Random Thread #1

[50AE]

I doubt my formulas would be worse than Hardt 2.

You could try substituting Cu oxy with CuO and then working on the oxygen balance.

[Ralph]

I doubt my formulas would be worse than Hardt 2.

You could try substituting Cu oxy with CuO and then working on the oxygen balance.

 

Ill give both yours and hardt a go, oxychloride is about half the price for me so is actually my preferred ingredient

[50AE]

Chuck Norris can push a 5" shell into a 3" mortar and fire it.

Chuck Norris doesn't need hydraulic equipment, his hand pressing makes comets denser.

Chuck Norris doesn't bother making color changing stars, he uses only one composition but it changes color whenever he wishes.

Most people are aware that high explosives don't forgive mistakes. But HEs are aware not to fuck around while Chuck Norris handles them.

Chuck Norris can win a shell contest with a duct tape pasted shell.

Paris green isn't avaible because of restrictions, but because Chuck Norris uses to salt his meal with.

Some people light fire by rubbing two pieces of wood. Chuck Norris does it with two pieces of timber to make charcoal in bulk.

Chuck Norris doesn't need to lift his shells using mortars or rockets, he just throws them up. The time fuse ignites from the air friction.

Chuck Norris can stoichiometrically mix black powder by volume.

[TheEskimo]

Haha.

Does heating BP materials so as to drive out excess water prevent clumping in a ball mill? I've been doing this in a 175*F convection oven. Don't worry, KNO3 and Charcoal aren't in at the same time. Now that I have been doing this, my BP doesn't seem to be clumping, and oddly enough seems to achieve the fineness I want in less time.

Am I repeating old news here, or is this something that needs to be looked at more? I always hear about people complaining how their BP formed a grapefruit in their mill.

[dagabu]

Haha.

Does heating BP materials so as to drive out excess water prevent clumping in a ball mill? I've been doing this in a 175*F convection oven. Don't worry, KNO3 and Charcoal aren't in at the same time. Now that I have been doing this, my BP doesn't seem to be clumping, and oddly enough seems to achieve the fineness I want in less time.

Am I repeating old news here, or is this something that needs to be looked at more? I always hear about people complaining how their BP formed a grapefruit in their mill.

 

The charcoal can burn in the oven, especially convection types but yes, you are correct, bone dry chems will not clump. There is no way i am transporting my chems home, cooking them and transporting them back to the shop, I just take care when I mill them and mostly mill in the winter (-20°F) when it is dry.

 

-dag

[TheEskimo]

Ah. Alright. Lump charcoal will burn in a 175* oven? I suppose i could see that happening if some dust blew into the heating element. I suppose I shall rethink my methods; I do have a dehydrator out there. Personally, I don't mill to plan ahead. I don't use enough to be worthwhile, and having tons of BP and compositions sitting around gives me heebie-jeebies, considering I don't have a good storage place. Edited June 22, 2011 by TheEskimo

[dagabu]

Ah. Alright. Lump charcoal will burn in a 175* oven? I suppose i could see that happening if some dust blew into the heating element. I suppose I shall rethink my methods; I do have a dehydrator out there. Personally, I don't mill to plan ahead. I don't use enough to be worthwhile, and having tons of BP and compositions sitting around gives me heebie-jeebies, considering I don't have a good storage place.

 

Yes, the ambient temperature of the oven is not the concern, it is the element in an electric oven and the flame in a gas oven that causes the concern. A magazine is the best assurance for both keeping legal and being safe, even a tight wooden box will be a fife saver if something goes wrong.

 

-dag

[TheEskimo]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/06/22/cpsc.fireworks.demo.cnn?hpt=hp_c2

Screw you CNN, screw you. 'Tis the season to make us out to be babykilling, God-hating, American flag stomping, America-denouncing, good-for-nothing pig dirty commies. Such is life.

Although I am amused by the idea of a 6year old sticking a sparkler into another's stomach and leaving it in there for an inordinate amount of time, or a guy having a commercial-grade shell in his office whilst drinking coffee

Does anyone have some extra bubble wrap? I don't feel safe enough.

[Peret]

Screw you CNN, screw you. 'Tis the season to make us out to be babykilling, God-hating, American flag stomping, America-denouncing, good-for-nothing pig dirty commies. Such is life.

Not CNN's fault, really - it's a CPSC video that all the TV stations run about this time, every year, world without end. I suppose they could choose not to run it, but hey, that's 60 seconds that doesn't cost them anything. The melon and the mannequin's head getting blown off are the stuff of legend now. If it wasn't going to be dark when I light off on the 4th, I'd consider staging both those events as a tableau for the entertainment of the party.

