silver Glitter Rising Tail

[pyroguy1960]

I'm looking to make a silver glitter type rising tail for my 4" shells, I don't have much in the way of equipment, was going to use a copper tube, a steel bar for a ram and a mallet.

 

I was thinking of using this comp:

 

Potassium Nitrate 64

Air Float Charcoal 13

Titanium 80 mesh 9

Sulfur 9

dextrin 5

 

Can that be safely rammed and will it work? I've used this comp for some silver stars and it worked fairly well, but didn't know if I could ram comets with this comp or if it would produce the desired effect.....if anyone has an easy better comp chime in.

 

Thanks

[jimbo]

general rule of thumb is you don't ram metals, your probably gonna have to press or just pump this one mate.

[pyroguy1960]

Is there any comp that can be rammed for glitter effect? Or I take it all glitters involve some sort of metal.....makes sense...

[Mumbles]

There is a big difference between ramming a dry fountain, and a wet comet. I generally try to avoid ramming titanium, but I regularly ram glitter comets. If I wasn't afraid it would eat up my pumps, I'd wouldn't really be afraid of ramming Ti comets. If you don't want to ram Ti comets, you can pick up an arbor press for pretty cheap. A 1 ton easily pumps 1" comets. If you have any coarse aluminum, firefly makes a very nice rising tail.

[jimbo]

I haven't really done much with glitters or the like so I can't really say,someone else might be able to help you,but I can't think of one without added metals,you could ram one with a larger mesh charcoal for a better effect.I was going to say something about ramming a damp comp but with my experience I would not tell anyone to do so Edited August 7, 2010 by jimbo

[Pretty green flame]

On thing when making titanium comets, they will scratch your tooling beyond recognition, though it may not be such an issue with 80 mesh titanium. I've jammed up a star plate and comet pump due to making stars/comets with titanium in them. For a rising effect you may want to press/ram (wet composition ofcourse) into a short, thin walled tube. For a 3" shell something like 25mm ID and 20mm long, with 1mm walls. This also makes it easier to time the comets so it stops burning right before the shell explodes. The tube makes the comet burn more consistently. To ensure ignition, prime the top of the comet with prime (prime slurry + granulated BP before the prime dries) or simply tie a lenght of blackmatch over the comet so it's in contact with the composition.

[Mumbles]

You can save the seizing problems by using accurate cuts of titanium. If your screen out all the fine particles, you can very easily press them.

[pyroguy1960]

Thanks to all for the replies, I think I should be okay, I'm going to make a better comet pump, I came across a great article by ned gorski all about this particular subject that shows you how to make a homemade pump using PVC, hose clamps and wooden dowels...I figure I can use that and who cares if the Ti wreaks it....just make another. Seems that would be a safer way to ram metal too, not using metal rams....

 

http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_pages/article.asp?Item=134#art2

[Mumbles]

That's basically what I use. I never bothered splitting, or using hose clamps though. It looks like he might have been trying to alter the diameter a little bit. I just live with the diameters I get. They actually seem to fit into shells better than accurately sized comets. Take a knife or dremel tool and clean out the inside of the PVC tube a little bit. It makes the comets slide out without any problems. I've done this with comets up to 1.5" OD.

[pyroguy1960]

I did the PVC method today, rammed about twenty of them then primed one end with meal slurry and dipped it in commerical 1FG for good measure. We'll see how they perform.....

 

On another note, I have a cabinet where I store all my chems, I keep fuels and oxidizers on different shelves but is this enough sepration? I guess they probably shouldn't even be as the same room as eachother, I put the cabinet in the corner of one of my garages that is furthest away from the main house....

 

Here's some pics....

[pyrogeorge]

nice stars!

have you got any video from this stars?

[pyroguy1960]

not yet, the stars beneath the comets are blue on the left and green on the right, as you can see they're not primed yet. Waiting for them to dry and then I'll prime them. Plan on shooting them next weekend....