Jump to content
APC Forum

Random Thread #1


Rooster

Recommended Posts

Its quite a long reaction between a copper salt and the benzoic acid. You have to reflux it several hours. I boiled benzoic acid solution with copper sulfate for about 2 hours resulting only about 10-20 grams of copper benzoate
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Geez, school starts tomorow, my senior year. Couldnt decide whether to put it in occasional happiness or depression lol, so I put it here.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

ummm that is exactly word for word cut and paste what tentacles said two posts ago also i mentioned my copper sulfate is green not blue and the bottle says:

 

active ingredient:

basic copper sulfate.................90%

inert ingredients......................10%

metallic copper equivalent........50%

 

so i doubt it is pure enough.

oops, didnt see that was the same one, thought it was a different technique. Post deleted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hashashan: That's good to know - the reaction with potassium benzoate is instantaneous for all intents and purposes. It's really cool to pour the boiling hot benzoate into the sulphate solution, and a blue-white oatmeal precipitates out.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Helped on a display on the 2nd... from 8am to 1am... heh. I'm sore all over... but it was very well worth it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That show looked great. The glitter girandola and Jubilees are very nice :D
Link to comment
Share on other sites

very cool did you take those pics? if so you are an incredible photographer i like the one where the screen is red from all the stars.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, awesome show and nice write-up and pics. Too bad I didn't know about it...I've been doing some work at Gatwick and my brother-in-law's family is in Chorley. I might have arranged to be there. I saved the Festival webpage and will keep tabs for next year.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the comments guys, and yes, they're all my photos : )

 

qwezxc12 - I had always assumed you were based in the US... probably something to do with the AK in your sig and the size/volume of shells you seem to get through! Anyways, make sure you get there for next years event! The venue is great and it's always cool to see foreign guest companies showing off their stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well id like to see you make an aerial shell cram it full of salutes strap it to a rocket and come out with something 1/10 as good as that.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who is that? He seems to ramble when he talks, but many pyrotechnicians do that :D , but I do like his shells...

 

What shell was on that first rocket? That had to be like 6".... Very nice split comets and whistling serpents...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to be ordering some 150 ft. of visco from cannonfuse (again :)), but this time with a lot of 1-3/4", 2", 2.5", and 3" Shells....

 

I need some (safe) mortars to shoot these out of... Some suggestions?

 

Options:

PyroGear:

2" DR11, 12" length (1.91" ID) 1.90

2" DR11, 15" length (1.91" ID) 2.15

2" DR9, 12" length (1.81" ID) 2.25

2" DR9, 15" length (1.81" ID) 2.60

2" DR17 Mortar, 15" length 1.50

2.5" DR17 mortar, 15" length 3.25

3" DR17 mortar, 18" length 4.00

 

Kastner:

1-7/8" X 15" HDPE Mortar $2.75

2" X 15" HDPE Mortar $3.50

2-1/2" X 15" HDPE Mortar $3.90

3" X 18" HDPE Mortar $4.05

 

Other:

 

My questions are...

 

Which 2" Pipe is used for 1-3/4 Plastic shells? DR11 or DR9...

 

Which company has better pipes? like more durable...

 

1-3/4 plastic shells are like 1-5/8"... so I assume 15" or DR9 is better...

 

Really I'm looking for the cheaper shipping... Pyrogear is expensive, so if Kastner's shipping is cheaper I'll just get from them... Their pipes look a little better also :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't answer your first question, but I bought all my 3", 4", & 6" mortars from Kastner. IIRC, the 6" was a little taller for the same price (36" vs. 33"), the 4" was cheaper ($5.95 vs. $6.62 at 20 pcs.), and the 3in was close to the same price. However, I believe Kastner's has thicker plugs than Pyrogear (2" vs. 1-1/2" on the 3in mortar)

 

I did buy my 2in mortars from Pyrogear (DR17s) - the price difference was too much to justify going with Kastner even though the Pyrogear plug was 1/2" thinner ($3.50 vs. $2.50). I even called Kastner and asked, but they were firm with their pricing. I figured the plug thickness was less of an issue with the 2" mortar than it would be with the larger caliber ones that see much more stress during the lift of a heavy shell.

 

So my vote is Pyrogear for DR17 (2") and Kastner for larger sizes. They're shipping was very reasonable. Kastner also bevels the inner lip of their mortars - Pyrogear didn't on the 2" ones. Not a functional difference that I can tell, but it looks nicer... Either way, all my mortars have performed fine so far.

 

I have no experience on the smaller diameter festival ball size mortars, though, so YMMV...

 

I'd give them both an email and ask them to quote your order + s/h...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Which 2" Pipe is used for 1-3/4 Plastic shells? DR11 or DR9...

I believe for cannonfuse 1-3/4" plastic shells, as well as standard consumer shells, DR11 is the correct pipe:

 

http://www.pyrouniverse.com/show/bprojects/prep.htm

 

I got my mortars from Kastner which are listed as 1-7/8", which is very close to DR11 (in fact, I'm fairly certain the Kastner mortars are made from DR11)

 

I use these mortars to launch both consumer shells and plastic 1-3/4" shells (cannonfuse). The only trouble with the cannonfuse shells and these mortars is that I kind of wish I had room to paste and/or spike the shells. I wouldn't want them any more snug than they are with a couple wraps of thin electrical tape.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You spike plastic shells?

 

I wouldn't think so for 1-3/4", but larger ones I'm going to use fiberglass tape on...

 

I was pretty sure that DR11 was right for 1-3/4" shells because on Kastners' front page they sell a "Festival rack" or something with 6 DR11 pipes...

 

I think I'm just going to go without the 2" for now, or just get 1 from Kastner along with 1-3/4",2.5", and 3" pipes...

 

I'm going to try to keep all my construction to plastic except for cans... But 2" shells don't come in plastic from most places so I doubt I'll even use 2" unless I buy some plastic 2" from PyroCasing or paper from Cannonfuse...

 

More money down the drain :) 200 ft of 3mm visco[Chinese].. (25) 1-3/4" plastic, (12) 2" paper, (12) 2.5" plastic, (12) 3" plastic w\ 1/8" hole...

 

I'm trying to keep my timing exclusively to Visco also... Q's my idol :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, actually I'm not sure whether spiking on 1-3/4 inch shells would be superiour to just using a booster or H3 or something...but since I'm almost exclusive to these smaller shells I kind of wanted to try spiking with fiberglass tape, or perhaps even pasting kraft paper around them to make them look nicer.

 

I know when I made paper shells of the same size out of 1.5 inch paper ball shell hemis, there was enough pasting to give them a pretty nice break. And of course, all the stars worked perfectly which doesn't always seem to be the case when using a flash booster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...