aquaman Posted June 9, 2006 Posted June 9, 2006 ... And from walmart I found some sodium silicate which I have been looking for forever. Where did you find it in walmart? In the pharmacy? I've looking for it for a while now too.
joe609 Posted June 9, 2006 Posted June 9, 2006 Can anyone explain to me what happens when something is nitrated, say a piece of cotton in HNo3 H2so4 solution, i always thought the substance was oxadized but then isnt that the removal off an electron? whereas surely the cotton would need to gain oxygen in order to burn the way it does after nitration.
kbk Posted June 9, 2006 Posted June 9, 2006 Hey everyone, I'm back. Finally starting to get back into this stuff now that school is out for summer. I can't recall if I posted this somewhere else or not, but o well. I haven't had much time for explosives because of school and everything, plus with the winter here it simply wasn't possible to make anything because the fumes stay in the garage . It's nice to be able to do some things again, I'll probably be doing TNP this week sometime and probably some ANAP or something as well.
mr.pyro Posted June 9, 2006 Posted June 9, 2006 ... And from walmart I found some sodium silicate which I have been looking for forever.Where did you find it in walmart? In the pharmacy? I've looking for it for a while now too. http://people.consolidated.net/cargochemic...rod_sealup.html Thats the product. Its radiator sealant thats found in the automotive section at wally world. Its sodium silicate with a bunch of copper? particles it looks like floating around. They all settle to the bottom after a couple days so you can use it like that in the original bottle, or decant it off and save it in a new bottle and then discard the copper like I did. And anyways, it might even be beneficial to keep the copper, but I doubt it.
Mumbles Posted June 9, 2006 Posted June 9, 2006 Nitration is not a redox reaction. Nothing is oxidised, and nothing is reduced(ideally). Think of it more as an exchange mechanism I guess. You swap two equally charged particles. Generally it is the hydrogen +1 ion being exchanged for the Nitronium (NO2+) +1 ion. Â A runaway is essentially and uncontrolled, unwanted oxidation. The nitrogen is reduced from NO2+ or HNO3, where it is in the +5 oxidation state, to NO2 where it is in the +4 Oxidation state. The carbon and other molecules are then oxidised, forming CO2, and water assuming complete oxidation.
Mephistos Minion Posted June 10, 2006 Posted June 10, 2006 Happiness is me! I found a bunch of 2" 3" 4" and a 5" mortar! I spoke to some council workers who were using HDPE and they told me where they dumped all their offcuts, so I helped myself (they said I could). Now that I have these mortars I am going to make 4" and 5" shells! I think a 5" D1 Glitter comet shell with inner "pistil" of reeper silver will be nice. I am gonna go back to the place in a week or so to see if there is any more good stuff (alot was bent).
Swany Posted June 10, 2006 Posted June 10, 2006 I'll be gone for a week, starting.... now.  The 4th is creeping up on me. I didn't realise that until I realised that I have not started anything for it, yet. EDIT: and about nitration, or really almost any organic reaction is an acid/base reaction. Nitration is no exeption. Acids and bases are defined in many ways, protons and hydroxide ion formation being one way. Lewis, Bronsted-Lowry, and Arrhenius are some acid/base theorys you should look at. IIRC, Lewis acids accept electron pairs, B-L acids are proton donors, and Arrhenius acids are H+ donors. Bases are essentially the opposites, Lewis bases donate, B-L accept protons, Arrhenius form hydroxide ions.
justanotherpyro Posted June 10, 2006 Posted June 10, 2006 Holy hell getting shit ready for the fourth is a pain in the ass. I'm through attempting to roll stars. It looks like no color changing stars for me this fourth.
Pyrohawk Posted June 11, 2006 Posted June 11, 2006 Yeah....my 4th is gonna be pretty weak as well.... I'm not gonna roll any more stars...just use what I have on hand. All I have is some red, green, blue, white streamer, and some red chrysanthemum. I have 4 starmines made up right now but thats it. I'm planning on a few 3" shells and maybe some rockets, fountains, stingers,etc.. Well it should be fun anyhow..... Plus I'll be in Myrtle Beach SC on the actual 4th so thats always a blast!!
Canadian_Pyro Posted June 11, 2006 Posted June 11, 2006 I was just reading through the member stats, and I realized that we have 117 members who have not made a single post. Kinda sad.
al93535 Posted June 11, 2006 Posted June 11, 2006 Hey pyrohawk, Â I really like the picture of those mines you have. Do you have a bigger picture? Nice work! Â You get to be in Myrtle Beach, SC for the 4th?!?! Lucky!
Draco_Aster Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 Its no sad at all, from reading and gaining knowledge they don't have to clog up the forum with useless questions. Many experienced pyros' did not make a single post for over a year. These people who have not yet posted may very well end up being more knowledgable than any of us here. Or some may have just signed up and forgot about the forum entirely
d4j0n Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 Yeah, you kinda have to be a member to see member tutorials. Anywho, how do you guys coat your carriers for shells and what carriers do you use? UN has some elaborate method, I was wondering what insight do you guys have. I've always used granular bp with varying amounts of whistle.
Pyrohawk Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 I just use meal powder in Rice Crispies. All I do is just mist some water over the crispies until theyre damp then dump in some meal and mix it up till they're all coated.
Pyrohawk Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 Hahahahahh I guess I forgot to mention that I also use whistle bags as my burst. Not just the crispies if thats what you were thinking. The crispies just take up the space without wasting good stuff. No I don't bother with dextrin.....they seem to not lose much comp. and besides its just the carrier so its not real critical, just a space filler. My shells are 3" and sometimes 2" ones for testing and junk. Edit: Rather than making a new post I'll just add on. There is one effect I see every year at 4th of July displays that I love but have no clue how to do! It is called I think the popcorn effect.... The shell breaks and appears as though nothing happened then lots of golden bursts all over. How is this done? I know I've asked this before.....
Mumbles Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 It's the section called "member tutorials"Â http://www.apcforum.net/forums/index.php?showforum=18Â The popcorn effect is essentially a color changing star in a sense. One phase smoulders making a slag. This contains titanium. Then it burns into the core which explodes shooting the slag out making said flashes.
Mumbles Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 I suppose you could make a similar effect with inserts. You can fit a lot more of the stars in there though.
Draco_Aster Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 I remember at the last show I wen't to there were heaps of shells that acted like pyrohawk described except there was a boom, nothing happened, then after a second or two the stars lit up.  I have finished my new starroller I rolled a batch of flour and KNO3 (had some scrap stuff lying round) as a test batch to see how it performs (saves wasting chems). Worked fine. I was bored the next day and decided to light one of the 'flour stars' . It acted like a delay, so that might work as a delay in shells! Add a protective coating of flour/KNO3. Much cheaper that all those other delay comps out there
Canadian_Pyro Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 It's the section called "member tutorials"Â http://www.apcforum.net/forums/index.php?showforum=18Â The popcorn effect is essentially a color changing star in a sense. One phase smoulders making a slag. This contains titanium. Then it burns into the core which explodes shooting the slag out making said flashes. Damnit, I never bother to read the names of the sections. I just look for the ones with new posts.
Mephistos Minion Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 I imagine scatter stars would give an effect somewhat like that. For those who dont know a scatter star is a tube wich is fused in the middle, with lift inbetween the stars and sawdust and paper endplugs.
maximusg Posted June 12, 2006 Posted June 12, 2006 I was thinking of making an insert similar to that, but more so to a miniture roman candle. A small tube plegged at one end and charged with star/lift/delay/star/lift/delay. Could be an interesting effect.
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