warthog Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Made up a few 1/2" Degn Flowerpots today and wanted to see one. I knew it was a bit too windy for these to work right but I wanted to see one. I set it up in the lee of the shed in the hopes this would help things but it seems it was still too windy there as well. Did I mention I wanted to see one yet? Anyway it still looked nice but I know it will look a lot nicer when the air is a lot more still. Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgF9MUPKuAM Comments?
warthog Posted February 12, 2012 Author Posted February 12, 2012 Well, I can see by the views here and by the number of times the video has been viewed (and my new subscribers thank you, they have been returned in kind ) that folks are looking. Perhaps it is that you don't know how a Flowerpot should look when they work right? Perhaps this will help then. Watch this video of some Senko Hanabi sparklers, I didn't make these though I have made them before. Now picture this sort of effect happening off of those bright globs of stuff the fountain was throwing off. That should help you get the basics of how these are supposed to look. They have to be seen up close as this is a hard effect to see at a distance. If the Flowerpot is working right, the actual output of the fountain is all but invisible so that the beautiful branching sparks seem to be appearing out of nowhere. Of course for this to happen it has to be a pretty still night and when I lit this one it was a little too windy even with trying to shield it from the breeze. In case anyone wants to give these a try too I will also add the formula and a little how to after the video for you. No comments are really needed unless you have them really. I just wanted to share how it is done and make sure folks understood what it should have done had it worked right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivyL5YW6XJc Degn FlowerpotKNO3--------12Sulfur----------5Lampblack3-3Realgar-------2total parts by weight, 22 It must be very well mixed. The Degn manual calls for it to be carefully mixed through a 24 mesh screen. I wasn't able to really get the whole idea of "carefully" since this isn't that a specific way of speaking on how to make such a mixture. I therefore took it to mean thoroughly mixed. I used a 60 mesh screen after first milling in my little coffee mill the KNO3 to remove all clumps and reduce it to powder from the granules as it comes from the bag. The other items are very fine meshed powders already so after milling and de-clumping my KNO3 I mixed the chemicals up by putting them in a small tub and giving them a shake, static is not a problem in my house as I humidify the air. Next I passed it through a 60 mesh screen then diaper mixed it for a bit on the kraft paper I laid under the screen, back into the tub for a shake, and this I repeated 5 times. Why five? Felt right to me. Then I hand rammed it into 1/2" tubes. 1/2 teaspoon of clay for the nozzle and 1/4 teaspoon for the fuel increments, six increments total with a 1/4 teaspoon of clay for the final bulkhead. For the nozzle of course I used four good whacks with my rawhide hammer. and for the fuel I only used three and wasn't quite so hard hitting. I just wanted it to be firmly consolidated rather than a solid core. Again this is just my gut feel for these from all I have read on them and nothing more. Further experimentation required. That is ho each fountain was made and then I took a small drill bit, loosened up a small bit of fuel in the nozzle and stuck a piece f visco into it with a piece of tissue paper stuff next to it to hold everything in. See attached picture for finished product. The stand it is on is a little thing I made to keep them upright when I set them off. Just a piece square of 2"x4" with a short bit of 1/2" dowel in the center of it. The second picture attached shows how much dross was ejected and collected around the nozzle after burning. One final note here...Please be careful when handling Realgar and also when burning it. Arsenic is bad stuff. Use some sense while you are around it and stay out of the smoke.
Peret Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Your flower pot looked authentic to me. They were very common when I was a kid and IIRC were generally a tube 1/2 inch or so inside diameter and a few inches long, producing a very sparse fountain 2 or 3 feet high with glittery sparks appearing out of nowhere, as you say. Lancaster says they were charged loosely with funnel and wire, not rammed.
warthog Posted February 12, 2012 Author Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) Thanks! I'll give that a try too. I will light the rest when things are a lot stiller outside and maybe less frigid. Thanks for the input Peret though. I am also waiting for my PGI Anthology which has an article or two these sorts of fountains. I will see what comes of those inputs when I am able to see them. Edited February 12, 2012 by warthog
NightHawkInLight Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Very cool, I've never seen that effect. I couldn't really tell what it was because the video quality was too low, but I love senko hanabi's. I might have to give a similar comp a try. If you can get a higher quality video I would love to see it.
