Random Thread #1

[Givat]

Thanks NightHawk, I used 1/10 of lift for the mine, just to be sure.

BTW, I used your piston method in all the mine smaller than 3"...very easy to do =]

 

Tomorrow me are going to have a pyro meeting in Israel, here is the staff I made:

http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/h479/questl/P1010802.jpg

 

This is:

4 * 0.5" whistle rocket + 1.5" shell headers.

6 * 0.5" BP rocker +1.5" shell headers

2" mine cake (4 mines different color)

3" mine with C6 stars and 6 * 1.5" shell inside

3" mine with C6 stars and 6 setine.

5" mine with C6 stars, green comets and 10 silver spiners.

3 * fountains - middle is 3/4" whistle+Ti, 2 side fountains are 3/4" BP+steel fountain.

4 * 3" round shell.

3" italian shell with 6 setine and bottom shot.

 

I will post some videos after the meeting =]

 

The Israel pyro meeting was great, too bad that in the end the police stopped us before we light all of our fireworks.

here is a short video of the best fireworks I have made to the meeting: (you can see the rest of the meeting videos in my youtube wall)

[guntoteninfadel]

Isn't it funny that no matter the language the reaction is the same! Awesome looking shoot, sounds like you guys had a great time.

[Pretty green flame]

Cool stuff Givat. Shame about the police though, hope you didn't get into too much trouble

[50AE]

Old stuff, but it still makes me want to pee from laughing

 

http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

[madmandotcom]

huh?

[anapogeetoofar]

I have been drinking gunpowder green tea for years, and the Chinese were drinking it hundreds (a little over a thousand actually) of years before your country even existed. Dates back to either the Sui or Tang dynasty, not sure. Good stuff, nice and roasty toasty and grassy, and holds its flavor forever, which is why it was made initially I think.

 

Funny how the tastiest foods are borne of the need for preservation. Bacon, jerky, smoked fish, beer........ Sounds like dinner to me.

[Mumbles]

Gunpowder tea is quite good. Additionally the same leaves can be brewed several times. I actually find the second and third to be quite a bit better. A little bit goes a long way, so you might as well go for the higher quality stuff. Some people got me some as a present not knowing I already was quite fond of it.

[flying fish]

As an experiment, I wanted to see how well a 1-3/4" (consumer size) lampare would work.

 

 

The effect was small of course, but still kinda cool. The gasoline was held in a clear 35 mm film canister.

 

After years of struggling with the pronunciation of this effect, I think I finally got it right. Lam par eee?

Edited October 23, 2011 by flying fish

[NightHawkInLight]

Neat, looked good. More flash would be good next time though, you can get a bigger bang than that in a small salute. I've done quite a few tiny lampares, mostly dry fuel and BP burst, and I've finally given in to the fact that flash broke liquid fuel is best.

 

Here's the last few small lampares I made:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMYH3abx8Rg

 

Your pronunciation is how I've always heard it said. Good enough for me.

[flying fish]

Yours look pretty good, especially considering the solid fuel.

 

I don't think I could have fit much more flash or fuel into this shell. I used 17 grams of standard flash underneath and on the sides of the gasoline filled film canister. Making the casing a little longer, (or going with a bigger diameter shell) seem like the most obvious ways to solve the small fireball syndrome (SFS).

 

I plan to experiment with the flash:fuel ratio, my only concern is that going on the high side may drown out the fireball effect.

 

If I get motivated I may do some more tests at the next shoot.

[Mumbles]

Mixing in something slower burning may also help to enhance the visual effect. 50:50 Gasoline:Kerosine (JP4 Jet fuel) and 70:20:10 Gasoline:Diesel:Methanol are both pretty popular among the lampare enthusiasts.

 

I've always heard them pronounced more like lahm-par-ee. I'd chalk that more up to a Wisconsin/Michigan dialect difference though. I've heard it with both a hard and soft a. Sounding like lamb (the animal) or La (as in la la la singing a tune).

[NightHawkInLight]

Maybe this will clear up a little confusion next time you meet some of the mpag crew.

 

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/308872_303069419720185_100000513875390_1220616_2140165266_n.jpg

[OneEyeCharlie]

"Today's geographical karate chop brought to you by NHL". Casa del OneEye is one hair follicle south of Muskegon.

[optimus]

Mixing in something slower burning may also help to enhance the visual effect. 50:50 Gasoline:Kerosine (JP4 Jet fuel) and 70:20:10 Gasoline:Diesel:Methanol are both pretty popular among the lampare enthusiasts.

