ST1DinOH Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 just curious as to what you all would recomend as a "starter project" for someone with no chems, no tools, and no equipment. basicly i've been a 1.4 junkie for years and i'm wanting to get started building shells and making my own stars. so i just wondered what a good stepping stone was that i could do that wouldn't require a ton of money. basicly whats the cheapest, easiest stars to make that someone with little experience can do without screwing it up? i'd like to make some 3 inch willow shells but i have no idea if thoes are complicated, easy, or somewhere in between.
nath0r Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 Well, you're going to need to spend some money no matter what you make, but a good starter point is to buy the 3 most common chemicals in pyrotechnics, Potassium Nitrate, Charcoal and Sulphur. With these ingriedients you'll be able to make black powder (which in itself is a starting point for anyone just starting pyrotechnics). As you stated in your post, you want to make some stars, TigerTail stars use the same 3 chemicals used in black powder just in different ratios, you'll be able to find the guides to making TigerTail on this forum. Hope this was helpful, and remember, safety first. Good luck
Mumbles Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 Willow or other charcoal streamers are actually one of the easiest shells to make. Well, the willow part of it is a bit touchy as it depends a great deal upon your charcoal. I'd say for about $80 you could be well on your way. This includes all needed chemicals for the charcoal streamer shell and black powder, ball mill, media, fuse, shell casings, and a few other odds and ends. It would probably be more than enough for several dozen shells, and after that, likely only the chemicals would need to be replaced which are the cheaper stuff. Ball mill - Harbor Freight (~$20)Media - 50 cal lead shot, around 100 ($10)Potassium Nitrate/Sulfur/CharcoalTime fuseViscoShell hemispheresRice Hulls - Home brew store To get off on the right foot, you will want good charcoal. This can be purchased (www.customcharcoal.com or www.artisancharcoals.com). I'd suggest going with the willow. It will make good black powder both for lift and blackmatch. One can also purchase commercial blackpowder, but it is rather expensive. Visco can be used in place of the blackmatch as well, but again it's expensive as not as traditional. For good tails, one may want to consider pine charcoal as well. These materials can be made at home for much cheaper than purchasing them as well. I would suggest this over buying it, as the product often turns out better. For fast black powder suitible for lift look for willow, balsa(expensive), poplar, aspen, cottonwood, even maple. There are many more actually, but those are generally the most common. For slower charcoals more suitable for tails pine is generally the wood of choice. I find that commercial airfloat from pyro suppliers also makes longer tails. There is a product called lump hardwood charcoal that is sold for cooking purposes that works adequately for both uses.
mormanman Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 Um I've thought about this a little. If you can't find williow use pecan (my personal favorite so far) for the lift and newspaper for the stars. Pecan burns faster than newspaper so I think it would make a better break than newspaper. And in order fuse and shells I recommend pyrocreation.com. Its a heck of alot cheapier that cannon fuse. I got 100 ft of visco for half the price of cannonfuse and the shipping at pyrocreation is $2 for 2 week and cannonfuse is like $6. So there you go.
Gottagotomoz Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 As stated above, you will need KNO3, C, and S to get started. Now the reason you need good charcoal, is because lift powder needs to be fast. I personally use balsa charcoal, although it is expensive. A quick run to your local hobby shop, will supply you with a good amount of balsa wood in which you can make your own charcoal with. Once again, making charcoal is a preference, so if you'd rather buy it, I don't blame you. Just letting you know of the possibility. As for making stars, look for charcoal streamers. These are all very simple compositions which can be made with the bare minimum. Also, cutting stars makes for a quick, cheap, and effecient way of making stars. I've also used various metal tubing for pumps, along with syringe pumps, however cutting has proven to be much more practical. Good luck, and stay safe.
