Hints and tips for Australians

[dagabu]

Hey daqabu,

Unfortunately no there doesn't seem to be a cheaper postal route, we all cringe at the exorbitant price we all have to pay but if you want something bad enough then we pay it,

 

I'd like to also take this opertunity to say thanks for sharing those rockets in the report thread with us all, Man they are fantastic !!

 

If you all down under want, get TBP to buy 10,000 cap plugs and he can redistribute them to you all. I would think one larger box would be a lot cheaper to ship per unit.

 

Sorry TBP, I couldn't help myself!

 

D

[MilkyJoe]

Hey!

 

As of next week I will have a decent metal lathe, the start of my machine shop. I will be happy to make any type of custom/standard tooling you guys can dream up for minimal cost!

I am currently in my second year of a machinist apprenticeship and have a fair amount of experience with machines.

 

Here are a few rocket tools I have made, The first set is a 1lb Core Burner tooling made from stainless steel, this was my first time on a metal lathe so I should hope I've improved somewhat

The second set is a small 1/4" bottle rocket tooling made from brass I made for my mate.

 

If you would like to discuss or order some tooling, email or add me on msn at freaky._.styley@hotmail.com

 

~Milky~

 

EDIT: Mods, should this be posted in the agora? Since I am only offering this to Australians at the moment I thought it should be okay here.

Edited March 14, 2010 by MilkyJoe

[TheSidewinder]

Since this is an Oz-based thread, it's fine here.

[tempusrferret]

NC lacquer would actually make the problem worse. Makes it much more energetic and fast burning. My best recomendation to stop it from jumping ahead is to wrap it TIGHTLY in aluminum foil. Even with this, you will likely get a few jump aheads. Probably the easiest and most practical way is to just use a long piece of BM, a foot or so on shells isn't unheard of due to the jumping problem.

 

If you wrap it in Al. foil or contain it will likely cause it to combust faster and could be dangerous, more like quickmatch.

Edited April 25, 2010 by tempusrferret

[MilkyJoe]

Replying to a 2 year old post that several people already made the same point as you... bit weird...

 

Come on people, order some tooling!

[Steps]

Replying to a 2 year old post that several people already made the same point as you... bit weird...

 

Come on people, order some tooling!

 

Make my drumsticks first .

[Fletcher]

Hey everyone, Im another aussie pyro just starting out, was wondering if anyone has any experience with ball mills / building them.

[mike_au]

Hey everyone, Im another aussie pyro just starting out

 

Welcome to the hobby!

 

What state are you in?

 

was wondering if anyone has any experience with ball mills / building them.

 

Most people in this hobby will at the very least own one, and a lot of them will be home built.

 

I've made two so far. One was a few bits of timber screwed to a table. The new one has a steel frame, pillow block bearings rated for about 4 tonnes and a covered box made from marine ply. Both of them work(ed) beautifully.

[Fletcher]

Welcome to the hobby!

 

What state are you in?

 

 

Thanks, im living in nsw, but unfortunatly i dont live in the best area for arial shells . If anyone else lives on the central coast and knows of places that are distant enough for fireworks, please let me know.

 

Also for a ball mill i get the rough idea but what sort of motor would i need eg, rpm, load.

And will a pvc pipe work as container?

Also what kind of price should i expect when building or buying one?

 

Any help would be greatly apreciated.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Fletcher

[mike_au]

Also for a ball mill i get the rough idea but what sort of motor would i need eg, rpm, load.

Most of the largish electric motors have an RPM proportional to the input frequency and the number of poles. So if you are using a proper motor (as opposed to a drill or something) then it will probably be around 1700rpm. The optimal speed for your mill will depend on the size of your milling jar and the size of your media. If you have a few dollars to spare, get yourself a passfire account. You get access to their forum as well as the article archive which has all sorts of useful stuff, including a nifty calculator for working out optimal speed.

 

I think mine is a 1/2hp, but 1/4 or probably even 1/8 would be fine.

 

If you can, get one that is TENV (totally enclosed, non-ventilated).

 

And will a pvc pipe work as container?