[dagabu]

At least the NFPA took down the CPSC's video of salutes in children's hands and in a basket two years ago when I wrote a letter to the VP of communications about the representation of a consumer salute that was indeed a display salute (1.3g) and was being passed off as a “jumbo-sized” consumer item.

 

Here is Lorraine's reply.

 

-dag

 

– While I think we did our homework in looking into the validity of the video and feel it is accurate, I do not want to mislead anyone regarding the dangers of consumer fireworks. As you say, there is plenty of information out there that can tell the story of injuries and fires caused by consumer fireworks.

 

 

 

 

We have removed the videos.

 

 

 

Have a great year.

 

 

 

Lorraine Carli

 

Vice President - Communications

 

National Fire Protection Association

 

1 Batterymarch Park

 

Quincy, MA 02169

 

 

 

617-984-7276

 

617-840-4180 (mobile)

 

lcarli@nfpa.org

 

 

 

twitter/nfpa

 

twitter/fpw2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[flying fish]

First shell I've built in almost a year...

 

 

I really cheated on this one too. The crossettes are from two Black Cat Atom Splitter 9 shot crossette cakes. All 18 crossettes lit but one didn't break.

[PersonGuyDude]

At least the NFPA took down the CPSC's video of salutes in children's hands and in a basket two years ago when I wrote a letter to the VP of communications about the representation of a consumer salute that was indeed a display salute (1.3g) and was being passed off as a "jumbo-sized" consumer item.

 

 

Nice job Dag, that's awesome. I too saw that video and was amazed that they could flat out lie to consumers. My view on consumer fireworks is that only idiots can hurt themselves with it. Though there is the *****extremely**** rare misfire, usually noone is hurt. As for the sparklers, statistically your child is safer waving around sparklers than at the local kiddie pool. When will people wake up and not believe the system's lies?

 

The CPSC seems to constantly mix 1.3 with 1.4 so that the ignorant public can't tell the difference and is scared into compliance. This is the same strategy used by the anti-gun lobbyists, they too constantly mix up semi-auto and full auto guns. Referring to the normal semi-auto long rifle (one of the most commonly used guns in the world) as a "machine-gun" or "rapid fire" or that they "spray bullets all over the place ). Though this is a different arguement, I see nothing wrong with honest American citizens having full auto weaponry. My logic of course, being that the founders wrote the 2nd amendment not so that billy bob could hunt deer, not so kids can go plinking, but for the protection of the people against an out of control tyrannical government. Who, let me remind you, not only have full auto weapons but tanks and a massive arsenal of explosions at their disposal. I find it pathetic that the statists in congress keep crying out in fear because their employers (we the people) have any type of gun.

[Bilbobaker]

Chuck Norris can push a 5" shell into a 3" mortar and fire it.

Chuck Norris doesn't need hydraulic equipment, his hand pressing makes comets denser.

Chuck Norris doesn't bother making color changing stars, he uses only one composition but it changes color whenever he wishes.

Most people are aware that high explosives don't forgive mistakes. But HEs are aware not to fuck around while Chuck Norris handles them.

Chuck Norris can win a shell contest with a duct tape pasted shell.

Paris green isn't avaible because of restrictions, but because Chuck Norris uses to salt his meal with.

Some people light fire by rubbing two pieces of wood. Chuck Norris does it with two pieces of timber to make charcoal in bulk.

Chuck Norris doesn't need to lift his shells using mortars or rockets, he just throws them up. The time fuse ignites from the air friction.

Chuck Norris can stoichiometrically mix black powder by volume.

 

Too funny I'm going to have to share this post in the humor forums.

[Bilbobaker]

First shell I've built in almost a year...

 

 

I really cheated on this one too. The crossettes are from two Black Cat Atom Splitter 9 shot crossette cakes. All 18 crossettes lit but one didn't break.

 

Ever make a shell filled with commercial ground blooms?

I've been toying with the idea as they are so cheap and predictable.... perfect qualities for home brewing.

[flying fish]

Ever make a shell filled with commercial ground blooms?

I've been toying with the idea as they are so cheap and predictable.... perfect qualities for home brewing.

 

I always thought the burn time on those was way too long, and the casings are hot for a while afterwards. But if you're in an area where you don't have to worry about fallout it might be a neat experiment.

 

I think I once tried something like this with jumping jacks and the results weren't all that impressive. Of course, that was a long time ago and I only vaguely remember the result. Plus jumping jacks are tiny compared to ground blooms.

[dagabu]

I mentioned the Jeep on another thread and wanted to tell the rest of the story someplace where there was less tension.

 

Located on the corner of Lake Street and Hiawatha in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Moline factory made all sorts of tractors for farm use including the very first enclosed tractor with windows for those rainy and cold Minnesota mornings. My grandfather Hugo was just a painter, he coated all of the tractors with Minneapolis Moline's unusual yellow paint in the factory and did other odd jobs in the plant.

