1" Mortar for Comets and Mines

[Rueth]

By any chance do you know of any suppliers that can sell these ? Ideally HDPE or Aluminum. 

 

 

[Mumbles]

This might be about as close as you're going to get.  https://www.woodysrocks.com/store/p129/Star_Gun.html#/  

Otherwise, if you don't feel comfortable making your own, you may reach out to a mortar manufacturer and see if they can make you some custom.  I've had good experiences with https://www.kastnerhdpemortars.com/  personally.

The problem you're running into is that 1" is not a common size of class C or commercial pyrotechnics. The demand is quite low.  You may need to make your own. Paper tubes might be a little easier to find and make something out of, but not as durable.  https://pyrodirect.com/collections/paper-aerial-tubes-with-bases  That might work, but I didn't see any 1" listed.  

[Arthur]

I had some good 1" rocket motor tubes from Woody's a year back. 1" internal and over .25" wall thickness. They start out about 9" long and open ended, but you could plug them with epoxy or polyester resin or maybe some builder's mastic.

With a 1" bore you might find difficulties top fusing the product simply because of the thickness of the fuse or powder or wire. Drilling a side fuse hole like a canon touch hole may be necessary

[Richtee]

Prolly no way you’d be able to top fuse something that small. I mean you COULD pour some fff BP on the top and ignite it and have it “creep” down I suppose. 

[Almostparadise]

A bead of NC laquer topped w the fff running down the side of the shell to the lift cup could touch off a stub of BM into the lift. That seems like it could work, no?

[Arthur]

Describing this tube as a mortar tube (firework wise) tells me that the OP wants to make some multiple reloads just like a mortar tube. For this reason a mortar is typically the specified bore, the shell being slightly smaller. However the gap between the shell and the bore must let the leader pass freely, with enough gas to lubricate the launch, but retain enough gas to lift to a good height.

Retaining the lift gasses is the reason why single shot tubes (and individual tubes in cakes) are made in the tube then assembled and fused at the bottom. Getting a shell for a 1" mortar will not happen commercially, so success relies on the shells made being exactly the right fit with controlled gas leakage during the lift. A 1" shell with the normal QM or visco running down the side is already planning to lose a lot of the lift gas.

[rellim]

I use one inch HDPE gas pipe pulled out of a dumpster. I also use HDPE water pipe from Home Depot sold in 3 foot lengths. These are thinner and rated at 100 PSI, not good for reports since it is easy to forget the lift charge. I protect the touch holes with rivets with the pin knocked out.

[Almostparadise]

How did you get the rivit to stay put? Are you making re-loadable shells? I tried a 1 inch just recently and it wasn't worth the fuss imo. I have however been making 1 1/2" re-loadable cylinders. Using a 1/4" dowel to make the match pipe just two turns worth of 30lb craft. For the lift cup I looked around the net and found this easy to make simple origami pouch. Takes less than 1 minutes to cut the paper and fold up and comes out nice and tidy.

Edited September 8 by Almostparadise

[rellim]

On 9/7/2024 at 9:47 PM, Almostparadise said:

How did you get the rivit to stay put? Are you making re-loadable shells? I tried a 1 inch just recently and it wasn't worth the fuss imo. I have however been making 1 1/2" re-loadable cylinders. Using a 1/4" dowel to make the match pipe just two turns worth of 30lb craft. For the lift cup I looked around the net and found this easy to make simple origami pouch. Takes less than 1 minutes to cut the paper and fold up and comes out nice and tidy.

I press the rivets in and they mostly stay put.

Edited September 16 by rellim

[Almostparadise]

9 hours ago, rellim said:

I press the rivets in and they mostly stay put.

I wonder how long epoxy would hold up to secure them.

Edited September 16 by Almostparadise