ST1DinOH Posted October 4, 2007 Author Posted October 4, 2007 Well, you're going to need to spend some money no matter what you make, but a good starter point is to buy the 3 most common chemicals in pyrotechnics, Potassium Nitrate, Charcoal and Sulphur. With these ingriedients you'll be able to make black powder (which in itself is a starting point for anyone just starting pyrotechnics). As you stated in your post, you want to make some stars, TigerTail stars use the same 3 chemicals used in black powder just in different ratios, you'll be able to find the guides to making TigerTail on this forum. Hope this was helpful, and remember, safety first. Good luck thanks, this is exactly what i was hoping for, a good starting point. Willow or other charcoal streamers are actually one of the easiest shells to make. Well, the willow part of it is a bit touchy as it depends a great deal upon your charcoal. I'd say for about $80 you could be well on your way. This includes all needed chemicals for the charcoal streamer shell and black powder, ball mill, media, fuse, shell casings, and a few other odds and ends. It would probably be more than enough for several dozen shells, and after that, likely only the chemicals would need to be replaced which are the cheaper stuff. Ball mill - Harbor Freight (~$20)Media - 50 cal lead shot, around 100 ($10)Potassium Nitrate/Sulfur/CharcoalTime fuseViscoShell hemispheresRice Hulls - Home brew store To get off on the right foot, you will want good charcoal. This can be purchased (www.customcharcoal.com or www.artisancharcoals.com). I'd suggest going with the willow. It will make good black powder both for lift and blackmatch. One can also purchase commercial blackpowder, but it is rather expensive. Visco can be used in place of the blackmatch as well, but again it's expensive as not as traditional. For good tails, one may want to consider pine charcoal as well. These materials can be made at home for much cheaper than purchasing them as well. I would suggest this over buying it, as the product often turns out better. For fast black powder suitible for lift look for willow, balsa(expensive), poplar, aspen, cottonwood, even maple. There are many more actually, but those are generally the most common. For slower charcoals more suitable for tails pine is generally the wood of choice. I find that commercial airfloat from pyro suppliers also makes longer tails. There is a product called lump hardwood charcoal that is sold for cooking purposes that works adequately for both uses. WOW thaks for the info. so willows and tiger tails sound like a good/easy/cheap starting point. that should be enough to keep me busy for a whiel. luckily i'm already part of the way there with a full assortment of fuses visco and guns to test with. got lots of 1 3/4 hemi's and about 1/2 a dozen 3's left to play around with. also a few cans of goex (4f and 1F)...but i would like to make my own. i'm sure the details of all these processes are explained somewhere in this forum so i'll use the search unless someone has some links to help me along the way. man, this forum is great. learning lots already. one more question though: is there a special way to get charcoal from wood rather than ash. i have acess to all sorts of differnt hard and soft woods around the area that i could use for making charcoal (NW ohio) so a link to that would be great. we have bonfires all through football season so i think i can get a hold of some burnt wood without a problem.
k1ley4evr Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 Well, you're going to need to spend some money no matter what you make, but a good starter point is to buy the 3 most common chemicals in pyrotechnics, Potassium Nitrate, Charcoal and Sulphur. With these ingriedients you'll be able to make black powder (which in itself is a starting point for anyone just starting pyrotechnics). As you stated in your post, you want to make some stars, TigerTail stars use the same 3 chemicals used in black powder just in different ratios, you'll be able to find the guides to making TigerTail on this forum. Hope this was helpful, and remember, safety first. Good luck thanks, this is exactly what i was hoping for, a good starting point. Willow or other charcoal streamers are actually one of the easiest shells to make. Well, the willow part of it is a bit touchy as it depends a great deal upon your charcoal. I'd say for about $80 you could be well on your way. This includes all needed chemicals for the charcoal streamer shell and black powder, ball mill, media, fuse, shell casings, and a few other odds and ends. It would probably be more than enough for several dozen shells, and after that, likely only the chemicals would need to be replaced which are the cheaper stuff. Ball mill - Harbor Freight (~$20)Media - 50 cal lead shot, around 100 ($10)Potassium Nitrate/Sulfur/CharcoalTime fuseViscoShell hemispheresRice Hulls - Home brew store To get off on the right foot, you will want good charcoal. This can be purchased (www.customcharcoal.com or www.artisancharcoals.com). I'd suggest going with the willow. It will make good black powder both for lift and blackmatch. One can also purchase commercial blackpowder, but it is rather expensive. Visco can be used in place of the blackmatch as well, but again it's expensive as not as traditional. For good tails, one may want to consider pine charcoal as well. These materials can be made at home for much cheaper than purchasing them as well. I would suggest this over buying it, as the product often turns out better. For fast black powder suitible for lift look for willow, balsa(expensive), poplar, aspen, cottonwood, even maple. There are many more actually, but those are generally the most common. For slower charcoals more suitable for tails pine is generally the wood of choice. I find that commercial airfloat from pyro suppliers also makes longer tails. There is a product called lump hardwood charcoal that is sold for cooking purposes that works adequately for both uses. WOW thaks for the info. so willows and tiger tails sound like a good/easy/cheap starting point. that should be enough to keep me busy for a whiel. luckily i'm already part of the way there with a full assortment of fuses visco and guns to test with. got lots of 1 3/4 hemi's and about 1/2 a dozen 3's left to play around with. also a few cans of goex (4f and 1F)...but i would like to make my own. i'm sure the details of all these processes are explained somewhere in this forum so i'll use the search unless someone has some links to help me along the way. man, this forum is great. learning lots already. one more question though: is there a special way to get charcoal from wood rather than ash. i have acess to all sorts of differnt hard and soft woods around the area that i could use for making charcoal (NW ohio) so a link to that would be great. we have bonfires all through football season so i think i can get a hold of some burnt wood without a problem. make charcoal
ST1DinOH Posted October 4, 2007 Author Posted October 4, 2007 make charcoal hey whats up k1ley...thanks for introducing me to this site, and good look on the link.
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