warthog Posted February 12, 2012 Author Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) I will try to bet a less shaky video next time for sure. I usually try to use a tripod but I just dashed out on impulse to light that one so no time to set it up. I'll take a tripod held video of the next ones for sure though the quality of the picture is in the camera and all I have is a Kodak EasyShare digital camera that takes decent stills and OK video. I may seem like it was working in the flowerpot video but it really wasn't, it was just spewing hot globs of dross everywhere and none of the branching sparks were developed. I really think it had ti be because of how turbulent the winds were si before I do this again it has to get a lot quieter.. That won't be for a while ether as it promises to be windy around here for the foreseeable future. I do want to see what yours turns out to be like too. If you use a different comp please share it as well. I love the look of these and want to try and make these as easily and cost effectively as I am able. Edited February 12, 2012 by warthog
warthog Posted February 13, 2012 Author Posted February 13, 2012 Tonight it was perfectly still, not a breeze to be felt, no wind chill etc. I had made up six new Flowerpots earlier in the day, that was all I could manage before my fingers started getting numb from the cold. I wound up setting all six of them off too since the first couple looked so nice I couldn't stop. It was like eating potatoe chips! I had tried making them with different pressures on the fuel and I don't see any reason to tell the order of those (they are the singles) as it seemingly makes no difference at all. I went from funnel and rod to using my normal whacks with a raw hide hammer and I saw no difference in how they performed other than the less compacted ones burnt faster and were over quickly. The last two I set of together were made with the normal whacks. I wish the video looked as nice as it does in person but at least this time you can clearly see the sparks branching. These were all made with the same formula I noted above, in fact with the same 100 gram batch. I am guessing I have about four or five more left to make before I have to mix up more. IMO, these are some of the nicest looking fountains you can make and I encourage those interested in them to try them out. So here is my longest video to date, 2 mins 30 seconds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lBPAXRbyjk
NightHawkInLight Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 That is clearly the distinct senko hanabi effect, very cool. I never thought to try a fountain with that sort of comp. I'll have to work on it, but I'll bet I can get them to work with nothing but nitrate, charcoal and sulfur. I've put more hours into trying to perfect senko hanabi than every other device besides multibreak shells, and without much luck. I have had the occasional success though, these using only nitrate, C & S: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltlbs6K7-gk Giving the globules the extra air supply from being tossed into the air should make them much easier to get going.
optimus Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Nice! I never got round to trying the flowerpot effect, couldn't find any realgar... There is another which uses trisulphide: Potassium Nitrate 50%Sulphur 25%Lampblack 10%Antimony Trisulphide 5%Green Powder 10% Some more info here.
warthog Posted February 13, 2012 Author Posted February 13, 2012 Thanks Optimus, I will give that a try too. You can relay this to the blokes burning their fingers making Senko Hanabi-- PLIERS! I make my Senko Hanabi w/o realgar and those work just fine. I tried to do the same in a Flowerpot and they kept CATOing.The realgar made it work for me at least.
warthog Posted February 13, 2012 Author Posted February 13, 2012 I wanted to add a couple post firing pix. I took a shot of all the dross build up around the nozzles which made me want to also see what they wind up looking like inside so I cut one open lengthwise (then I washed my hands after taking off my gloves). One thing I noticed was the amount of yellow staining around the nozzle area from the sulfur and the part I thought I would see I didn't, a lump of sulfurous dross on the bottom of the fountain. I thought that would form up after the heat had gone and then run to the bottom to solidify but it didn't really happen, at least in the one I opened up. The ash etc inside the tube also lacked much if any sort of smell of sulfur. So I suppose most of it is either burnt up or ejected. I am looking forward to my PGI Anthology. Bruce Blom did an article that is reproduced in it on Flowerpots. I want to take a look at that and see what I can do with what he learned about them.
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