Random Thread #1

[Bonny]

Got a question about loading comets.

I'll the comets I load take way do long and is highly inefficient; it takes too long and is extremely boring. I'm not saying I don't do it carefully b/c the last thing I want is someone hurt, including myself.

The way I do it is take the comet, role a cone from paper, insert my lift charge, then comet, the hot glue the comet in place then stab a small hole in the side of the cone, then hot glue a length of fuse, then insert the comet at the base of my mortar, then duct tape a plug. I use duct tape b/c its cheap and strong. I use duct tape for all my mortars actually, never had a plug break (knock on wood.)

Any suggestions for making this process quicker in anyway?

 

BTW, nice looking forum now; still liked the dark blue background with white letters. I thought it was easier to read.

 

Why not just pre-make some mortars with plugs and then side fuse? That way you just drop in the correct amount of lift,comet and a wad of paper over top. To prolong the life of cardboard mortars, give them coating of water glass (sodium silicate?) or soak them in diluted water glass.

[Swede]

I had a tough time logging on after the change. I had to go through the rest password procedure, and even then, there were peoblems. the screen would say "You are now logged in as Swede" and then, when it transferred me to the main page, it would revert back to "Welcome Guest" and my username would not apear at the bottom.

 

I fiddled with cookies and some other ie6 security radio buttons, and it suddenly started to work. So far, so good.

[TheSidewinder]

You have email, Swede, but I see you fixed the issue.

 

We were forced to tighten the security, partly due to the new software which REQUIRES a couple changes, but also we want to kill off the spambots from even registering in the first place. And so far, it appears to have worked.

[BigBang]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Pan...-25-08_1220.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Pan...-25-08_1219.jpg

 

Thanks for the help guys. 100lbs

[mormanman]

BigBang, where did you get that?! I want some. How much was it?

 

And Bonny, I don't do that b/c the lift charge sometimes falls out and I use to do that with starmines. I always thought of it as a newbie way to do things. But if its the only other choice then I'll do it.

[Bonny]

And Bonny, I don't do that b/c the lift charge sometimes falls out and I use to do that with starmines. I always thought of it as a newbie way to do things. But if its the only other choice then I'll do it.

 

The lift charge shouldn't fall out if you put a paper plug on top of the comet. You could also use a lift disc with holes under the comet, or even a layer of tissue paper to keep the lift down.

Sometimes one of the best ways is also the easiest, and you were looking for an expedient method of manufacture. It also saves making blackmatch/QM and only needs a pc of visco.

[mormanman]

The lift charge shouldn't fall out if you put a paper plug on top of the comet. You could also use a lift disc with holes under the comet, or even a layer of tissue paper to keep the lift down.

Sometimes one of the best ways is also the easiest, and you were looking for an expedient method of manufacture. It also saves making blackmatch/QM and only needs a pc of visco.

I'll do it.

[Swede]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Pan...-25-08_1220.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Pan...-25-08_1219.jpg

 

Thanks for the help guys. 100lbs

 

Grr, that is so frustrating. I keep seeing these pics of KNO3 in the giant bags, as if they were common. I've called and stopped at dozens of farm and feed stores, no dice. Where DID you get it? Nice score!

 

Sidewinder, thanks for the email, I appreciate it. I'm not sure what the trouble was, but it's OK now.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Swede

[oskarchem]

Hehe, just came to see the forum, and uho..Surprise the new board is up . Any way, I like it. Gotta go to bed now, it's 00;08 amd I have to get up at 5am to go fishing.

[TheSidewinder]

We had a problem with our Host last night, and I suspect that was creating the login problems.

 

It appears that someone f**ked up the PHP configuration on our shared server.

 

It's been fixed, and I haven't had any more users report problems logging in.

 

However, if a User is reading this as a guest, and CANNOT login, send an email to apcadmin (at) apcforum (dot) net with your forum name and password. We'll check out the problem and get back to you.

[flying fish]

Quick question - is there any quick and easy way to tell pine charcoal from willow charcoal without doing extensive tests?

 

Last year I made some of each...but forgot to label them! So now I have a bag of each, but they are useless until I know which is which .

[mormanman]

We had a problem with our Host last night, and I suspect that was creating the login problems.

 

It appears that someone f**ked up the PHP configuration on our shared server.

 

It's been fixed, and I haven't had any more users report problems logging in.

 

However, if a User is reading this as a guest, and CANNOT login, send an email to apcadmin (at) apcforum (dot) net with your forum name and password. We'll check out the problem and get back to you.

I would see which one is heavier. The heavier one should be willow.

[Mumbles]

My experience between the two is that pine charcoal is somewhat denser, but that might not be of a great deal of help. A small batch of comets should make the difference known though, maybe even tossing some airfloat over a fire.

[TheSidewinder]

I see the "Reply" button is gonna get catch a few members before it all shakes out with the new software. This skin doesn't exactly help, either.

[Mumbles]

Yeah, it gets me all the time over at UKPS. One of the main reasons I don't like the skin, besides looking like every other forum. I will try to get some time tomorrow and get a chance to look at some skins.

[RUUUUUN]

Yess!!! Finally got to 15^2 posts!!!, i had to sress myself and make 4 today, but I pulled through in the end!