 

One morning in 1938, a bunch of ARMY brass showed up to view the very first Jeep roll out of the plant and get ready to be loaded on a train car for shipment to Fort Ripley for testing. A soldier was asked to drive the ugly little Jeep around the parking lot for the brass but he declined saying that he was not going to ruin his dress uniform driving a farm tractor.

 

My grandfather was on break outside and was watching the goings on and volunteered to drive the Jeep around for the crew. Grandpa was well liked by everyone and they readily agreed to let him take it for a spin. He started it up and headed around the parking lot (gravel) spewing lots of gravel as the four wheel drive vehicle slowly did figure eights for the brass.

 

The General that was overseeing the project wanted to see if drive on the pavement as well and instructed Hugo to take her for a spin on Hiawatha, turn around and come back at full speed. Hugo got to Lake Street and cranked the steering wheel to the left to do a U-turn. CLUNK!

 

The Jeep stalled. Hugo started the motor but each time he lifted the clutch pedal, it stalled, the stick shift was stuck and the Jeep would not move. A wrecker was called out to tow the Jeep back to the R&D section for review but they found nothing wrong. Hugo was told to drive it again and again, on the sharp left hand turn, CLUNK!

 

Stalled.

 

Another wrecker was called, nothing wrong was found, an engineer was told to drive the Jeep and the same thing happened time after time much to everyone chagrin. After three hours of failure, my grandfather in his halting English, spoke up to the lead engineer and said, "I know vhat is wrong, all four veels turn at the same time, no? Vell, da inside veels vant to turn slower and da outside veels vant to turn faster. I betcha da transmission gets all bound up."

 

Sure enough, the four wheel drive farm tractors were never used on pavement, the solid axles had not been tested on pavement and a simple change fixed the binding.

 

Hugo painted yellow tractors until 1974 when White dropped the Moline line.

 

Typical Specifications: Minneapolis Moline NTX

Engine: 206ci, 4-cylinder inline model OE

Power: 44.5hp @ 1800 rpm

Torque: 150lbs-ft @ 1100 rpm

Comp. Ratio: 6.15:1

Transmission: 5-speed, Minneapolis-Moline, w/ 2-speed range box

Transfer Case: Chain drive, single speed, 1.66:1 stepdown

Front Axle: Timken model F-30

Rear Axle: Minneapolis-Moline

Axle ratios: Front- 6.6:1, Rear-2.83:1

Wheelbase: 101in.

Curb Weight: 6,800lbs.

Fuel Capacity: 22 gallons

Tires: 9.00-20 (11.00-18 later models)

Drawbar Pull: 5,800 lbs

Fording Depth: 33 inches

[Ralph]

Thanks for the Dag. reading that was a pleasant break from my studdying

 

sounds like your grandfathers intelligence was hereditary

[dagabu]

Thanks for the Dag. reading that was a pleasant break from my studdying

 

sounds like your grandfathers intelligence was hereditary

 

LOL! Thanks Ralph but we are a family of tinkerers, we take everything apart to see how it works, pyro was a natural for me. Gramps would have been the first to say that he was not smart, just curious...

 

-dag

[NightHawkInLight]

Great story Dag, cool to know.

[dagabu]

Thanks NHIL! Say, what microphone do you use for your tutes? I was looking at a snowball, what do you think?

 

-dag

[ExplosiveCoek]

Ever make a shell filled with commercial ground blooms?

I've been toying with the idea as they are so cheap and predictable.... perfect qualities for home brewing.

 

Yeah I did. I've put around 39 of them in a 3'' can shell, colors were washed out.. Looked like some flying white spots in the air .

[50AE]

Closeup of a 5" ball shell with vacuum formed hemis ready for pasting.

 

http://pyrobin.com/files/picture%20179.jpg

Edited June 29, 2011 by 50AE

[PersonGuyDude]

Thanks NHIL! Say, what microphone do you use for your tutes? I was looking at a snowball, what do you think?

 

-dag

 

You have a Youtube channel too Dagabu?

[NightHawkInLight]

Thanks NHIL! Say, what microphone do you use for your tutes? I was looking at a snowball, what do you think?

 

-dag

 

Sorry for the delay, haven't been keeping up on this thread. I use a CAD U7 tabletop mic that I rig to a boom mic stand most of the time. I really don't know enough about mics to give good advice, beyond that I love the U7. It's as good as it gets for it's versatility in my opinion. It even sounds pretty darn good recording music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIOnG-0Oa-I

[dagabu]

You have a Youtube channel too Dagabu?

 

Google spamento and you will find tutorials and youtube videos.

 

-dag