new2pyro Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 I had an ignition while ramming a 1 lb core rocket . My flat ram must have pinched the spindle top. I thought I had enough powder in but I think one more with the hollow ram should have been done. This is the only thing I can figure happened. There was no metal in the comp. Any thoughts would help. I'm a little gun shy on going back to the workshop. Luckily it was a fountain type reaction and not a burst. I posted this on the safety forum but thought I might get a quicker response here.
Miech Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 Black powder can ignite as well from strong impact, although it is said to be 'safe' and 'insensitive'. More accidents have happened this way, luckily it didn't turn out bad. Make sure the whole top of the spindle is covered by propellant before using your flat rammer, and you should be good to go. Alternatively, use a press instead of ramming.
new2pyro Posted October 19, 2009 Author Posted October 19, 2009 thanks Meich It shook me up pretty good as you can expect. I put the stuff away for the day and went in to watch football and think things over. Tomorrow I'll maybe give it a try. Would it work to top the spindle with a plastic cap to avoid this?
KruseMissile Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 best thing is using a press, there are no sudden blows. just slow and constant pressure, so relatively almost no chance of sparks. Glad it wasnt an explosion! Stay green!
derekroolz Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Wow scary stuff, is there any other precations taken for raming KN03/SU rockets?
skyisthelimitinc Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 thanks Meich It shook me up pretty good as you can expect. I put the stuff away for the day and went in to watch football and think things over. Tomorrow I'll maybe give it a try. Would it work to top the spindle with a plastic cap to avoid this? I would make a mark on the flat rammer, slide it in the tube, when it touch the core spindel make a good mark, then never ram the flat rammer closer then 2-3mm to the mark you made on it, that should do the trick, but i prefer pressing myself 1
Swede Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Wow, this is the SECOND rocket accident in a few weeks. And this one was pure BP. As a group, we really need to possibly re-think the safety of ramming a BP rocket. Sleeter uses Nylon rams. Maybe we need to consider greater use of plastics in the process.
50AE Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 As other say, the ignition could've happened due to the small point of the spindle hitting the inside of the rammer. It's very possible that the hit between them has produced an enormous pressure, which could ignite the black powder. Although I've never succeeded igniting BP with a hit of a steel hammer, I bet that the surfaces of the steel and the concrete were larger than these of the spindle and the rammer.
Recommended Posts