Random Thread #1

[50AE]

Here are the two grades of Al powder I obtained by milling my shavings

 

-Al flakes +20 to -170 mesh. Perfect for tailed stars and fountains

 

http://store.picbg.net/thumb/D9/9F/2f12b0f67a60d99f.png

 

 

-Fine Al +170 mesh to more than 400. I dare to call it "Bulgarian dark"

 

http://store.picbg.net/thumb/2D/83/8dece37801fe2d83.png

[Ventsi]

I dare to call it "Bulgarian dark"

 

 

Hahah, thats hilarious. What exactly do you mean by shavings? Where did you get them from?

[TheEskimo]

"Bulgarian Dark" sounds like some kind of coffee bean.

Anybody have experience with the 80$ triple balance beam scale from AmeriPyroSupply? 'Tis time to upgrade from electronic to mechanical.

[Mumbles]

Normally the move goes in the opposite direction.

[50AE]

I didn't tell you I was invited from a nice family to be the baptist of their child. It's a nice girl, she's 2 years old.

 

http://store.picbg.net/thumb/8B/4D/8f3f46ce6a1a8b4d.jpg

 

Everyone was having very good times, we were in the province. Clean air, beautiful nature, very nice and warm people, eating and drinking to full stomach each night.

 

http://store.picbg.net/thumb/A8/AD/8bafa2693b04a8ad.jpg http://store.picbg.net/thumb/D4/D6/5ee5c26b28b1d4d6.jpg (I know some of you could find this photo scandalous, but don't worry, the beer bottle was empty. Still, I'm very proud of this photo)

 

They were really grateful to me, so I was I. They gave a big box of aluminum shavings from their lathe. I asked them for payment, but they refused.

 

http://store.picbg.net/thumb/87/FF/f348407095ce87ff.jpg

 

The goal is to cut these as small as possible with a blade grinder (coffee mill) and then put them in your ball mill. They will maybe have oil on them, so you'd better cook them at 300C in the open, to get rid of the oil. Do it in the open, because it will stink like hell.

[TheEskimo]

Mumbles

Maybe it's 'cause I'm a cheapass, or I have bad luck, but this is the second electronic scale I've had go bad on me in a year. The first one just stopped working, and this one absolutely refuses to recalibrate. One day it just started reading everything 1/6 of what it should be. And it refuses to recalibrate. I use the weight, and follow instructions, and everytime it says FAIL. Pissing me off, really.

I am hoping that a mechanical one won't have issues like this.

[NightHawkInLight]

http://store.picbg.net/thumb/87/FF/f348407095ce87ff.jpg

 

The goal is to cut these as small as possible with a blade grinder (coffee mill) and then put them in your ball mill. They will maybe have oil on them, so you'd better cook them at 300C in the open, to get rid of the oil. Do it in the open, because it will stink like hell.

I've got a box full that looks exactly the same. How long did you need to mill the shavings, and with what media?

[50AE]

I was a little helped in this...

 

1. I put the raw product in a coffee grinder to reduce it into smaller flakes that can be put in a ball mill or grinder.

2. I baked the resulting flakes to evaporate the oil. AFAIK, metals are worked on the lathe with oil to reduce heat.

3. I brought the flakes to a friend who has special equipment. He grinded these flakes for me and the product then was a mixture of 5-10-20-30-100-200 mesh flakes and dark aluminum.

4. When I got home, I screened the product. From 500 grams batch, I had 30 grams of dark powder and 60 grams of +20-170 mesh flakes.

5. I started to mill everything else (-20 mesh) in my coffee grinder. After about 3 hours of work, I had 100 grams of dark powder and 180 grams of fine flakes (+20 -170)

6. Finally I put some of the rest big flakes in the ball mill. I wet them with a little methanol. For two hours, it didn't do much, I had a little dark Al and flakes as well. But it seems the coffee grinder does a faster job. My media is burundum, ceramic.

Edited July 13, 2010 by 50AE

[TheEskimo]

Anyone have tips for putting microstars in fountains? I am currently using about 1/8in stars, in a simple BP/metal fountain, using 1 pound tubes, and .3in nozzle. I seem to be compacting it incorrectly, for I'll get a burst of color from the stars, and then fountain again. I just get alternating waves of colored flame, and fountain ejecta.

[Mumbles]

It sounds like your stars are sinking in your composition. I generally only make larger fountains, but granular fountain components (charcoal and titanium and aluminum) tend to help out with the powdered comp staying relatively uniform. Try to avoid ramming on the same bench/area that the comp is sitting on. The vibrations will settle the stars to the bottom. A quick stirring will help. Similarly, try to avoid jostling or shaking the tube too much before at least compacting the comp with hand pressure.

