Pirotecnia Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 I love this firing technique used by japaneses: They put a hot/red iron piece at the bottom of the mortar and leave a shell (with a lifting cartridge..made of a kind of tissue paper) falling inside it... very interesting! Images: Video: firing_example.flv Hope you enjoy!
NightHawkInLight Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 That was the standard method for many years prior to visco. The only problem I have with it is you need to have your hand over the mortar as you're dropping the shell in. If you don't get it out of there fast enough or some sparks ignite the shell prematurely you're done for. Well, I suppose that's not my only problem. You also have the fact that you're carrying around shells in the open as others are going off and hot metal is being moved around.
warthog Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 I have read about this in some of the books I have. It never did seem all that safe to me, it also seemed way too tempting to have a person watch the shell go down the tube and so loose his head as it went off. It is an interesting method though to say the least.
NightHawkInLight Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 No matter what sort of firing method you use, the first rule of firing is don't put anything over the gun you don't want to lose. Keep that temptation in check there warthog.
oldguy Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 I would call this a “Kamikaze” method. Sooner or later someone is going to die.
NightHawkInLight Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 I wouldn't recommend this to any amateur.I wouldn't recommend it to a pro. There are things about it that are inherently unsafe, no matter your experience.
50AE Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 Pro is where safety is much more important to pay attention to, because there:-you do pyro much more often, so the risk increases mathematically -you think professionally, so you have much more thoughts in your head - money, clients, time. There is more chance to get deconcentrated.-you are responsible not only for yourself You may think you will be safe, but this kind of accident happens for once and you won't have a chance to repair it. I wouldn't dare doing it even if I was an amateur. Take a look at it from another point of view - how would your family and friends (crowd) feel when watching mortars banging a few inches from your face?
nater Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 I would not use that technique as a pro. However, I routinely handlight shows with mortars firing right next to me. It is common practice to stand sideways to the rack, light the leader, then crouch down a leg width away with your back to the rack when the shell lifts, then fire the next shell.
dagabu Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 It's not legal to light shells in the USA this way for shows. That should be enough by itself to keep you from doing it this way. -dag
Mumbles Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 I agree with Nater here. I've been on shows where one is touching off shells down the line, followed by reloading. It's quite the rush for certain. However the necessity to hold my hand over the mortar to fire a shell with this method would make me shy away. Reloading is scary enough and you don't even need to put a body part over the mortar for that. Same rush as hand firing without the extra risk. This method also gets a little dicy once the coil or chain link starts to cool off. The shells start to go off at an indeterminate delay. I think I'll leave this as a historical intellectual curiosity.
Scrumpy Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 Did you notice the guy wafting the leaves diddn't flinch when the shell was ignited, diddn't even twitch, nerves of steel !!
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