rbpwrd240 Posted July 10, 2017 Posted July 10, 2017 Howdy gang, I have made some post's before learning about black match and making black powder. That went well and like everyone I also learned about ball mills, flash powder etc. Now my question is this, I really want to make my first 2" Artillery shell. I am looking for a better willow then I can get on the consumer market. If anyone can send me in the right direction to start my research I would appreciate it. This will be my first 2" shell and my first willow. I have done some very simple 1" shells already. Thanks for any input. Sincerely,Alex R.
Mumbles Posted July 10, 2017 Posted July 10, 2017 It wont be hard to make something better than you can find on the consumer market. I don't know about you, but nothing is particularly impressive out there to me. Before I get down to details, I just want to caution you on a couple of things and probably burst your bubble a little bit. Firstly, the hangtime of stars has very little do to with their size. A formula that might work well in bigger shells will pelt the ground with flaming debris and sparks in smaller shells. Stars with 10 second hang times don't care that they're in a 2" shell. I would avoid any formulas that have coarse charcoal or very coarse metals for this specific reason. Secondly, good willow stars are not always easy to make. The formulas are designed to utilize atmospheric oxygen to complete the burn. This makes them kind of hard to test without some experience and feel for it. I would also take a slight step back. Shells are fun and all, but they are functionally a well oiled machine with several different parts that need to work in concert. My best advice to you would be to start with some star mines. They're visually still very impressive, and more importantly they'll give you a chance to make sure your lift and burst are up to par, priming is good, and are a good way to test streamers. Dialing in the burn rate and knowing what to expect will be important to make a willow or streamer shell successfully. As far as a formula, for a 2" shell I'd start with a formula called "Chrysanthemum 8". It's a charcoal streamer from Takeo Shimizu. As an aside, he wrote a book called Fireworks: the Art, Science, and Technique (or FAST) that is excellent if you're interested in ball shells. Chrysanthemum 8 (or C8) is going to be a sort of intermediate burn rate and hang time. There are also some tricks you can play with it to speed up or slow down the burn rate, or increase the hang time in the air. There is a faster version if you need it (Chrysanthemum 6), and a slower version as well called Tiger Tail (equivalent to Chrysanthemum 10). I use a modified Chrysanthemum 6 in 2" shells personally for a certain effect, but it's not really a willow. Anyway, the formula is easy to make, pretty cheap, and pretty safe. Were you thinking about making these as ball shells or cylinder shells eventually? Probably the best source of information on ball shells is the aforementioned book by Shimizu. For cylinder shells, the best resource is Pyrotechnica IX. There's an article in it commonly referred to as the Fulcanelli Articles or Fulcanelli Papers. It covers everything you need to know about basic Italo-American cylinder shells. The second part is in Pyrotechnica XI, which is also worthwhile, but covers more advanced shells and techniques. 2
braddsn Posted July 11, 2017 Posted July 11, 2017 What Mumbles said! C-8 is a great comp, and I would suggest adding 10% Titanium (spherical) to it. It adds a nice sparking effect and would make a nice willow shell. I assume you are going to cut the stars? I would say 6mm would be a good starting point for size. Let us know if you have more questions. Good luck!
pyrokid Posted July 11, 2017 Posted July 11, 2017 I second all the notions regarding studying texts and reading and such. I feel that the goal of this is to come to a point where, when confronted with some unknown, you can apply intuition with good success rather than immediately consulting a book or a forum. I agree that shells are complex but if you have the right testing environment (adequate setback distances, minimal fire hazard), It's good to try shells fairly early on in the learning process. The failures that occur will be very instructive.
rbpwrd240 Posted July 15, 2017 Author Posted July 15, 2017 Thanks guys, great info. Sorry for my delay in response I had to tend to a family emergency. Ill review the supplied info. Again thank you!!!
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