Cookieman Posted June 23, 2010 Posted June 23, 2010 Hi guys, here is a multiple starmine I shot a few weeks ago at the cottage.Tell me what you think. I wasn't to happy with it as I forgot to protect the connecting fuse and the last two went off at the same time because of fallout.My link
Ventsi Posted June 24, 2010 Posted June 24, 2010 Very nice, those had some serious height. Can you give some of the details[lift, star size etc.]?
Cookieman Posted June 24, 2010 Author Posted June 24, 2010 Very nice, those had some serious height. Can you give some of the details[lift, star size etc.]? Ventsi, My stars were 3/4" cubes, I loaded the 2" tube with 200g of stars with 20g of lift.I used a perforated cardboard disk with alot of 1/4" holes. I find that even if you have poor BP lift, the confinement plays a significant role.
gordohigh Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 So the stars were loaded directly into the tube, no bag type method? They looked good, nice height and great effect!
dagabu Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 Ventsi, My stars were 3/4" cubes, I loaded the 2" tube with 200g of stars with 20g of lift.I used a perforated cardboard disk with alot of 1/4" holes. I find that even if you have poor BP lift, the confinement plays a significant role. Cookie, I liked the stars but they seemed to shatter when expelled from the gun. Try this and see if it improves your mine. Go get some hard covered children s books from a garage sale and cut out two circles the size of your tube. Put a single 1/4" hole in the center of each, (remember, you want passfire, not a lot of fire, just enough to start the stars burning) take some tube, size is not critical but you can roll up a 1/2" tube with kraft sealing tape very quickly. Cut 4- 1/2" long pieces and glue them between the two disks. This is your lift piston, it will protect your stars from shattering so they all go the same height. Fuse your mine by putting the quick match right down the center of the mine through the passfire hole and into the lift powder. Punch a single hole in the QM for a piece of cross match at the bottom of the star cup. When you light the fuse, the QM will trasnfer the fire to the stars and get them going, then it will ignite the lift. If you dont want to make a piston, use 6 corrugated disks and glue them together for the same effect. A single passfire hole will do.
Cookieman Posted June 27, 2010 Author Posted June 27, 2010 Cookie, I liked the stars but they seemed to shatter when expelled from the gun. Try this and see if it improves your mine. Go get some hard covered children s books from a garage sale and cut out two circles the size of your tube. Put a single 1/4" hole in the center of each, (remember, you want passfire, not a lot of fire, just enough to start the stars burning) take some tube, size is not critical but you can roll up a 1/2" tube with kraft sealing tape very quickly. Cut 4- 1/2" long pieces and glue them between the two disks. This is your lift piston, it will protect your stars from shattering so they all go the same height. Fuse your mine by putting the quick match right down the center of the mine through the passfire hole and into the lift powder. Punch a single hole in the QM for a piece of cross match at the bottom of the star cup. When you light the fuse, the QM will trasnfer the fire to the stars and get them going, then it will ignite the lift. If you dont want to make a piston, use 6 corrugated disks and glue them together for the same effect. A single passfire hole will do. Thanks Dagabu!! I will do that next time. Always a pleasure!!!
Cookieman Posted June 27, 2010 Author Posted June 27, 2010 So the stars were loaded directly into the tube, no bag type method? They looked good, nice height and great effect! No bag type method, I bought the 2" cardboard tubes from pyrodirect and loaded them with the lift, the cardboard disk, the stars, and some kraft paper for confinement.
dagabu Posted June 28, 2010 Posted June 28, 2010 No bag type method, I bought the 2" cardboard tubes from pyrodirect and loaded them with the lift, the cardboard disk, the stars, and some kraft paper for confinement. Were the stars in a kraft bag? That would be a modifies bag method.
Cookieman Posted June 28, 2010 Author Posted June 28, 2010 Were the stars in a kraft bag? That would be a modifies bag method. No they were not, they were packed loose after the perforated disk and then I added the kraft paper for confinement. It looks like most of the stars lit up, but I found ( I could be wrong) that it sounded a bit to loud for a mine. Could it be that I confined the tube to much?
dagabu Posted June 28, 2010 Posted June 28, 2010 No they were not, they were packed loose after the perforated disk and then I added the kraft paper for confinement. It looks like most of the stars lit up, but I found ( I could be wrong) that it sounded a bit to loud for a mine. Could it be that I confined the tube to much? Looking at the video, I am wondering if some of the stars didn't add fuel to the lift by burning off before fully out of the tube. If you look at high speed photography of stars leaving a mine shell, you will see that only the prime is burning until just about the time the stars are leaving the tube. I saw a lot of stars burning out at less then 1/2 the height of the longest burning stars and that leaves me wondering why that happened? It is not confinement per say that causes this to happen but too much fire on the stars while still inside the tube that burns through the prime and starts the star burning prematurely.
Cookieman Posted June 28, 2010 Author Posted June 28, 2010 Looking at the video, I am wondering if some of the stars didn't add fuel to the lift by burning off before fully out of the tube. If you look at high speed photography of stars leaving a mine shell, you will see that only the prime is burning until just about the time the stars are leaving the tube. I saw a lot of stars burning out at less then 1/2 the height of the longest burning stars and that leaves me wondering why that happened? It is not confinement per say that causes this to happen but too much fire on the stars while still inside the tube that burns through the prime and starts the star burning prematurely. I watched the video 5 times and it looks like you were right the first time. The stars were shattered coming out of the gun. The D1 stars were the only ones that held up. I will try the method you described as using 2 disks with one 1/4' hole for the passfire and less confinement.
dagabu Posted June 29, 2010 Posted June 29, 2010 I watched the video 5 times and it looks like you were right the first time. The stars were shattered coming out of the gun. The D1 stars were the only ones that held up. I will try the method you described as using 2 disks with one 1/4' hole for the passfire and less confinement. Don't worry about the confinement, do a bag mine where the lift and the stars are all in the bag. Its easier to load and transport.
Cookieman Posted June 29, 2010 Author Posted June 29, 2010 Don't worry about the confinement, do a bag mine where the lift and the stars are all in the bag. Its easier to load and transport. Ok!!
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