Mumbles Posted September 20, 2009 Posted September 20, 2009 In preparation for this theoretical "flooding" of the forum, as mentioned by NightHawkinLight, I've been considering making a few more FAQ type of threads. Much like the one I made recently for ball milling (Here) What else might one need? I don't want to make one for every subject to the point I am writing a book, or kill any discussion. I was mostly looking for suggestions on topics. Safety will be one of them, but is there anything else that could be of importance?
NightHawkInLight Posted September 20, 2009 Posted September 20, 2009 Ramming and pressing is an important enough topic I believe. It has its own set of safety rules in addition to general pyrotechnics safety. It is also something often misunderstood. Nearly everyone at one point or another believes that nozzles are formed with wet clay, and have no idea how to form a solid fuel grain. Also a guide to pyrotechnic measurements, and basic pyrotechnic chemistry. Fuel/oxidizer stuff, perhaps a color salt or two. It would be best if it did not give links to suppliers, but it did give a good idea of how pyrotechnic reactions work, and the simplest of chemicals. This would leave any individual who read the thread with just enough information to be able to conduct searches of the forum to find out more. I find that is a problem with many beginners, including myself years ago; It took me many months of sifting through dangerous information before I even knew what to search for. More than a year into heavy research on almost a daily basis, I still thought that my first 5lbs of potassium nitrate was an explosive that could detonate at any time. (I realize that it is in fact a quite stable explosive, but I hope you get what I mean) It was not until several firsthand experiments before I realized it need a fuel to form a flammable composition. This was after more than a year of what I thought was legitimate pyrotechnic research. That should put how accessible good information is in perspective. That was nearly a decade ago. I hope by now the situation is better, but it is still lacking. A general beginners guide would also be a great addition. A sticky thread in which pyrotechnics is given a brief overview, giving an idea of what is, and what is not considered to be a respectable pyrotechnic device. Links to the other basic threads would be contained in it as well, because as I said, beginners do not know what to look for. They see 'ball mill' and glance right on past it to the next thing that has fire in the title.
Ventsi Posted September 21, 2009 Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) Also stress the forum rules, almost NOONE reads them. NightHawk maybe you can include a few tips on how to get by in the forum without people getting pissed off. Like spelling, capitalization etc.. I think the forum has most of the basics covered, maybe all the basics about BP, folks out there think its just charcoal and ANY fertilizer... Edited September 21, 2009 by Ventsi
NightHawkInLight Posted September 21, 2009 Posted September 21, 2009 Also stress the forum rules, almost NOONE reads them. NightHawk maybe you can include a few tips on how to get by in the forum without people getting off. Like spelling, capitalization etc..I plan on it.
Skycastlefish Posted October 3, 2009 Posted October 3, 2009 I think storage of individual chemicals and metals would have been nice to know. What’s hygroscopic, what can be kept in gladware vs plastic bags, keeping oxidizers and fuels separate, ect. Not necessarily safety stuff, but what to do with your chems after you cut those first bags open.
firetech Posted October 3, 2009 Posted October 3, 2009 Maybe something along the lines of "Look here for info about flash powders and bombs" as the title, and ban every newbie that looks there first. Kidding aside, I do believe that the rules need to be more forcefully imposed. it bothers me 2 no end too see things like this <-- and im sure u all no wht im talking about. Grammar, punctuation and spelling needs to be correct. Otherwise it degrades the look and feel of the forum to the incomers. I definitely don't want to see this forum split into sub-sub categories like passfire has done, however forums on specific devices might want to have FAQs as the first post in the thread (mines, shells, rockets, gerbs/lances/wheels, etc.)
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