[Skycastlefish]

My first random post-

I smoked cigarettes for the last 8 years, about a pack a day. My job involves alot of driving which , to me , equaled like 2-3 "nothing better to do" cigarettes an hour. Anyway, I haven't had a cigarette in over 4 months. I just decided one day that I was tired of it. It had been on my mind for, oh say, about a year! One Sunday I decided it was going to be my last day smoking. The next morning I woke up late and thought "I can't quit today, I'm late and it wouldn't be a good day." Then I thought "why the hell not? who cares if I'm late, I'm never going to have the perfect day laid out for me." And the rest is history. And yes, I've passed the 12 beer test

[dagabu]

Good for you! I quit in 1997, I do smoke a cigar once in a while and certainly will have one while watching the displays at PGI but I find the nicotine to be lacking and doesn't cause me to crave them.

 

"The 12 beer test" LOL!

[jwitt]

I'd quit for a couple years, then came back to it when hanging out with a girl who only smoked a cig once in a while, through some kind of kung-fu mind control I guess. Ooooops.

 

When I wasn't smoking, I had a cigar or a pipe whenever I felt like it. That was frequent in the first year, but about once a week after that. If you're going to consume tobacco, it should be the good stuff, not crappy cigarettes that are like floor sweepings compared to a good cigar or a smoky latika or perique blend.

[NightHawkInLight]

When I wasn't smoking, I had a cigar or a pipe whenever I felt like it. That was frequent in the first year, but about once a week after that. If you're going to consume tobacco, it should be the good stuff, not crappy cigarettes that are like floor sweepings compared to a good cigar or a smoky latika or perique blend.

Agreed.

 

On another note, MPAG just had a two day shoot last weekend. It was the 150th anniversary of the tree farm which hosted the shoot. They put together quite a show for the occasion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGP2Ktow0eE

The 8" salute cans were incredible. The finale was a chest crusher.

 

A few other videos from the shoot:

C display:

Sky lantern crash:

[jwitt]

MPAG just had a two day shoot last weekend.

 

 

 

WOW. Heh I won't let anyone that's seen mine see that video. They'll put me to work full time all year long. Hmm...wait.......maybe I should show 'em and then pass the hat around?

 

My favorites:

 

8:46

9:50 White to Red

10:10 Big shell with the rest of the salvo

11:25 Green/Magenta shell

Yellow or Gold somewhere around here

Flights at 12:08 and 12:32

Rings 15:18 and earlier

17:55

18:16 (purrrrty colors!)

19:00...gads!

 

 

Of course it was all awesome, but those are my picks.

 

Pheasant eh? We were talking about raising some pheasant or quail and trying to get a population going down at the farm / gun club / clubhouse shoot site.

[PyroMan LTU]

Hello, my people

 

My friend had a small difficulty in making crackling micro stars. During the priming process stars got very hot, as a result of some kind of exotermic reaction. I didn't figure what could have gone wrong... He made DE with lead tetraoxide, magnalium and copper oxide. Bind with NC. He primed with shimizu given formula, only a bit of dark al:

 

KClO4 - 70

MgAl - 15

Dark al - 5

Red gum - 10

+ dex

 

Soo.. what could have caused the reaction? Is it any contamination possibility in the composition or sth?

 

PyroMan

[dagabu]

Uncoated Dark Aluminum and water cause a reaction and go exothermic. Did you smell Ammonia? A little boric acid and/or using distilled water only can reduce that reaction. Separate them so they don't catch on fire, leave them outside where they won't hurt anything and wait 4 hours. They will reach critical temps within four hours so if they make it past that point, you are good to go.

 

Keep in mind that you just had a chemical reaction and the comp has now changed. It will not look identical next to a batch that did not react.

[PyroMan LTU]

Thanks D

[dagabu]

BTW- Bismuth Trioxide is safer to work with and I feel it gives better pops.

[Mumbles]

I agree that the water is the problem. You could probably try to do the priming with NC solution or alcohol.

[PyroMan LTU]

He was using ethanol.

[Mumbles]

Was it dried? The fact that he was using alcohol is a little confusing with the problems he was having. Why did he add dextrin if he was using alcohol to bind? The original formula from Shimizu has 20 parts MgAl, so maybe dropping the dark Al would solve the problems, or not using a flash grade of aluminum.

[PyroMan LTU]

True.. He thought that with al the mix will catch fire easyer. yeah the original has 20% Mgal.. The aluminium might have been the problem.

[Twotails]

FINALY found a place to launch my shells, all I gotta do, is well, nothing(the guy just wants to see my stuff) he's like miles from anybody, and he's my dad's friend. he has like acers of farmland.

 

so im getting ready, gotta get a new morter(Comets a little too big >.< for the morter i have) and gotta paste my shell(one of the largest one's i've made, over 1000g sofar) Now all i need is to paste the final layer, add rising effects, fuse and prime it, and were good-to-go!

 

hope it works well, all im doing is using up the stars i had made.

[Mumbles]

What kind of shell are you building? We all want details to wet our appetite for the video that is coming, right? It sounds like a 6" ball shell, or a multibreak canister.