3" Chrys 6

[swervedriver]

Well, sharing fireworks with others is half the fun I think. I'm sure this isn't "competition" worthy, but I thought some new people might like this. I just started making the "real" homemade stuff about 6 weeks ago, and now I have some shells to light. This is my second 3" shell. The internet is a wonderful thing, i would never have been able to do this stuff without the sharing of others exerience I've been able to find here and there in cyberspace. Everything I know about hobby pyrotechnics I've learned through the net, I've not bought any books at all yet. I'd like to, but I spent the money on supplies and stuff for now. It's not a big deal to you seasoned guys, and isn't a perfect break or anything, but to me, this just tickled me to death. My wife and kids liked it too

 

170g 3" Chrys 6 plastic ball shell with cut stars and a pumped chrys 6 rising tail (this comp burns fast. It's nice and bright, but I'll try TT next time around), balsa meal on grass seed with 1g whistle boost, 24g pulverone for lift. Lift powder charcoal is just a "white wood" 2x4 from home depot. Probably spruce or pine of some kind. I slowed the video a tad, I think it looks neater that way.

 

 

Edited December 12, 2008 by swervedriver

[Steps]

Ooo,

 

That was a pretty nice shell. Like u say a longer burning comet would be good, but it all looked good nice job!

[Miech]

I have two small questions about the stars. Was the charcoal airfloat, and what size were they? They are a bit too short lived to my taste.

 

Nice shell however.

[swervedriver]

thanks guys!

 

Miech, exactly. I thought so too, but I don't know what these are supposed to burn like. I just crushed up the charcoal roughly, then I ball milled the complete c6 composition for about 3-4 hours, moistened it, then cut the stars to about 3/8" cubes. So, I would say no, the charcoal was not milled long enough to be airfloat. Since making these stars, I believe I read a post somewhere by mumbles that implied that this composition should be milled well, if I remember correctly. Similar to BP mill times I recall? Information overload man, lol.

 

I'm just surprised and happy the darn thing worked. All of my components to put one of these together was basicly untested. The lift, blackmatch, leader, timefuse, burst, spiking... everything was untested really. When I got the 3" hemis in the mail, I was a little surprised, I thought they would be bigger, like a baseball size. I have a whole new respect for that little chinaman who builds these things by hand for a living.

 

I'm using one of the 4"/100mm rock tumblers half filled with 200 1/2" lead balls. I meal primed them then dried them for around 2 weeks. The stars seemed nice and bright in person, but they burned really quickly, to quickly? That tail was actually two attached comets, 3/4" by 5/8" (19mm x 16mm) in size as well of the same comp. From pictures I've seen of rising comets, these seemed like overkill. I'm all ears to any suggestions, I'm as new as new gets to making this stuff. But damn it's fun!!!!

Edited December 13, 2008 by swervedriver

[Mumbles]

They don't have to be milled, but it makes a different effect. Finer grained, denser, more uniform, sometimes almost creamy looking. It's hard to explain, but it looks like you did a fine job. From the way you described it, everything sounds like you did it right. The charcoal will likely be airfloat after 3-4 hours. It only takes about 20-30 minutes in an undercharged version of your mill to do it for me. Very nice break for a plastic shell too.

 

If you want a longer burn time, which I would suggest, you could use a similar composition called Chrysanthemum 8, or even tiger tail. Chrys 6 burns the fastest, 8 in the middle, and tiger tail the slowest.

 

 

Chrysanthemum 8

 

KNO3 - 52

C - 42

S - 6

Binder - 6%

 

Tiger Tail

 

KNO3 - 44

C - 44

Sulfur - 6

Binder - 6

 

I just left the binder blank. Dextrin is the most common one.