with a focus on the formulas and their associated info.

 

 

 

 

Ill back Mike up on that one as well. This is one of the perks to paying for membership, just like Passfire, pay to join. I have many, many bulletins, if you would like, I can lend some to you to read.

[AzoMittle]

 

Ill back Mike up on that one as well. This is one of the perks to paying for membership, just like Passfire, pay to join. I have many, many bulletins, if you would like, I can lend some to you to read.

I will gladly take you up on that one Dave!

 

I'm not saying the bulletins should be published completely free and open, but they should be preserved and made available digitally. It's the publishers prerogative as to how they want to publish and at what price, no arguing that, but it is a tragedy if there is no way to get to that information, it is essentially never published at all. Kind of a Library of Alexandria thing.

 

And not all of us live within PGI's working area or can attend the conventions and paying $100USD a year just to maybe get access to the most recent bulletin is a hard sell. If there was an option to buy the old bulletins at a reasonable price, I would.

Edited August 3, 2016 by AzoMittle

[Mumbles]

I once had the opportunity to purchase a huge backlog of PGI bulletins a while back. I'm still kicking myself for not finding the money to make it work.

 

I agree with Mike to an extent. Distributing digital copies is a recipe for piracy, and I doubt the PGI has the resources to do it in a way to circumvent this. However, if you've ever inquired about older bulletin copies you'll more than likely find that they're largely unavailable past maybe 5 years, and spotty past a couple. This puts people into sort of a catch-22. They want you to purchase old issues, which is reasonable, but have no desire to reprint them. In my personal opinion they should at least allow the digitization and purchase by guild members for a fair price of bulletins older than say 5 or 10 years. They're gathering a new source of income, people get access to the information, it wont interfere with guild business or membership, it's cheap, and you can't lose money on shit you never intend to reprint anyway.

 

Azomittle, for what it's worth, the PGI anthology contains all of the technical articles from 1998 to 2010.

 

Edit: I was told that the pre-1998 articles are in the works actually, and they're considering a post-2010 edition as well.

[Boophoenix]

They do sell some older bulletins. I am not sure how far back they go or the way it works. I think further details can be found on PGI's website with contact info. Anthology can be purchased as a non member at an additional charge.

 

Unlike Mumbles I managed to snag some early editions not long ago. They do come to market from time to time.

 

Like others I'll agree with Mike. The information was submitted to PGI for their use they are welcome to do with it as they see fit. Many people,go on to share their formulas further like David Blesser. Sometimes lots of work goes into the research of formulas. I spent two years trying to figure out a formula that isn't shared publicly. I consider it kind of a crowning pyro achievement for myself to learn enough to figure it out. However I don't share it as I think I may be close to developed formula till I have a chance to inquire about it to the owner.

[AzoMittle]

To clarify I don't think this is a black and white problem, 1 and 0. I think like a lot of things it lies in the gray zone somewhere between 0 and 1. The printing press is a great invention but with a niche market like pyro, perhaps it isn't the best (read: only) answer; I don't have an end-all be-all solution either at the moment though.

 

As things stand, I'm still hoping that someone can share those Jim Freeman formulas specifically.

 

Boophoenix I look forward to seeing what you've come up with! Anything you can share now? A video or notes or what kind of formula it is?

[Boophoenix]

AzoMittle, it was just a flame projector formula. To most kind of minuscule, but with no chemistry knowledge and only a few years now in pyro it was an accomplishment for myself. The process to get there was quite educating and rewarding.

 

I like the colors of the art more than the noise so I tend to steer in that direction. I also tend with limit time to tinker to take on more difficult things. The only stars I've ever made are rolled. The only two shells I've ever made the first was a class of Lloyd's which was pretty awesome to build a first shell and see it fired. Everything was prepared and just an assembly process, but as a newbie it was pretty cool. I took it with around 30 others that many had never done any manufacturing. Ironically the women in the class while lacking some building scene the guys may have had a little more skill at built some of the better shells with more detail to color and design. As a guest of the class I didn't attempt much along the lines of effect and was pretty intertwined watching and helping others as I had more exposure to the process than they did it seemed.

 

My second was a little more of a challenge it was a pure solo adventure. It didn't turn out great, but I knew where the issues were during build and expected all but one. I found out some months later in another conversation my stars were not bound well and likely shattered during the break. Which was an area I knew would be weak and was working on a booster, but life event and time constrains I ended excluding the booster.

 

I faced a couple,of challenges along the way too. About the 7th layer they all broke up and fell off. On the second attempt near 3/4 done a crack formed nearly halfway around the meteor. I recovered from it. Again another great educational experiment. I learned a little about how stars take up comp as you can really see it when they are 3+ inches in diameter nearing 4 inches. It was interesting how fast I could dry it, but in return how fast the charcoal based comp would draw moisture back. Also learned on my first spoolette be a little gentler when the side blew out of it, lol.

 

I still consider myself very much the newbie as time and place to experiment have eluded me for a while. I'm workng on correcting that though to a degree though. I've slowly hopefully worked past the " oh crap, I have to aquire more supplies " hurdle to do a project of interest. During the aqusition time I've been trying to learn more about the how's and why's things work the best I could. Hopefully the next step will be being able to dedicate more time applying some of the things I've learned or think I've learned to find out.

 

It's gonna take a minute to figure out the forum platform before I can share any visual items. I'm not seeing any simple processes to do so other than just posting links, but I've not looked into doing so either yet. Just checking out the new platform to me trying to settle in.

 

P.S. I agree it's not purely black and white or 1's and 0's. One of the state clubs has recently had some of this discussion about their information. While I'd be in awe to see and have access to it I do respect their concerns. A simple analogy would be helping a friend out with some funds compared to tax funds. You can chose if you want to help your friend and hopefully trust what they'll do with it. While tax revenue you have zero control over. Occasionally I share things with friends that I do not share publicly for various reasons. Either they're new to me or I'd like for the friend or myself to display the new idea first. Or something simpler like I think it needs more refining before sharing.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Boophoenix

[marks265]

I know I have a yellow formula from him and maybe a couple of others. I just don't know if I am allowed to pass the information on. Some were shortly after his last accident and was from memory because his hard copies were destroyed at that time.

[AzoMittle]

I know I have a yellow formula from him and maybe a couple of others. I just don't know if I am allowed to pass the information on. Some were shortly after his last accident and was from memory because his hard copies were destroyed at that time.

 

Sorry to hear that he was in an accident(s). I don't know Jim or anything about him other than that I made one of his aqua's, liked it a lot, and want to make more of his stuff.