a newbs progress and question thread

[RiderX]

thanks guys i do have a porartable swamp cooler i can setup on my work bench when needed i imagine that would help out some.

 

i need to wait a night to shoot the 2.5 inch ball shell i did with the tt and d1 we got a thunderstorm moving in right now , though it will probably go right around us like usual

i just cracked open a 6 pack so even if it doesnt rain no fireworks for me tonight

Edited August 2, 2017 by RiderX

[RiderX]

just gota add the fuse, comet and shes ready to go

 

http://i.imgur.com/2Wsqzy7.jpg?1

 

i did cut afew larger tt stars so i think im going to put a TT and a d1 comet on this one

 

the lift cup is an really on there good with a very weak bottom what im hoping is that the lift charge will blow out the bottom of the lift cup and it will stay o n the shell hopefully actting like a stabilizer so it goes off right side up

Edited August 2, 2017 by RiderX

[RiderX]

deffinatly getting the hang of it now

 

 

now to be more careful when filling with stars to make it all even

[greenlight]

Wow nice improvement on the previous shells your definitely getting somewhere and the stars are igniting from the burst now.

 

Nice tail too.

[RiderX]

Wow nice improvement on the previous shells your definitely getting somewhere and the stars are igniting from the burst now.

 

Nice tail too.

thank you , i was amazed when i shot that shell , felt really good to get one right so far , just wish i woulda taken my time filling it with the starsso it would have burst nicer , but i just wanted to see if i had finally got a handle on the stars , for the tail on that shell i used 4x 3/8's tt stars , and 2x D1 stars , definitely made a nice rising effect, aparently the lift cup i had one it worked as well because the shell went off right side up , or it was just dumb luck

 

lol when filming it i was so focused on the tail when i saw it i almost didnt get the burst

Edited August 4, 2017 by RiderX

[greenlight]

I spent the extra time filling my last cylinder shell as nicely as possible and it paid off with a nicer break so that is definitely worth doing.

Make sure everything's tight in there and not moving around too if your doing cylinder shells.

 

What are you using for a delay for all your shells? Even the ones that didn't burst properly.

Are they top fused or is the delay on the bottom of the shell and ignited by the lift?

[RiderX]

I spent the extra time filling my last cylinder shell as nicely as possible and it paid off with a nicer break so that is definitely worth doing.

Make sure everything's tight in there and not moving around too if your doing cylinder shells.

 

What are you using for a delay for all your shells? Even the ones that didn't burst properly.

Are they top fused or is the delay on the bottom of the shell and ignited by the lift?

im using 1/4 time fuse , that im cross matching with strands pulled out of a roll of quick match that i bought , fuses are on the bottom of the shells right above the lift charge .

im almost out of pink 5 second fuse so ill start using the quickmatch on the shells /w 3 inch piece of visco on the end until i get more pink fuse , i still put visco on the end of my pink fuse as well

 

im just doing ball shells for now , but as soon as ai burn up my supply of hemi's im going to switch to cyl shells ( going to take a while i bought alot of hemi's lol )

 

that last shell i posted was a 2.5 inch , no break booster added

Edited August 4, 2017 by RiderX

[Wiley]

Cylinder shells really shine when you start getting into comet and insert shells. I would say they have a steeper learning curve than ball shells, but it's not at all hard to get good results. Just takes patience and the right materials.

 

Rolling paper or chipboard tightly onto a former is a simple, but very important skill to learn. Spiking will take some getting used to. Insert shells will try your patience. All part of the fun!

 

I've done a bit of work with multibreak cylinders (up to 6 breaks and a report) that fit consumer 1.91" mortars, if you're interested.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Wiley

[RiderX]

 

I've done a bit of work with multibreak cylinders (up to 6 breaks and a report) that fit consumer 1.91" mortars, if you're interested.

thanks, ill hit ya up later about that , i wanna get consitantly good ball shells before i move on to cyl shells, though i already bought everything i need to make cyl shells . i.e the paper string for spiking , disc cutter etc

 

since i got the day off from work , im actually working on a 3 inch shell right now , that will have multiple small reports as the rising effect timed about .5 seconds apart , unfortunatly i can only get 3 on the shell, ideally i think i would like 4 total but its not going to happen on such a small shell , have no idea if it will work , but someone on youtube that i follow had brought it up in a video so i figured id give it a shot

[RiderX]

2.5 all TT

 

http://i.imgur.com/6d6bIEO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/m86R3Z5.jpg

 

roughly 12-13g bp for break

 

wish i could cut my stars all the same size , i think im going to make a guide with even spaced slots to quide my cutter

[Wiley]

You can lightly stick a piece of 4 mesh screen to the patty just before cutting. This leaves a grid lightly imprinted on the surface which can be followed.

 

I've always just eyeballed them though, and they come out close enough. I like to dust the patty with screen-mixed powder when making kno3-based stars. When doing that, I flip the strips 90 degrees so the freshly cut face is oriented up toward me so I can dust that surface with more prime. I do the same when cutting the strips into cubes. Doing that lets you see your work from multiple angles so you can correct your technique if you don't like what you see.

[RiderX]

^^ shell is done and i want to go shoot it in 2 hours when it gets dark but it looks like the sky is going top open up any minute now

[RiderX]

well since it's pouring i started another shell i think this one is going to be really nice

its full of TT with a glitter ring in the center

http://i.imgur.com/BHb5vY5.jpg

 

had to go fix the one half as stars fell in when i was putting in the burst

[OldMarine]

Pack some polverone around those stars before pasting. Zero empty space!

