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Yes, I saw it earlier. I have been out of town all weekend, and have just been stopping in time to time to check on things. I haven't had a chance to take care of any administrative stuff yet.
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There was a pyrotechnic artists of texas shoot this weekend in Hondo, TX. Just west of San Antonio. Friday, saturday, and sunday. I was only there for friday and saturday. Apparently due to limited info on the weather... most members didn't show up. Which is a shame, by friday afternoon it was perfect. Saturday peak was IIRC about 23 PAT members present. Friday afternoon/early evening club members made forty (40) 3" star mines for the saturday b show in addition to a few more 3" mines to just shoot off that night.

 

The PAT website is still not updated. IGNORE THE WEBSITE. JOIN AND COME TO THE EVENTS. WE NEED MORE MEMBERS. There was some class c vending, but with so few members who actually showed up, I don't know if it was even worth it for the vendors.

 

There was a nice class c show and a nice b show with a few 10s, 8s and a few member made 5s in addition to a bunch of commercial 3-6" shells.

 

The club NEEDS more members to continue to keep up with insurance, product costs, etc.

 

So yeah, once again... JOIN you Texans. This is a great opportunity to network, get b-line signoffs, and enjoy some fireworks. Three shoots a year.

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So a little bloody violence for all of the sadistic members of this forum:

 

"The Ultimate War Movie 2" - Made by my brother & his friends. I played a small role: Helped with the explosions of course! We planted small pyro charges under the ground, and used a combination of green sand, green spraypaint and a green screen for realistically keying those explosions into the movie. I was also the one to get shot with the silenced Mk23 at the end of the Bunker scene (before the title comes up).

 

This one was WAY over the top with horrific/ unrealistic tactics and all that good stuff. If you dare (and are not bothered by the violence) watch it in high quality with the sound up!

 

Edited by flying fish
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If you dare (and are not bothered by the violence) watch it in high quality with the sound up!

 

Strangely enough...I can't take that. I've put an arm back in a socket, wrapped my shirt around a pretty girl's head to hold her forehead skin up, and other stuff. But I can't take it gratuitously. What a puss.

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Sarcasm? I'm glad I haven't had to deal with anything that gruesome. :blink:

 

As for the movie, it's not on the level of Quintin Tarantino or anything, and the effects aren't that realistic, but I figured I should at least put that warning as a disclaimer. There are also some distasteful things like the little kid getting shot, but in our defense, he begged us to get shot in the movie!

Edited by flying fish
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Very violent movie haha.

Good to see someone else has their hands in special effects (and uses det. films). Although I really don't do it too much...

 

Just a random question, what is the smallest, non-rocket, exploding aerial device that anyone has made? So far mine is 3/4" (O.D., shot from 3/4" tube) . I'm probably not gonna get much smaller than that...

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Haha. I really don't even know what I was thinking asking that question... I tried to make it way too specific. So I guess they do yeah.

 

 

I guess what I really wanted to know was:

What's the smallest bombette you've ever made/seen/heard of by an amateur?

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This probably isn't what you are looking for, more similar to crossettes than bombettes, but...

 

I used to make very small split comets...as small as 5/8." They were made with homemade cylindrical cavity star tooling, and then the cavity was filled with flash and it was fused with visco and a small end disk. I had most success with the C6 formula. They actually worked great, and had a surprisingly symmetrical break most of the time.

 

Unfortunately the only ones I caught with decent video didn't work quite right:

 

And here's one that worked perfect but was only a cell phone video:

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The smallest I've seen are probably 1/4" ID x 3/8" OD. They actually pack quite a punch. I've seen some ground testers, and they are really loud.
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No split comets weren't exactly what I was looking for, but it doesn't really matter because I was only asking out of curiosity anyways. Those are still very cool.

 

Wow that's tiny... Did they actually contain stars? How did they look?

Edited by scarbelly
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Nope, they were just salutes. I misinterpretted the question and was thinking explosive only. With stars though I know the chinese can get them down to 1/2" or so.
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Those little red tubes you can buy from pyrocreations and cannonfuse can make quite a bang if you use an energetic mix. The thicker-walled tubes (same ID) from pyrodirect are excellent. Big bang, easy to make and almost no powder used.
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i made some 8mm ones before was using shimazus brilliant cores as stars some slow flash and bp as break and spiked with thread the results were far less than spectacular
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For something that small I'd build on ralph's suggestion and use a bombette or rosette mix. I'm sure I'm confusing terminology, but when I think bombette I think stars and burst as one composition. When I think pupadelle, I think stars plus additional burst. Rosette mixes are pretty much a bound chlorate flash with Sb2S3 added to spice up the mix. It provides both the explosive burst charge and the effect. Something similar could proably be done with bound color flashes, maybe add in some extra whistle or BP burst to spice things up a bit.
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Wow 8mm... Thats incredibly small...

 

I'm not really planning on making anything microscopic, mostly I was just curious.

 

 

Another question. :rolleyes: When a mill says it's a 3lb mill, does that mean that it should be capable of turning 3lbs worth of weight (media+jar+chems to be milled)? I'm just wondering because on the Ball Mill FAQ, it says 1/4 to 1/2 HP will be good for a 1 kg size mill. In this case, does it mean 1kg worth of chems/compositions? I can't imagine a 1/4 HP motor making a smaller mill then the commercial 3lb mills...

Edited by scarbelly
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I did some math a few days ago for someone else. 3lb has to do with rocks or something. I turn approximately 4lbs of lead and chemicals plus jar weight. They have 1/16HP motors or something.

 

THe 1/4HP to 1/2HP is more than enough for a full jar plus media, proabably at least 35lbs. 1/2HP can probably turn a few jars, 100lbs at least.

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I did some math a few days ago for someone else. 3lb has to do with rocks or something. I turn approximately 4lbs of lead and chemicals plus jar weight. They have 1/16HP motors or something.

 

THe 1/4HP to 1/2HP is more than enough for a full jar plus media, proabably at least 35lbs. 1/2HP can probably turn a few jars, 100lbs at least.

 

My Lortone owners guide says that the weight is based on the max charge to be put into the jar. Rocks + grinding media + water = 3.5# for my old 304.

 

Dave

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A simple clue to check if a mill motor is struggling is the temperature. After it's been running a couple of hours, if it is warm, but you're able to keep your hand on it, it's fine. If it's too hot to maintain skin contact, you're probably trying to mill too much weight. 1/3 to 1/2 HP at 1700 RPM is ideal, IMO. It never hurts (except the electric bill) to go larger. I think 1/3 HP is a good, all-around size for a typical hobby mill.
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I was fiddling with Yankees flashing stars: 40:20:10 KNO3:-325spherical Al:Sulfur. I decided to add about 10% red gum. Makes a nice white glitter, with an intensely white center. This is nice for cheapos, or lazy people. Can be wetted with alcohol, and dry within a few hours. I'll get a vid up soon. They burn slow-medium.
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I am planning on contacting a few big paper tube manufacturing companies for a quote on some tubes. What are some sizes most people would be interested in?

As well as ID and wall thickness, just FYI these guys make end caps as well.

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