 

Not a lampare, but this is 50:50 Gasoline:Kerosine. It's a good mix:

 

[dagabu]

Not a lampare, but this is 50:50 Gasoline:Kerosine. It's a good mix:

 

 

We call these Dragons Breath...

 

-dag

[hillbillyreefer]

How 'bout a wee tutorial on building one of those. Might be kinda fun for the kids on a slow Friday night. A link is fine. Thanks.

[dagabu]

No problem, Jim Biersach's son Paul does a class on them at PGI, it runs $15.00 a person...

 

-dag

[hillbillyreefer]

More incentive to make it there next year. Thanks dag.

[dagabu]

BTW- that was extremely tongue in cheek. You can find instructions on line to make them.

 

-dag

[hillbillyreefer]

Yeah, I know. I stand by the added incentive to make PGI next year though. It has to be a fantastic experience.

[dagabu]

It sure is! I bring mom and the two kids, bring the bikes, bang out a rocket (I should re-word that huh?) and bike it out to the rocket line, shoot it and go make another. Bliss!

 

-dag

[50AE]

I have a big temptation right now.. My mind is almost on audio and I can's stop reading about DIY speaker building. I've found a nice TL speaker project to build, but I must also think about the fireworks I have to build for the NYE.

 

I guess a test launching of 2" firefly comet yesterday made me happy, haven't launched a firework long time ago. The comp is the one from skylighter, it's great! It uses 10 parts dextrin and some 36 mesh charcoal. The tail was so bushy, the comp is very cool.

[asilentbob]

It has been a very long time since I graced the Pyro Related Random Thread (PRRT) with a monster post like I frequently used to...

 

Anyone want to join the American Chemical Society? Dues could be as cheap as $24 for undergraduates!

You could help me get a free periodic table blanket if I properly nominate you and you pay your dues before Dec 31, 2011.

Kinda low to post this on a forum... but its a freaking periodic table blanket! Of course I want one!

At least this forum is related to chemistry lol...

http://portal.acs.org/preview/Navigate?nodeid=337

http://undergrad.acs.org/files/2011_MGM_Throw.jpg

 

Come on... Some of you guys must be chem majors in college... you should join ACS anyways! The national and regional meetings are awesome opportunities to start networking and pick up awesome jobs and skills! Meet some good people to add on LinkedIn! Develop yourself professionally! Be an ambassador of chemistry! Etc...

 

I guess if anyone decides they will join up, I guess message me and I can set it up... Once I find the little pamphlet I have... Somewhere...

/rant

 

 

Been searching for jobs. I'm too picky. I find lots of ones for B.Sc. in Chem, but they usually want so many years of experience in such and such or direct experience operating blank and blank instrument for at least blank years... or are all, "sorry, but with the economy as it is, we don't expect to fill this position for some time, we will keep your resume though."

 

I'm trying to get a position (or positions) where I can get some experience working in industry for a year or 2 before going back to school for my Ph.D. I have surmised from a great deal of discussion that there are way too many Ph.Ds searching for jobs right now... to the extent that they account for nearly half of the applications for some B.Sc. positions. As well I have heard complaints that many Ph.Ds don't have any industry experience by the time they get out of school... So yeah... On the other hand... with the economy as it is... its hard to get a job in industry anyways... and many B.Sc. have the choice of either going on to college to get their Ph.D (you get a light paycheck because you teach some too, etc)... or settling for a job that's not in their field. So... many are going on for their Ph.D hoping that by the time they finish it the job outlook for the field will be looking better. Or they go army/navy/airforce/marines/coast guard. (more or less)

 

I finally finished reading Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks. I think many of us can related to a lot of the small scale experiments he did when he was a child. There is a ton of history interspersed in it, but its science and chemical history so I think many of us would like it. I got my copy at a used book store on clearance for $2 or something.

http://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Tungsten-Memories-Chemical-Boyhood/dp/0375404481

 

Next book I'm going to try to read through is, "Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher, Richard P. Feynman" It should be pretty good. Physics has always been sorta-good-sorta-bad with me... in that parts of it I didn't like so much. Oh well. Its a pretty short book.

 

Taking an American Chemical Society / Chemistry & Engineering News webinar tomorrow on atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Should be interesting.