 

Great new look for the forum, and I really like how to text box is soooooooooooo wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide, I don't have to scroll 3 or 4 pages if I write more than one paragraph!

 

great job Mod Force!

[flying fish]

Here is what I found from a quick test of the two charcoals (they were mixed in 3.25g batches - 2 g KNO3, 1g C, .25 S, ground quickly with a PVC pipe rolled over to crush; bound with NC laquer and pumped, left to dry for 1.5 hours).

 

Both charcoals seemed to be good spark producers (unlike the commercial airfloat I had attempted to use in the past).

 

Charcoal A (I suspect it is willow):

- Brighter sparks, more towards yellow-orange

- Stars burn faster with a slight evidence of self-propulsion, sparks are fairly dense and don't last as long and are smaller in size.

- Charcoal is light and fluffy, easily ground with rolling the PVC pipe over it

 

Charcoal B (I suspect it is Pine)

- Dimmer sparks, more towards red-orange

- Stars burn slower, sparks last longer and are bigger in size.

- Charcoal seems a bit denser and perhaps stickier...

- Harder to grind with the PVC pipe compared to Charcoal A; due to this it probably was also not ground as fine as Charcoal A.

 

So would you guys agree with me that Charcoal A is Willow and Charcoal B was Pine? There are some things that don't seem to add up - like I always thought it was PINE that produced a finer-grain effect that was more shortlived compared to willow. But I admit that I may have heard wrong on that point. Charcoal A does seem to burn faster and hotter (the sparks are brighter), and it also seems fluffier and easier to grind. This does seem consistant with Willow.

Edited July 26, 2008 by flying fish

[Mumbles]

Based on the limited data, I'd have to agree with your findings.

 

Pine should produce longer lived sparks than willow. Generally, they will be finer grained, but there is no way to tell without a more efficient grinding mechanism than a PVC pipe, such as a ball mill. Granule size variation will make a difference in spark size.

[flying fish]

Thanks! That's what I figured. I normally use the PVC pipe just to roughly break up the charcoal before it goes into the mill...but this time I was using it as a (poor) substitute for a mortar and pestle (since I lack one) for my quick willow/pine experiment. Ok, now before I forget again, I better label them... (hopefully I don't have to continuously repeat this experiment!)

 

In an unrelated story, I was walking by a pool supply shop on my way back from the barber, and saw a couple of guys walking out with two 5 gallon buckets that said had the "oxidizer" label on the front. I was tempted to ask what it was, but I was feeling lazy...so I just went home.

[qwezxc12]

Random...Fianlly got some Sodium Oxalate so I can try Lancaster's Yellow Glitter, and 5lbs of -80mesh Charcoal so I can make some 6 and 8in Slow Gold brocade shells! Just finished my History final, too...so now I'll have time to make some more stuff. Whoot!

 

So those who've made Slow Gold stars before...how does the comp cut with the large mesh charcoal? I do not want to pump 1/2" and roll up to size for an 8" shell, and would prefer to cut stars, but have zip for cut stars experience. I built a box and tamper, but haven't used them yet.

 

What water % works best? And do you typically mill the 36:29:9, then add the -80 mesh and Ti?

 

I'm thinking 1/2" stars for a 6in shell, and 3/4" for an 8in (per Passfire) and using puffed wheat instead of rice crispies for burst carrier....sound about right?

[Mumbles]

I cut the slow gold stars and they worked just fine. I did sub out SGRS for dextrin though, it makes it a bit gummier, and I feel better for cutting. I am hoping the 3/4" stars work well in an 8" shell too. I speak from experience when I say the same stars in a 6" shell are too big and will nearly burn to the ground. I think on passfire they are rolled stars. Since cut has a bit more comp, you might want to try out 5/8", at least if you'll be in an area that will be dry. If you have a safe area to shoot, I think you'll be fine with 3/4". I will see how the 3/4" stars work in about a month.

[TheSidewinder]

Happy Birthday, Oskarchem!

 

(Young whippersnapper!)

[oskarchem]

Hehe thanks alot Sidewinder, I can finally fly solo, and do some other fun stuff... Edited July 26, 2008 by oskarchem

[asilentbob]

Fixed up a approximatly 1" comet pump out of a random dowel and PVC pipe... with a bit of paper tape wrapped around the dowel to make it fit, then glazed over everything with very dilute NC lacquer... Looks like it should work fine so long as I don't use acetone as a solvent... which is fine for me...

 

Going to pump some of those Blankey Ti comets with it... Then perhaps other kinds of comets tomorrow or monday... don't know... extremely busy with school. If anyone has a charcoal streamer comet composition or something with -325mesh spherical Al or -325mesh coated flake Al... Thats fast to make up and drys quick... I'd love it.

[flying fish]

Would it seem feasible to make a decent copper metal blue with fairly course copper powder (60 mesh from skyligher)? The problem that I have been having is that it seems to change randomly between a good blue and...no blue. I think the problem is incomplete mixing of the ingrediants... Is there any way to get a better mixing when using such coarse copper powder? I've tried diapering, spinning in a cylindrical container for a few minutes, and shaking in a plastic bag, none of which seem to mix the components very well. .

 

Was I conned into buying a useless copper powder by the folks at skylighter?