 

PVC is quite common. There are designs floating around for a popular style of PVC jar with a reduced neck. I just use some 4" pipe with end caps and some rubber wrapped around the outside. PVC will create shrapnel if the mill explodes though, make sure you mill in an isolated area and you start and stop the mill remotely.

 

Also what kind of price should i expect when building or buying one?

 

How good are you at scrounging? Mine has about $300 worth of parts in it, I probably paid about $50 for them. Check out Swede's blog post. He has a fairly nice little mill that looks it could be put together reasonably cheaply.

 

You will have a hard time finding one to buy that is well suited to pyro. You can find rock tumblers around the place, but they wont like the amount of weight you put in them, they wont turn at the right speed and you will soon outgrow them. For the money, you are probably better off building one.

[jimbo]

i get 25kg bags kno3 for $57 in brisbane from a farming supplies shop

[caidmasterofpyro]

I am just starting out in pyrotechnics and living in Australia I am having some trouble finding relevant information.

 

There seems to be a few aussies on this forum so I'm hoping some of them might be able to offer some helpful tips.

 

Personally I have some experience with model rockets so I intend to start with BP or KNO3+sugar rockets. The first problem I have hit is finding bentonite clay (neither bunnings nor any of the craft stores I have tried carry it). Next step is looking at kitty litter, so can anyone recommend a supplier, a suitable brand of kitty litter, or an alternative?

 

I would also be interested in making coloured rockets, but all of the chemicals people talk about with regard to colours seem to be used purely in pyrotechnics. Are there any colouring compounds made out of things available at the local hardware store or similar?

 

And I'll just throw it open, does anyone AU have any hints or tips that might be of interest specifically to australians?

 

Thanks

[caidmasterofpyro]

hey this guy sells visco http://www.youtube.com/user/scottisthebest123 just send him a pm asking for it it's like 60 bucks for 65 feet

[mike_au]

He seems like a bit of a boomer, and I don't know what he has done to that chlorate solution but I'm fairly sure it's not supposed to be that colour.

 

Anyway, none of that is really relevant to the fuse, $60/65' isn't a great price, but if you can't get it any where else it is probably worth getting a bit just so you aren't stuck with blackmatch and spollettes.

[Ralph]

hey this guy sells visco http://www.youtube.c...ottisthebest123 just send him a pm asking for it it's like 60 bucks for 65 feet

 

while your there you can find out how to make chlorate mixed with glucose and other fuels that are dificult to remove or spend 2 weeks grinding up lighter flints and mix that with permanganate for joyous burn test and shall quote "flash powder lol i am a flash powder freak" I be worried about getinging in trouble when the police get his computer when they raid him so when it comes to anything pyro scottistheworst123

[scythe]

Hello all,

not my first foray into pyro but its good to be back.

 

Was into it about 4-5yrs ago but due to a lack of chemicals stopped (still have a small amount of KNO3, aluminium -325mesh, air-float red gum charcoal, small length of home made fuse which was just kno3 and charcoal soaked into a loose 3mm cotton string).

However i am in the mood again to make some simple BP and KNO3 rockets.

Maybe even some akwapo stars as a payload for said rockets (if i get my hands on some zinc).

 

I took a trip to bunnings today but for the life of me could not find these mythical 25kg bags of KNO3 that you all talk about.

Best i could find were the little tubs or orchid "food" but at best they were only 16% KNO3.

Are there any particular brands that i would find in bunnings or am i looking in the wrong store (i noticed that they did have a few other good chemicals on the shelf tho)?

Even just a 5kg bag would do me for about a yeah i think.

 

But yeah at some stage i will probably make my own rocket tooling (when i get time at work for sure)

 

Quick question does anyone use brass or bronze as their milling media or are we all a fan of lead here.

[TrueBluePyro]

I really don't think you can get kno₃ from bunnings. You will need to go through the yellow pages and find a farming supplier near you, like 'Land Mark' or "Elders'. I get mine from elders.

 

My very very first rocket tooling when I was pretty much a complete noob at pyrotechnics and only had the chems for BP and didn't even have a ball mill. I used a a nail through a plant of wood and piece of dowel with a hole drilled through it. I later went to improve it by using an aluminium knitting needle for the spindle(as seen in the photo and still using a wood dowel for the ram. It was really basic, but it did work.