There are a few other upcoming webinars I may consider too... One has novel GC/MS approaches for environmental labs, and the other has complex materials characterization with HDMS (high def mass spec). I think I'd like both. ACS also has some on-demand webcast courses which may be nifty. I haven't got around to digging through their selection yet.

As well... The Southwest Regional ACS Meeting is coming up fast too. And its going to be in Austin, TX! Whoo-Hoo! I don't have to drive far! So I'm definitely going to go.

 

Didn't do anything for Halloween except burn some denatured alcohol + boric acid on the porch.

 

November 5th / Bonfire night / Guy Fawkes day / etc... is coming up. I anticipate that we will still be under a burn ban here. I know I'll burn something. Even if its a candle under my constant close supervision.

 

Oh yes... to anyone who has some hexachlorethane (HCE)... the stuff sublimes. You may want to double check that you have it sealed up adequately. I think I had 250g or perhaps 454-500g originally years back... when I checked on it again a few months back I only had around 100g left. Also its use with zinc / zinc oxide in smokes leads to a very unhealthy zinc chloride smoke. Lots of health incidents, google it. So I'd recommend not using it for smokes. IIRC the aluminum and magnesium variations produce much less harmful smoke for what its worth.

 

I have 2 computers running the Folding@Home SMP (high performance / multi-core) client essentially 24x7 now. So thats good. Also got to see a talk related to protein folding when I went to the ACS National Meeting a while back now... Can't remember if I posted after that... Anyways...

 

Its November. So I assume National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has started. I wont be doing it this year lol. If you can type at a reasonable speed, have lots of free time, and are looking for a challenge, you should consider it. I did it in something like 2006 and got pretty close to finishing... It made me a whole lot better with writing papers, reports, etc... and not just getting writers block. Its a nice contest/event. You don't need to plan anything out, just be spontaneous and start typing. Doesn't matter what lol. You can do something like look outside, describe the scenery and weather, then jump into some random journey or something. I knew I wouldn't win when I did it, I was just challenging myself.

 

I have the glass core of a dewar flask I need to mount in a protective shell. I have a suitable stainless steel carrier, but I'll need to pack it with foam padding and such. I have some "great stuff" spray foam insulation I am thinking of using... however I'm debating on how I should exactly go about it... IE permanent or not. And if not permanent mounting, how complex will I make the retaining system, etc... Also... if I break the seal on the spray foam insulation... I'm going to need to try to use it all up within a couple days since it doesn't tend to last too long once that seal is broken... though I have heard that a couple drops of acetone can work wonders.

 

I also have some lexan / polycarbonate sheeting I need to find a project for. Its kinda on the thin side. I have a lot of ideas.

 

Finally got to play with some excellent knifes I have always wanted to handle at an outdoors store. Benchmade Griptillians and Kershaw leeks. Both are pretty neat. Though I must say I like the Griptillians more. For a frame lock knife I'm still siding with my cheap but awesome poor man's Sebenza, the SanRenMu 710. And since I don't have the money to spare for a Griptillian I'm using an Enlan EL-02B. The blades on the leeks seem too thin. Anyways...

 

Oh... the Royal Society Journal Archive is now permanently free to access. It has some really old gems.

http://royalsociety.org/news/Royal-Society-journal-archive-made-permanently-free-to-access/?f=1

Like Benjamin Franklin's account of his kite experiment...

http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/47/565.full.pdf+html?sid=491066f9-1f77-4232-a45c-3e859a60867e

Or how before 1666 even they were experimenting with ways to cool off drinks...

http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/1/1-22/255.full.pdf+html?sid=af02f127-e143-4581-98d0-17c37ea6d9d5

 

Geothermal temperature regulation via ground loops below the frost line is cool. Saw some pictures a guy took of his set up to do it and have a year round near constant cold water supply for water cooling several of his constantly overclocked PC's he has running Folding@Home 24x7... and he lives in Texas where its always hot! That ends up being quite a bit of money saved on AC cooling costs... The ground here is way too rocky or I'd try it too...

 

I really have not been doing any pyro. Its way too dry here. There is a burn ban in effect. I don't really have access to land to test now. Next chance to build and shoot is PGI :/...

 

Thats about it... or rather all I figure most of you will put up with reading.

[Peret]

I would join the ACS if they were handing out those cool blankets to new members.

[Mumbles]

You get a coffee cup with the corresponding element for each year you're a member. I should be getting lithium before too long, even though I've been a member for over 5 years.