[RiderX]

Pack some polverone around those stars before pasting. Zero empty space!

I dont have any, and i just finished pasting the 5th layer , i can shake the shell nothing is moving around at all.

kinda wishing i would have thrown just a lil bit of booster in there but we will see how it does without it

[RiderX]

an hour later and i just finished layer 12 im done for the night . Lol its 1:30 am , 3 more layers tomorrow and its done

[RiderX]

man i really wanna try the reports for a rising effect except im afriad they will dmg the shell , the only way i can think to affix them to the shell is either paste them on or hot glue them on like comets

i belive the shell would survive the 2 smaller ones that go off first ( 2-4 grams each ) but i think the final 10 gram report that goes off a split second before the shell would destroy it

 

 

any ideas on that guys

[PeteyPyro]

IDK, RiderX, if I've ever seen this done, but maybe use strong paracord (Ny-Cord) to physically tie reports, such that they trail or are dragged along with the main shell. They could be contained in the lift cup (one on either side of the time fuse), and as the shell leaves the gun, they would be dragged along with a 2 or 3 foot piece of fire/blast resistant nylon paracord. The reports would have to be strong enough to survive the lift pressure blast, and the fuse would have to be carefully hot-melt glued, taped, and maybe primed to avoid premature, but ensure reliable ignition. An interesting project for sure.

[RiderX]

IDK, RiderX, if I've ever seen this done, but maybe use strong paracord (Ny-Cord) to physically tie reports, such that they trail or are dragged along with the main shell. They could be contained in the lift cup (one on either side of the time fuse), and as the shell leaves the gun, they would be dragged along with a 2 or 3 foot piece of fire/blast resistant nylon paracord. The reports would have to be strong enough to survive the lift pressure blast, and the fuse would have to be carefully hot-melt glued, taped, and maybe primed to avoid premature, but ensure reliable ignition. An interesting project for sure.

i dont have any rope i could use off hand , but it got me to thinking what i do have , and i bet a piece of .035 welding wire out of the mig welder would work great , obviously slight fallout danger , but thats not an issue for me for this ,

 

im thinking use the wire but instead of putting them under the shell lay them ontop of the shell to help protect them from the lift blast( pretty sure that cross matched time fuse would be reliable enough to be above the shell instead of under it ), once the shell clears the mortar tube they will fall behind and get dragged by the shell/wire threw the air.

 

im actually heading over to the shop in a lil bit ill pull out a piece of wire and hook it to a scale anchored to the bench and see just how much force it takes to break the wire .

knowing the weight of the rising reports on the wire , + and aprox shell speed should be pretty easy to calculate the load on the wire

 

on the other hand i have bailing twine which im pretty sure would survive the blast

Edited August 5, 2017 by RiderX

[RiderX]

progress progress progress wohooo

 

first up my mini cans

 

second up the 2.5 inch TT

 

 

and last but not least the 3 inch TT with D1 ring

unfortunatly the ring didnt work but it still looked good , camera really didnt pick up the tt stars on this one looked way better in person

[RiderX]

pisses me off i couldnt replicate the tail from the previous shell

[RiderX]

on those mini shells im using 7g of bp to lift them , and the shells themselves are filled about halfway with bp and just a few stars ,

 

would it be better to break those mini shells with flash/slow flash or something else more powerfull then bp ?

id like to see if i could get more stars inside the shell's and get then to burst a lil bigger

the tubes are 1 inch id x 2.5 inches long , the fuse side plug is recessed in about about 5/8's if an inch so i can get the right timing from the visco fuse so not a whole lot of volume left inside of them

[greenlight]

Is your black powder burst granulated/riced?

 

I use 75:25 granulated BP/Benzoate whistle to break smaller shells (1 to 2 inch diameter) and it works well. Nice sharp breaks with even spread. They are spiked as well though.

 

I have heard using whistle to boost is better as it doesn't have the bright flash that can ruin the look like using flash booster.

Edited August 6, 2017 by greenlight

[RiderX]

Is your black powder burst granulated/riced?

 

I use 75:25 granulated BP/Benzoate whistle to break smaller shells (1 to 2 inch diameter) and it works well. Nice sharp breaks with even spread. They are spiked as well though.

 

I have heard using whistle to boost is better as it doesn't have the bright flash that can ruin the look like using flash booster.

yeah im using my redgum granulated powder for burst and lift 2-4fa granulation , i think my 2.5 shells could use some boost but the 3's seem fine as they burst big enough

 

i wont make whistle after reading about it , atleast not yet

Edited August 6, 2017 by RiderX

[greenlight]

Yeah granulated BP will still do fine for the smaller diameter shells, that is all I used for the first ones I made. The confinement and packing of the contents has a lot of effect on the final burst as well I think.

 

I am about to try my first 3 inch cylinder shell as I have only just started making aerial shells a few months ago. All my previous experience was with slightly more energetic materials haha and rockets.

 

I am goint to use 4:1 meal coated rice hulls for the burst though.

Don't know if you have read of them but they weigh a lot less and a fill a lot more space so you can cut weight for the larger shells.

They are basically just BP coated on rice hulls and are as fast burning if not more so than standard granulated lift.

Edited August 7, 2017 by greenlight