 

Also you should check out www.truebluepyroforum.info as there are lots of Aussie pyro's that you will find there.

Rocket tool.bmp

[Gunzway]

You'll come to find that the hobby of amateur pyrotechnics in Australia has expanded vastly and pretty much anything you can think of is now availible. About KNO₃, as TBP said you won't find it at Bunnings. I've had a vast look a few years back and they simply don't stock it anymore. An agricultural place is the best bet and Elders seems to be a favourite now days. Yes, Bunnings do sell some useful chemicals.

 

Akwapo stars, heh, that's from a long time ago now. I'm still keen to try them but as said Australia no longer needs to rely on Zinc for get colours now so I haven't gotten around to trying it. But it's an interesting effect nonetheless.

 

Quick question does anyone use brass or bronze as their milling media or are we all a fan of lead here.

 

I use a combination of brass and lead. I'm probably leaning towards lead now as brass is much more expensive and I haven't had much problems with lead being worn down over time. But both brass and lead are good, I haven't heard anyone really using bronze though. I'm sure it has disadvantages outweighing brass and lead for that reason.

[mike_au]

Well the KNO3 stuff seems to be fairly well covered...

 

if i get my hands on some zinc.

Over on the TBP forums there is a bloke named John selling zinc powder (and for a good price too).

 

Quick question does anyone use brass or bronze as their milling media or are we all a fan of lead here.

 

I have noticed significant erosion on my lead media (.45cal muzzle loader ammo). I still use it for milling BP, but I use brass for milling straight KNO3 (just so that it looks clean, if I didn't have brass I would have no problem with using lead).

[scythe]

Cheers boys i will head over to TBP in a bit.

And yeah akwapo stars are from along time ago, i stopped pyro while they were still brand new and exciting.

I love the effect and think they would make a great feature ending to a successful launch.

[TrueBluePyro]

You'll come to find that the hobby of amateur pyrotechnics in Australia has expanded vastly and pretty much anything you can think of is now availible.

 

Yes,amateur pyrotechnics has improved very much in Australia. When I first started everything was very hard to get, just finding other Australia pyro's was a difficult task. As Gunzway said, pretty much anything is available if you look hard enough.

[caidmasterofpyro]

Yes,amateur pyrotechnics has improved very much in Australia. When I first started everything was very hard to get, just finding other Australia pyro's was a difficult task. As Gunzway said, pretty much anything is available if you look hard enough.

IT CAN BE HARD FOR ME TO FIND STUFF BECAUSE I AM ONLY 15 SO I CAN'T DRIVE AND I DON'T HAVE ALOT OF MONEY BUT DO YOU KNOW WERE I CAN GET FUSE

[Ralph]

IT CAN BE HARD FOR ME TO FIND STUFF BECAUSE I AM ONLY 15 SO I CAN'T DRIVE AND I DON'T HAVE ALOT OF MONEY BUT DO YOU KNOW WERE I CAN GET FUSE

 

Its improved alot 2 years ago things like ti were only a dream as for driving not heaps of the stuff we use can be just picked up.

 

p.s. please dont use caps lock its annoying and prohibited (see rule #4)

[nick2354]

Hello

 

I have been out of pyro for at least half a year, due to legal troubles and what not.

 

COMPLETELY my fault. Brought a few big smoke "bombs" to school, and I had to dump because they were searching bags. Long story short, I ended up with a 5 day suspension, and a 10 second news segment on channel 7 local news. If I didn't tell the school what was inside it, they were going to call the bomb squad. Yes, It simply wasn't enough for them to already have the police, Metropolitan Fire Service, and an entire circus.

 

Police merely took down my name, which I think is a breach of my rights. I was never charged with a crime, but I don't like how they have my name and that they know I make fireworks.

 

 

But now Im going to start making some small fireworks again.

 

Hopefully, with this rain no one is going to complain.

 

 

Its good to be back.

[Gunzway]

Well, you're lucky. Firing 3" canister shells from your backyard wasn't the smartest thing, either. Good to see you back though. Enjoy all the new chemicals that are now available and be safer and smarter this time.